Baseball Wraps Regular Season at Austin Peay

May 19-21 | Clarksville, Tenn. | Raymond C. Hand Park

Oklahoma

Austin Peay

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Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 26-24-1 (11-13 Big 12) Coach: Pete Hughes (3rd Season) Career Record/Years: 613-465-3/20 Rank: NR

Austin Peay Governors
Record: 27-18 (17-9 OVC) Coach: Tyler Janssen (1st) Career Record/Years: 131-117/5 Rank: NR

On the Air
Radio	KREF 1400 AM TuneIn Radio App Toby Rowland
Stream	OVCDigitalNetwork

Player to Watch
RF-Alex Wise, Sr. Wise is riding a career-best 13-game hitting streak; the longest active such streak in the Big 12. He has recorded a hit in 20 of the last 23 games with 10 multi-hit games and seven doubles.

NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma baseball team hits the road for a non-conference series at Austin Peay to close out the regular season. The series starts on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 pm from Raymond C. Hand Park in Clarksville, Tenn.

The Sooner offense has poured in 75 runs in the last eight games. Oklahoma is fresh off a Bedlam series win after taking the opener from the Cowboys, 9-1, and the finale, 3-1. Overall, the Sooners enter the weekend at 26-24-1 overall and wrapped up Big 12 play with an 11-13 record with five series victories. Junior shortstop Sheldon Neuse, who picked up his fifth save of the year on Sunday, leads OU with a .383 batting average, .471 on-base percentage and .6863 slugging percentage; all of which rank in the top three in the Big 12. He has driven in 46 runs on 15 doubles, 10 home runs and five triples to go with 12 stolen bases. An everyday player over recent weeks, junior outfielder and designated hitter Cody Thomas has seen his average jump to .304. The reigning Big 12 Player of the Week has driven in 15 runs, including seven in the Bedlam series, and hit .455 (20-for-44) since April 12. Senior right fielder Alex Wise is third on the team with a .302 average. He is riding a 13-game hitting streak; the longest active streak in the Big 12. Freshman right-hander Jake Irvin (5-1) was the OU midweek starter four weeks ago and has risen to opening night starter. He owns a 4.24 earned run average with 44 strikeouts in 46.2 innings.

Austin Peay is 27-19 overall and 17-9 in the OVC under first-year head coach Travis Janssen. The Governors are hitting .308 as a team with six regulars hitting over .300; led by left fielder Logan Gray at .370 with 12 home runs and 35 RBI. Center fielder Patrick Massoni is second at .350. Right fielder Chase Hamilton is toed for the team-lead in home runs with 12 to go with 41 RBI and a .333 average. Right-hander Alex Robles (9-4) is the Austin Peay Friday starter with a 4.25 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 84.2 innings. At the plate, Robles is hitting .331 with 37 RBI and 33 runs scored.

Weekend Pitching Match-Ups

Game	Oklahoma	Austin Peay
Thursday	RHP-Jake Irvin, Fr. (5-1, 4.24, 44 K)	RHP-Alex Robles, Jr. (9-4, 4.25, 72 K)
	RHP-Alec Hansen, Jr. (1-5, 5.90, 58 K)	RHP-Caleb Powell, Jr. (7-2, 4.16, 40 K)
Saturday	RHP-Dylan Grove, Fr. (2-0. 1.93, 18 K)	LHP-Michael Costanzo, So. (6-4, 6.21, 61 K)

Crimson Over Orange; Twice as Nice

Oklahoma won its Big 12 series over Texas and Oklahoma State for the first time since 1998; the only other time it has happened. The Larry Cochell-led Sooners took two out of three from the No. 16 Cowboys in the Bedlam Series. OU won the opener at Driller Stadium and then split the next two at All Sports Stadium. Oklahoma then swept the Longhorns at home to close out the regular season. This season, Pete Hughes and the Sooners picked up a home series win over Texas and took the opener from OSU at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark then split at ONEOK Field.

Irvin's Rise

Freshman right-hander Jake Irvin opened the season in the rotation for the Sooners in a four-game series against Northeastern. From there, he moved to the bullpen and pitched in spot duty or long relief. At Texas Tech (3/26), Irvin struck out the side in one inning of work and followed with two-scoreless frames at Little Rock (3/29). He earned the start in Oklahoma's next midweek; a 12-2 win over Dallas Baptist (4/5) in which he got the win in five innings with five strikeouts. Irvin pitched OU to another midweek win over Wichita State (4/12) and struck out 10 in 5.1 innings against Oklahoma State (4/20). He has since risen through the Sooner rotation; pitching on Sunday at Kansas (5/1), Saturday against Kansas State (5/7) and Friday night vs. Oklahoma State (5/13).

Stat	Player	##	Rank
BA	Neuse	.383	55
HR	Neuse	10	87
OBP	Neuse	.471	57
GAMES	Olson	25	96
SLG	Neuse	.683	19
TB	Neuse	125	30
3B	Neuse	5	31
WHIP	Andritsos	1.07	87

Cody at the Bat

Former OU football quarterback Cody Thomas has emerged as a middle of the lineup threat for the Sooners late in the season. He earned Big 12 Player of the Week (5/16) after hitting .417 (5-for-12) with seven RBI as he hit for the cycle in the series against Oklahoma State. Since a spot start at Wichita State (4/12) in which he drove in two and hit a solo home run, Thomas is hitting .455 (20-for-44) with seven multi-hit games in nine starts.

Double Down on Steele

Freshman center fielder Steele Walker has been in the OU lineup for 48 of 51 games this season and leads the Sooners with 16 doubles with 12 in the last 21 games. His 16 doubles are tied for third most by a freshman on record (1993-present) with Aaron Baker (2007) and Richard Park (1997). In 2014, Sheldon Neuse doubled 17 times, which ranks second by a Sooner freshman. Matt Bose (2002) owns the record at 18.

Young Arms

Sooner freshmen pitchers have combined for 17 of the team's 26 wins; one behind Texas Tech's 18 for most in the Big 12. Collectively, OU freshmen have posted a 3.75 ERA, 7.10 K/9 average and 1.81 K-to-BB ratio. Jake Irvin, who has struck out a class-leading 44, has won five games, while Chris Andritsos and Austin Hansen have each won four.

Big 12 Returns to OKC

The Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship returns to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City after a one-year stint in Tulsa. Day one of the tournament is Wednesday, May 25.