Sooners Set for Regional Opener on Friday

June 2-5 | Louisville, Ky. | Jim Patterson Stadium

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Game One Pitching Match-Up
First Pitch	Oklahoma	Xavier
Friday, 1 p.m. CT	RHP-Devon Perez (5-2, 3.61)	LHP-Zac Lowther (5-4, 2.81)
>>>Last Start	vs. TCU (5/13): ND, 5.1 IP, 4 R, 7 K	vs. St. John's (5/25): W, 7.0 IP, 1 R, 9 K

Louisville Cardinals
Record: 47-10 (23-6 ACC) Coach: Dan McDonnell (11th Season) Career Record/Years: 503-201/11 Rank: 6^USA/6^BA/6^CBN/7^D1B

Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 34-22 (12-11 Big 12) Coach: Pete Hughes (4th Season) Career Record/Years: 651-490-3/21 Rank: RV^USA

Xavier Musketeers
Record: 32-25 (10-6 Big East) Coach: Scott Googins (12th Season) Career Record/Years: 339-355/12 Rank: RV^USA

Radford Highlanders
Record: 27-30 (11-13 Big South) Coach: Joe Raccuia (12th Season) Career Record/Years: 351-320-1/12 Rank: NR

On the Air
TV/Stream	ESPN3 WatchESPN App Tom Hart Chris Burke
Radio	KREF 1400 AM TuneIn Radio App Toby Rowland (Fri.)

Player to Watch
1B-Austin O'Brien, Sr. The Sooners only four-year player, O'Brien enters his first NCAA postseason with 98 RBI and 95 runs scored in his career. He is OU's active career home runs leader with 18.

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FIRST PITCH

The University of Oklahoma baseball team makes its return to the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2013 and first appearance under fourth-year head coach Pete Hughes. The Sooners earned an at-large bid as the two-seed in the Louisville Regional and open play against three-seed Xavier on Friday at 1 p.m. CT from Jim Patterson Stadium. This marks the 37th NCAA postseason appearance for OU and the first as an at-large team since 2012. Every OU game in the regional can be heard across the Sooner Sports Network and will air locally on Sportstalk 1400 AM/99.3 FM. Voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland will have the call. All games will be broadcast by ESPN and streamed on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Tom Hart (pbp) and former MLB infielder Chris Burke (color) will be in the booth.

ABOUT THE SOONERS

Oklahoma is 34-22 overall and finished the Big 12 slate at 12-11. The Sooners won five top-25 RPI series; the most of any school in the country this season. Sophomore center fielder Steele Walker leads Oklahoma's offense with a .338 batting average and is second at .552 in slugging and .421 in on-base percentage. He has driven in 50 runs and scored 48. Senior catcher Renae Martinez is second in hitting at .328 and third in slugging at .522. Senior first baseman Austin O'Brien is hitting .305 and tied with Walker for the team-lead in home runs at eight, while Martinez has added seven. O'Brien is five runs and two RBI shy from reaching 100 in both categories for his career. Sophomore right-hander Jake Irvin leads the staff with a 6-2 record and 3.50 earned run average. Solidifying the back-end of the bullpen are senior RHP JB Olson and sophomore RHP Connor Berry. Olson is 5-1 with eight saves and a 1.67 ERA in 29 appearances. Berry is 3-0 with a 1.63 ERA in 21 relief outings.

REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Friday, June 2
G1	1 p.m.	Oklahoma vs. Xavier
G2	5 p.m.	Louisville vs. Radford

Saturday, June 3
G3	11 a.m.	Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
G4	6 p.m.	Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

Sunday, June 4
G5	12 p.m.	Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser
G6	6 p.m.	Game 5 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

Monday, June 6 (If Necessary)
G7	6 p.m.	Game 6 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner

SCOUTING THE MUSKETEERS

Xavier, the automatic qualifier from the Big East, earned its second consecutive bid to the tournament and third in four seasons. The Musketeers are 32-25 overall and finished third in their conference at 10-6. Xavier went 17-2 at home this season and just 15-23 away from its home park. Lefty Zac Lowther anchors the rotation with a 5-4 record, 2.81 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 77 innings of work. Offensively, the Musketeers are led by designated hitter Conor Grammes with a .336 average and 40 RBI. Third baseman Rylan Brannon has clubbed 14 home runs on a .322 average, while right fielder Joe Gellenbeck has driven in a team-high 56 with 11 home runs.

NOTES VS. THE FIELD

Oklahoma has never in its history played Xavier, Louisville or Radford.
The Sooners last faced a current member of the Big East in 2014 when Seton Hall visited Norman opening weekend; the first series with Pete Hughes as the OU head coach in which OU won two of three.
Oklahoma is 19-10 all-time against current teams in the ACC, including a win over Boston College (2/28) and a loss at Georgia Tech (3/14).
The Sooners were sent to regionals hosted by ACC opponents in 2013 (Virginia Tech) and 2012 (Virginia); winning both.
OU has not played any current member of the Big South in its history.
Oklahoma has never played a game in the state of Kentucky.
Sooner head coach Pete Hughes coached in the Big East at Boston College (1999-05) and the ACC at BC (2006) and Virginia Tech (2007-13), but missed playing against Louisville, which joined the Big East in 2006 and the ACC in 2015.

THE FORECAST

Projected Starters
OU Lineup	BA/OBP/SLG	Notes
LF-Cade Harris	.253/.463/.387	Hitting .348 (8-for-23) over six-game hit streak.
3B-Jack Flansburg	.241/.384/.293	10 multi-hit and eight multi-walk games this season.
C-Renae Martinez	.328/.405/.522	Blasted three-run, walk-off hoem run vs. TCU (5/13).
CF-Steele Walker	.338/.421/.552	First Sooner with 50-RBI season since Matt Oberste (2013)
1B-Austin O'Brien	.305/.366/.555	OU active leader with 18 career home runs.
DH-Brylie Ware	.304/.392/.442	Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year.
RF-Ben Hollas	.291/.432/.418	29-game reached base streak ended vs. Texas (5/24).
2B-Kyle Mendenhall	.238/.330/.360	Went 4-for-8 in two Big 12 Tournament games.
SS-Brandon Zaragoza	.259/.338/.282	Hitting .313 (10-for-32) over the last 11 games.

SOONERS' NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

All-time, Oklahoma is 79-69 in its 36 previous trips to the NCAA postseason. The Sooners went to their first-ever in 1947 and four years later won their first of two National Championship; defeating Tennessee at the 1951 College World Series. Oklahoma has made 10 CWS appearances, including a string of five in a row from 1972-76. OU won its second National Championship in 1994; besting Georgia Tech in the final. The Sooners last went to Omaha in 2010, which was also the last time they hosted a regional. Under the current format, OU has hosted regionals in 2006, 2009 and 2010 and made it to a super regional in 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2013. Oklahoma's last postseason appearance in 2013 resulted in a regional win at Virginia Tech and a two-game sweep at LSU in the supers. The Sooners' 2013 Blacksburg Regional victory, a 10-4 win over the Hokies, came at the expense of current head coach Pete Hughes, who coached in the VT dugout from 2007-13.

CHASING THE 100-100 LIST

Austin O'Brien sits at 98 RBI and 95 runs scored in his career entering the postseason. He is in the hunt to become the first OU player to reach 100 in each category since Max White (2010-13). Beginning with Jackson Williams (2005-07), seven Sooners reached the milestone over the next seven years. O'Brien would be the first to do so while playing his entire career in the BBCOR era. All-time, 39 players have reached the 100-run, 100-RBI mark as a Sooners. The first to do was was Keith Drumright (1974-76) with 147 runs and 114 RBI. Current student assistant and former four-year starter Hunter Haley was the most recent Sooner to threaten joining the list as he registered 99 RBI and 98 runs before a broken wrist suffered in late April last season.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Sophomore Brylie Ware was voted the Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year by the league's coaches. He went to Neosho County (Kan.) Community College in 2016 after receiving only one Division I offer (K-State). He was the first NJCAA Triple Crown Winner since 1988 and named the NJCAA Player of the Year with a .589 average, 29 home run and 122 RBI. As a Sooner, he primarily was used as the DH and also earned starts at both corner infield positions. Ware is a .304 hitter with five home runs and 29 RBI. All five of his home runs have come since April 30. He joins Greg Dobbs (2001) and Ole Sheldon (2001) as the Sooners three Big 12 Newcomer of the Year recipients and is OU's first individual award winner since Sheldon Neuse was the 2014 Freshman of the Year.

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