Baseball Home Against Houston

Oklahoma

Houston

Friday-Sunday, March 19-21 / L. Dale Mitchell Park / Norman, Okla.

Pitching Matchups
First Pitch	Oklahoma	Houston
Friday, 6:30 p.m.	RHP Wyatt Olds	LHP Robert Gasser
Saturday, 2 p.m.	LHP Jake Bennett	LHP Cameron Prayer
Sunday, Noon	TBA	RHP Ben Sears

First Pitch:
• Oklahoma plays host to Houston in a three-game series this weekend at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon on Sunday.
• This series concludes a stretch of six home contests in seven games for the Sooners.
• Oklahoma won its first true road game of the season on Tuesday, defeating No. 1 Arkansas 8-5 in Fayetteville, Ark. All nine of OU's previous non-home games this season were played at neutral sites.

Leading Off:
• Sixteen of Oklahoma's 22 scheduled games between March 9 and April 14 will be played at the friendly confines of L. Dale Mitchell Park, but six of the Sooners' nine contests from March 16-30 will be played on the road.
• Oklahoma has totaled 58 runs in its last five contests, an average of 11.6 runs per game. During that stretch, the Sooners have also averaged 14.0 hits per outing and tallied 25 extra base hits. Fifteen of OU's 33 doubles this season and eight of its 13 home runs have been hit in the last five games.
• OU has scored at least eight runs eight times in 16 games this season (all in the last 10 outings, and in six of the last seven), and notched double-digit hits in 10 games (five straight games and in eight of the last 10 contests).
• The Sooners have batted .377 (129 for 377) while averaging 10.0 runs and 12.9 hits in 10 games since a 9-3 win over Baylor on Feb. 28.
• Oklahoma's .306 team batting average ranks 20th nationally and second in the Big 12 Conference only to Baylor's .346 average.
• OU is tied for 26th nationally with its 33 doubles this season (2.1 per game), but has registered 26 doubles in its last nine outings (average of 2.9 per game). The national leader in doubles per game (UMBC) averages 3.2 per contest.
• Oklahoma's 16 games have been played against 12 different opponents. The Sooners have faced only four teams – Omaha, UT Arlington, Arizona and Arkansas State – more than once this season.

Tickets:
• All allotted tickets for Friday's series opener are sold out. Tickets remain available for purchase to the games on Saturday and Sunday. Open seating is available on the outfield berms (no ticket required).
• Seating inside L. Dale Mitchell Park is configured to promote proper distancing and capacity is limited to around 20 percent for the 2021 season.

Watch/Listen/Follow:
• The game this weekend will be broadcast FOX Sports Oklahoma (Friday) and FSOK+ (Saturday and Sunday). Chad McKee and Blake Brewster will call the action on Friday and Saturday, and George Frazier will join Brewster on Sunday's call.
• Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF will carry the games locally as a television simulcast. The radio broadcast will also be available via the TuneIn app.
• Live stats will be available at OUStats.com.

Series History:
• Oklahoma and Houston have played 27 times. Oklahoma leads the series 20-7, and have won the last six contests.
• This will be the first meeting between the Sooners and Cougars since 2008, an 8-5 (10 innings) win by Oklahoma in the Houston College Classic.
• OU defeated UH 8-6 in the 2006 NCAA Norman Regional at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
• The schools first met in 1951 and 1952 in Houston. OU won the first four of those six contests.

About the Sooners:
• OU is in its fourth season under the direction of head coach Skip Johnson. Johnson has led the Sooners to an 94-59 record and an NCAA postseason appearance in 2018.
• This weekend's series against Houston will be Oklahoma's first three-game Friday though Sunday series against a single opponent this season (this is the fifth week of the season).
• Tyler Hardman ranks second nationally and leads the Big 12 with his 31 hits this season (national leader Connor Norby of East Carolina has 32 hits). Hardman also ranks seventh nationally with his 23 runs scored (national lead is Jared McKenzie of Baylor with 27 runs scored).
• Tanner Tredaway has hit safely in 13 straight games and reached base in 14 consecutive contests. He is batting .355 (22 for 62) with nine walks, 14 RBIs and 11 runs scored on the season.In his last five outings, Tredaway is hitting .444 (8 for 18) with eight RBIs, two doubles, one home run and four runs scored.
• Conor McKenna leads the team with four home runs and eight extra base hits, is tied for the most RBIs (15) and is second in doubles (four). He is hitting .323 (20 for 62) so far this season (his best average at OU prior to this year was .255 in 2019).
• Peyton Graham has reached base in 12 straight contests, and has hit .360 (9 for 25) over the last five games to increase his season batting average to .303. He has hit both of his home runs this season and tallied five RBIs, six runs and two stolen bases during that stretch. The highlight clip of his moonshot home run against UT Arlington on March 9 went viral, garnering more than 226,000 views on Twitter.
• In his eight starts (12 games played overall), Diego Muniz is hitting .368 (14 for 38) with 10 RBIs and eight runs scored.
• Braden Carmichael registered his longest outing of the season by going 6.0 innings in Tuesday's win at Arkansas. He retired 12 straight batters after Arkansas scored two runs in the first inning, preventing the Hogs from scoring against until the sixth inning. He is 3-0 this season.
• Jason Ruffcorn notched his first save of the season in Tuesday's 8-5 win at Arkansas, striking out three straight batters with two runners on base. It was OU's first save opportunity this season.

Hardman's Monster Week:
• Tyler Hardman hit .917 (11 for 12) in Oklahoma's series win over Arkansas State. He totaled 11 runs, six RBIs and six extra base hits (three doubles, two home runs, one triple) in the three games. He was named Big 12 Player of the Week on March 15.
•  Hardman hit for the cycle in the series opener against Arkansas State, going 5 for 5 in the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday. In order, he doubled, homered, singled and tripled before adding another base hit in the ninth inning. He became the first Sooner since 2010 to hit for the cycle (Cameron Seitzer vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff) and the first OU player since 2015 to notch five hits in a game (Craig Aikin had six hits vs. Little Rock).
• The fourth-year junior from Corona, Calif., reached base in 16 consecutive plate appearances between March 9 and March 15. The NCAA record for consecutive times on base is 18 (accomplished twice, and not since 2012).
•  Hardman singled in his last two at bats on March 9 against UT Arlington (2 for 4 in the game), went 5 for 5 and 3 for 3 in the doubleheader on Sunday, and recorded three hits on Monday before grounding out to third base in the fifth inning (doubled in two runs in his next at bat, ending the game 3 for 4).
• During his reached-base streak, he notched 12 hits, three walks and was hit by a pitch.
• From his last two at bats March 9 vs. UTA through his first two at bats March 16 vs. Arkansas, Hardman reached base in 19 of 20 plate appearances, notching 15 hits in that span.
•  Hardman leads the Sooners in 10 offensive categories: batting avg. (.492), runs (23), hits (31), doubles (five), RBIs (15; tied), triples (one; tied), total bases (44), walks (15), slugging (.698) and OBP (.588).

Fan Cutouts at L. Dale Mitchell Park:
• This season, the OU Athletics Department is offering fans an opportunity to join the Sooners at L. Dale Mitchell Park even if you can't physically be at the games. For $50, you can get a cutout of yourself placed in open seat areas around the stadium. Cutout opportunities are limited and served on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to order. The deadline to order a fan cutout for the 2021 season is March 31.
• Proceeds from the fan cutouts will benefit the Sooner Relief Fund, which directly impacts the OU student-athlete experience.