Sooners Head to Tulsa for Midweek vs. ORU

April 3 | Tulsa, Okla. | J.L. Johnson Stadium

¹⁹Oklahoma

Oral Roberts

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KREF 99.3/1400

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Pitching Match-Up
First Pitch	Oklahoma	Oral Roberts
Tues. 6:30 p.m.	RHP-Kyle Tyler (1-2, 4.07)	LHP-Taylor Varnell (2-1, 3.75)
>>>Last Start	vs. TSU (3/14): W, 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 10 K	at Little Rock (3/27): L, 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 K

Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 20-10 (6-0 Big 12) Coach: Skip Johnson (1st Season) Career Record/Years: 20-10/1 Rank: 19^BA

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Record: 16-10 (7-2 Summit) Coach: Ryan Folmar (6th Season) Career Record/Years: 193-121/6 Rank: NR

On the Air
TV/Stream	WatchESPN TBA
Radio	KREF 99.3/1400 TuneIn Radio App Toby Rowland

Player to Watch
1B-Cade Cavalli Cavalli posted a career-high in hits with a 3-for-4 performance in Friday's win over Baylor. He followed with a two-run home run, his second of the season, on Saturday as the Sooners swept.

FIRST PITCH

The Oklahoma baseball team opens the month of April with four road games this week beginning at Oral Roberts on Tuesday, April 3. The Sooners and Golden Eagles take the field for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch from J.L. Johnson Stadium. Voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland will call the game across the Sooner Sports Network, which will air locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM. The games can also be streamed online at Sportstalk1400.com or on the TuneIn mobile app. The game will be televised by ORU in the Tulsa area on KGEB channel 53 as streamed via WatchESPN. Scott Higgins (play-by-play) and former MLB and Sooner pitcher George Frazier (color analyst) will be in the booth on the TV side of the broadcast.

ABOUT THE SOONERS

Oklahoma won its fifth series in a row, swept back-to-back Big 12 series for the first time since 2006 and is 20-10 on the season and a perfect 6-0 in league play. Sophomore catcher Brady Lindsly is hitting a team-leading .358 with 20 RBI, including the game-winner in a walk-off win vs. Baylor (3/30). Junior right fielder Steele Walker is second on the team at .333 with 21 runs and 21 RBI. He hit his third home run of the season and 14th of his career Saturday vs. Baylor (3/31). Redshirt-sophomore center fielder Kyler Murray hit .500 (7-for-14) last week with three multi-hit games. He lifted his average to .284 on the season and has scored 22 runs and is tied for the team lead in stolen bases at five. The Sooners pitching staff owns a 3.36 earned run average .228 batting average against and 9.87 strikeouts-per-nine-innings. Junior right-hander and closer Connor Berry earned his first win with 2.2-scoreless on Friday. He has five of OU's eight saves with a 2.19 ERA. Sophomore lefty Levi Prater has made a team-high 18 relief appearances. He owns a 1.37 ERA and has struck out 28 in 19.2 innings.

THE FORECAST

Projected Starters
OU Lineup	BA/OBP/SLG	Notes
LF-Cade Harris	.310/.445/.483	Third in the nation in walks (24), ninth in doubles (10).
SS-Brandon Zaragoza	.299/.333/.333	Hitting .344 (22-for-64) since Feb. 25.
RF-Steele Walker	.333/.438/.472	Sitting on 99 career RBI and 98 career runs.
CF-Kyler Murray	.284/.398/.466	Grand slam vs. TAMCC first since O'Brien (4/4/17).
C-Brady Lindsly	.358/.438/.506	Sixth in the Big 12 in batting average.
3B-Brylie Ware	.298/.359/.412	Reached base in career-best 19 consecutive games.
2B-Kyle Mendenhall	.304/.349/.443	Career-best 23 RBI through just 22 games.
1B-Cade Cavalli	.259/.396/.388	.448 BABIP (batting average on balls in play).
DH-Tyler Hardman	.242/.297/.364	Went 3-for-6 with two doubles vs. Texas Southern

BIG 12 OPENERS

The Sooners are 11-11 in the first Big 12 match-up of the season after a 19-6 win vs. West Virginia (3/23). Oklahoma swept the series over the Mountaineers to mark the fifth series win in the first Big 12 weekend in the last six seasons. It was the first sweep on opening weekend since welcoming TCU (2013) to the league OU won its first Big 12 game in the league opener vs. Iowa State (3/7/97), 7-4.

MLB OPENING DAY STARTERS

Brewers RHP Chase Anderson (2008-09), Rockies RHP Jon Gray (2012-13) and Angels RHP Garrett Richards (2007-09) will represent the Sooners as MLB opening day starters for their respective teams. The University of Oklahoma is the first college to have three alumni start at pitcher on MLB's opening day in recorded history. OU pitchers have combined for five opening day starts in the last three years, the longest in that period and tied for the most with Vanderbilt (David Price-3, Sonny Gray-2) since 2014.

DOUBLE TAKE

As a freshman, Steele Walker was one shy of the Sooner rookie record with 17 doubles. His six this season has pushed his career total to 39. Walker is one away from cracking that top-20 list in the OU record book, which would tie him with Tommy Thompson (1976-79). In the Big 12 era, he is tied with Garrett Buechele (2008-11) for the eighth most since 1997.

Next Home Series
Oklahoma vs. Little Rock April 10 \| Norman, Okla. The Sooners return home after visiting TCU this coming weekend for a pair of midweek games in Norman beginning against Little Rock and followed by a rematch vs. Oral Roberts. TICKETS

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES

Oral Roberts and head coach Ryan Folmar are 16-10 overall and 7-2 in the Summit League. The Golden Eagles, who are 14-4 at home, are hitting .268 as a team. Cal Hernandez is hitting a team-high .361. Spencer Henson is second at .359 with four home runs and 26 RBI. Left-hander Taylor Varnell gets the ball on Tuesday night. He owns a 2-1 record and 3.75 ERA in five starts with 33 strikeouts in 24 innings.

ALL TIME VS. ORU

Last 10 Meetings
Year	Result	Location
2017	Loss, 3-2	Tulsa
	Win, 6-2	Norman
2016	Win, 12-3	Norman
	Loss, 0-5	Tulsa
2015	Loss, 1-5	Norman
2014	Loss, 0-2	Norman
	Loss, 0-3	Tulsa
2013	Win, 3-1	Tulsa
	Win, 15-8	Norman
	Win, 9-8	Norman

Oklahoma leads the all-time sries with Oral Roberts 39-34. The Sooners snapped a four-game win-streak for the Golden Eagles in the series late in the 2016 season. Prior to that, OU had won five in a row in the all-time series. Oral Roberts leads the all-time series, 16-12, when playing in Tulsa. The Sooners last win over the Golden Eagles in Tulsa was a 3-1 decision in 2013.

LAST TIME THEY MET

Playing for the second time in as many weeks, Oral Roberts evened the season series with a 3-2 win at home on April 11, 2017. Oklahoma got on the board first with a run in the third with just one hit and three free passes plus a passed ball to score the run. The Golden Eagles put three runs on the board in the fourth, including a two-run double by Noah Cummings. The Sooners got a run back in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk with one down, but ORU limited the damage by getting a runner at the plate a batter later to preserve its one-run lead. Oklahoma had just one baserunner in the final four innings.