Sooners Return to Globe Life Field to Face ACU Wednesday

First Pitch

• Oklahoma travels to Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday to face Abilene Christian in a midweek game at Globe Life Field. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
• Oklahoma is celebrating its 125th anniversary season in 2023. The program was established in 1898, and OU has competed in 118 seasons since (including 2023).

Watch/Listen/Follow

• The game will be streamed via SoonerVision on ESPN+ and broadcast locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF with Toby Rowland on the call. Live stats will be available at OUStats.com.

Series History

• This will be the first meeting between Oklahoma and California Baptist in baseball.
• Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Air Force 7-0. The Sooners won two midweek games last season by scores of 10-4 and 8-7. Six of the seven meetings (and each of the last five) have been played in Norman. OU won 8-5 and 6-2 in 2012, won 16-1 in 2004 and won 13-2 in 1971 — all in Norman — and won 12-9 in 1983 in a game played in Tampa, Fla.

Leading Off

• This will be OU's 16th game at Globe Life Field since the ballpark opened in 2021 (two in 2021 and 15 in 2022).
• Globe Life Field became a de facto second home for the Sooners in 2022, as OU played a total of 13 games in the Texas Rangers' ballpark (9-4 record). Oklahoma opened the season with three games at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, played home series against Northwestern State and Texas at the ballpark and swept its four games to win the Big 12 Championship last May.
• This is the fifth straight season in which Oklahoma will play at least one game in a Major League Ballpark. Since 2019, OU is a combined 13-9 in games played at MLB ballparks.
• Oklahoma is playing a scheduled eight games in 10 days to begin the 2023 season. OU went 2-2 in four games against California Baptist (1-2) and Air Force (1-0) between Friday and Monday. The Sooners will host Rider in a three-game series at L. Dale Mitchell Park this weekend (3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday).
• Oklahoma is in its sixth 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 159-106 record, two NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2022 Big 12 tournament championship and the 2022 College World Series finals since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.
• OU Director of Player Development Britt Bonneau served as head coach at Abilene Christian for 22 years from 1997-2018. He led the Wildcats to 756 victories, eight Lone Star Conference South Division titles, two regular season championships and five LSC postseason tournament titles. Bonneau's teams were also invited to nine of 13 NCAA Division II South Central region tournaments between 2000-13. In 2003, he led the Wildcats to the NCAA Division II World Series.
• Redshirt senior Braden Carmichael will make his second career start at Globe Life Field. His first appearance as a Sooner was a start at GLF against UT Arlington on Feb. 24, 2021. He went 4.0 innings, allowing no runs on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
• After the first weekend of play, junior transfer first baseman Anthony Mackenzie leads the Sooners with a .429 batting average (6 of 14), while junior college transfer shortstop Dakota Harris paces OU with six RBIs and two doubles. He hit the first home run of the season in the opener on Friday.