Sooners, Longhorns Meet in Arlington

Friday, April 1

Arlington, Texas

6:30 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Texas

Tickets

Photo by: Texas Rangers

March 31, 2022 | Baseball

BSOK ESPN2 ESPN Listen Live Stats #LaunchPad

Oklahoma

⁸ Texas

Friday-Sunday, April 1-3 / Arlington, Texas / Globe Life Field

Matchups
Game Time	OU Projected Starter	UT Projected Starter
Friday, 6:30 p.m.	LHP Jake Bennett	LHP Pete Hansen
Saturday, noon	RHP David Sandlin	RHP Tristan Stevens
Sunday, noon	LHP Chazz Martinez	LHP Lucas Glover

First Pitch

• It's OU-Texas weekend in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Oklahoma and Texas meet in the middle for a Big 12 conference series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday and noon on Saturday and Sunday.
• While not the football showdown at the Cotton Bowl during the Texas State Fair each October, this baseball series provides OU fans the chance to watch the Sooners and Longhorns in DFW during the spring. Adding to the general buzz around the Arlington entertainment district is Texas Live! next to Globe Life Field and Wrestlemania taking place across the street at AT&T Stadium on Saturday night.
• Tickets for the series are available at texasrangers.com/collegebaseball.

Watch/Listen/Follow

• All three games will be televised. Friday's series opener will be shown on Bally Sports Oklahoma Extra, and can be seen in Oklahoma, many areas of Texas and portions of Louisiana and Arkansas. Toby Rowland and George Frazier will have the call for that one. The Saturday (ESPN2) and Sunday (ESPN) contests will be on the ESPN networks, with Clay Matvick and Kyle Peterson calling the action. Originally slated for ESPNU, Sunday's game was bumped up to big ESPN this week.
• The games will be broadcast on the Sooner Radio Network (locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF, Sportstalk1400.com and the Varsity Network app anywhere). Rowland and Frazier will call Friday's game via simulcast, and Rowland will be joined by Blake Brewster for the radio-only broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday.
• Live stats will be available at OUStats.com.

Leading Off

• Rivalry Week continues for Oklahoma with the Red River Rivalry and Texas on the docket this weekend. The Sooners defeated Oklahoma State 7-6 on Tuesday at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, Okla., in the first Bedlam showdown of the season. OU scored two runs in the ninth inning, plating the winning run on a bases loaded walk. All four rivalry games are being played at neutral sites (OU is the home team for all four).
• This will be the first neutral-site regular season series between Oklahoma and Texas. All other neutral games between the schools (since 1962) have been in the postseason conference or NCAA tournaments.
• The OU-Texas series, originally scheduled to be played in Norman, replaced a previously scheduled MLB matchup between the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees at Globe Life Field. The unique opportunity was presented as a result of the Major League Baseball lockout and shifting of the MLB schedule.
• Oklahoma has already played six games at Globe Life Field this season and owns a 4-2 record in the ballpark. The Sooners opened the season with two wins in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown and won two of three games over Northwestern State Feb. 25-27.
• Oklahoma is in its fifth season under the direction of head coach Skip Johnson (including the 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Johnson, who spent the 2017 season on staff as an assistant coach, has led the Sooners to a 127-88 record since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.

Series History

• Oklahoma and Texas have met 219 times on the diamond. Texas leads the series 154-63-2.
• The last two regular season series between OU and UT were played in Austin (the series scheduled for Norman in 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oklahoma won two of three games during the 2019 series in Austin. Texas won three of four last year, including one during the Big 12 conference tournament.
• OU and Texas have played five games in Arlington, Texas (since 1962). The Sooners and Longhorns met twice during the 2002 Big 12 Championship in Arlington (Texas won both), and during the 1976 NCAA South Central Regional in Arlington (OU won two of three).

#LaunchPad

• The #LaunchPad is back for 2022. For the second straight year, pledged donations to a customized dollar amount for every homer that OU baseball hits in 2022 will go towards the the stadium renovation project. For more information, visit TheSoonerClub.com/LaunchPad.
• All donations from the Pledge Per Home Run Campaign will be treated as charitable donations supporting either the OU Softball Stadium Project or the OU Baseball Stadium Renovation Project and are tax-deductible.

The Matchup

• Oklahoma is hitting .287 as a team and averaging 6.2 runs, 9.1 hits and 2.8 extra base hits per game (45 doubles, 16 home runs). The pitching staff has compiled a 5.39 ERA, 200 strikeouts to 84 walks and 205 hits in 207.0 innings and has allowed a .256 opponent batting average.
• On the other side, Texas is hitting .321 as a team. The Longhorns average 8.2 runs, 11.3 hits and 4.4 extra base hits per game (68 doubles, 42 home runs). The pitching staff has compiled a 3.49 ERA, 229 strikeouts to 88 walks and 196 hits in 237.1 innings and has allowed a .226 opponent batting average.
• Each team has a former major league player on its coaching staff. Former Sooner and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Reggie Willits is in his first season as the OU volunteer assistant coach. He spent the last six years in the New York Yankees organization, including the last four as first base coach for the Yankees. Former major leaguer Troy Tulowitzki is on the Texas coaching staff.

Noting the Sooners

• Oklahoma went 9-3 during its recent 12-game homestand that ended with the Baylor series finale last Sunday. OU swept a three-game series against UTSA March 12-13, then swept a midweek set against Air Force, dropped two of three games against New Orleans, and won two of three games over Baylor last weekend.
• During its recent 12-game homestand (9-3 record), Oklahoma turned up the offense. The Sooners batted .336 with 40 extra base hits (average of 3.3 per game), 26 doubles, 12 home runs, 67 walks (5.6 per game) and 29 stolen bases. OU totaled 100 runs (8.3 per game) and registered 133 hits (11.1 per game).
• During the first 10 games of the season, Oklahoma scored a total of 35 runs (average of 3.5 per game). The Sooners have scored 107 runs during the last 13 games (8.2 per game). OU has scored at least seven runs in 11 of those 13 games.
• OU scored at least seven runs in eight straight games between March 8-19. The Sooners had a similar eight-game scoring run between March 9-21 of last season, but this was only the third occurrence in the last 11 years. Oklahoma opened the 2011 season by scoring at least seven runs in nine consecutive games.
• OU is 29 for 36 on stolen base attempts in the last 13 games (average of 2.2 steals per game). Twelve different players registered at least one steal during that stretch, led by Tanner Tredaway's six steals.
• Jackson Nicklaus now leads the Sooners with a .338 batting average (22 for 65), 18 runs scored and six doubles (tied). He has made 19 starts this season (18 at second base), including each of the last 17 games at second base. Tredaway is batting .321 with team highs of 27 hits, 19 RBIs, 10 stolen bases and six doubles (tied). Peyton Graham has a team-best five home runs, along with 15 RBIs, five doubles and 17 runs scored. Blake Robertson has notched 26 hits, 11 RBIs, 16 runs scored and 22 walks, which is best on the team by six (next highest is 16 walks by Diego Muniz and Jimmy Crooks).

Recapping the Last Week

• Oklahoma won the initial Bedlam meeting this season 7-6 on Tuesday at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, Okla. While the Sooners won the Big 12 series two games to one last season, this was OU's first midweek victory over OSU since 2014 in Stillwater (12-9 in 18 innings) [span of nine such games] and its first in Tulsa since 2016 (3-1 win during weekend conference series) [span of four games].
• The Sooners scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to erase a deficit for the second time in the game. Edmond, Okla., product Blake Robertson, who began his college career at Oklahoma State, hit an RBI single to score Peyton Graham and tie the game, and Sebastian Orduno drew a one-out, full-count bases-loaded walk to bring in the winning run in Mustang, Okla., product Mason Lowe.
• Additional freshmen and home state heroes contributed to the win. Redshirt freshman and Norman High School product Cade Horton doubled in OU's first run of the game, scored two runs and earned the victory in his collegiate pitching debut. He came in for the ninth inning and got a strikeout to end the frame. True freshman Jackson Nicklaus went 2 for 3 with three RBIs in his Bedlam debut. Vian, Okla., product Javier Ramos pitched 2.2 innings in relief of starter Braden Carmichael, striking out four batters.
• Oklahoma opened its Big 12 conference slate by winning two of three games against Baylor last weekend at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Sooners won by scores of 5-3 and 9-5 before dropping the finale 16-8.
• The Sooners called on a little "Sooner Magic" in the series-clinching victory on Saturday. Peyton Graham hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning, and that was after Tanner Tredaway hit a game-tying grand slam in the eighth inning. The home runs were the first hit of the game for either player, and Graham's first hit of the series to that point.
• The "Graham slam" is believed to be the first walk-off grand slam for Oklahoma in at least 25 years, and potentially longer. It was OU's first walk-of home run since Renae Martinez beat TCU in 2017.
• "That was probably the coolest thing I've ever experienced here at OU," Graham said of his game-winning grand slam.
• Jake Bennett continued his ace pitching in the series opener on Friday night. He turned in his longest career outing (7.1 innings) and struck out seven batters. Amazingly, the three runs scored were his most allowed in six starts this season. Trevin Michael earned his fourth save of the season, getting the last five outs on Friday.
• Tredaway led OU with a .455 (5 for 11) batting average and seven RBIs during the Baylor series. Diego Muniz, who paces the Sooners with an overall .358 batting average, hit .400 (4 for 10) and drove in three runs in the series.
• Freshman Max McGwire went 3 for 8 (.375) at the plate and hit his first career home run during Friday's win.
• Oklahoma hit six home runs during the series, and they were hit in pairs. Trent Brown hit his second homer of the year on Friday night, while Jimmy Crooks hit his first of the year on Sunday. Graham homered again on Sunday, with a blast reminiscent of Saturday's game-winner. He leads the team with five homers on the season.

Base Snatchers

• The Sooners have registered 51 stolen bases in 64 attempts through 23 games this season. OU surpassed its total from all of last year (46 steals) in the 18th game of this season. Kendall Pettis, who led OU with seven steals in 2021, already has nine stolen bases. Tanner Tredaway (six steals last year) leads the team with 10, while Peyton Graham and Blake Robertson each have six steals so far this season. Catcher Jimmy Crooks has five stolen bases.
• OU's most steals over the last 12 seasons was 98, in 2010. The Sooners registered 56 steals in 2016, 62 in 2013 and 79 steals in 2011.
• Oklahoma finished opening weekend with six stolen bases over three games, then went off for 11 steals against Wichita State on Feb. 22. Three players — Graham, Pettis and Tredaway — each had three stolen bases in the game. In five games last week vs. Air Force and New Orleans, the Sooners were 15 of 16 in stolen bases.
• Prior to Feb. 22, no single Sooner had stolen three bases in a game since Erik Ross against Hartford in 2012. Oklahoma (3-1) finished the Wichita State game one steal shy of the school record of 12, set in 1937 against East Central (Okla.) University.