OU Returns to Wichita State for Midweek Bout

First Pitch

• Oklahoma (13-11) concludes its four-game road trip on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. contest at Wichita State (13-10). The game will be played at Riverfront Stadium, home of the Wichita Wind Surge, the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
• This is the second of three meetings this season between the Sooners and the Shockers. Wichita State won 6-2 at Eck Stadium in Wichita on March 14. The teams will meet at L. Dale Mitchell Park on April 11.
• OU returns home this weekend for a four-game non-conference set against No. 7 Stanford at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Game times for that series are 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Stanford will be the first top-10 non-conference opponent to visit Mitchell Park since 2012 (OU defeated No. 9 Arkansas 4-0 in a midweek contest).
• 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).

Listen/Follow

• The game 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) with Toby Rowland on the call. No live video stream will be available for this game.
• Live stats will be available at OUStats.com.

Leading Off

• 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 170-115 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.
• Freshman catcher Easton Carmichael leads the team with 29 RBIs and four triples, and is batting .352 (32 for 91). He leads the Big 12, is tied for sixth nationally and leads all catchers with his four triples, and has thrown out seven baserunners stealing. Junior right fielder Bryce Madron has registered a nation-leading 33 walks in the season's first 24 games and has scored 19 runs.
• Junior first baseman Anthony Mackenzie is batting .362 (34 for 94) and leads the team with 22 runs scored and 15 steals (15 for 16). Freshman first baseman Rocco Garza-Gongora is hitting .342 (25 for 73) with three homers, five doubles, 13 RBIs and 16 runs. Junior shortstop Dakota Harris leads the Sooners with a .386 batting average (32 for 83), 10 extra base hits (six doubles, four homers) and has driven in 27 runs.
• Oklahoma is batting .286 and averaging 6.6 runs, 9.4 hits, 2.6 extra base hits, 6.0 walks and 2.3 stolen bases per game, and has a 5.17 team ERA and a .967 fielding percentage. OU opponents have batted .245 and averaged 5.7 runs, 8.3 hits, 2.8 extra base hits, 4.5 walks and 6.9 strikeouts per contest.
• The Shockers are batting .307 and averaging 7.5 runs, 10.6 hits, 3.8 extra base hits and 4.2 walks per game and have a 4.08 team ERA and .965 fielding percentage. WSU opponents have batted .240 and averaged 4.7 runs, 7.9 hits, 2.6 extra base hits, 2.8 walks and 9.8 strikeouts per contest.
• Mackenzie and Madron have each reached in 15 straight contests. Harris leads the team with 11 multiple-hit games, Carmichael has 10 multi-hit games, and Mackenzie and Garza-Gongora each have eight. Harris and Carmichael lead the team with eight multiple-RBI games.
• Oklahoma ranks 14th nationally and third in the Big 12 with its 54 stolen bases. OU also ranks 14th nationally (third in the Big 12) with its 145 walks.

Series History

• This will be the 35th meeting between Oklahoma and Wichita State. The Sooners lead the series 19-15.
• WSU won 6-2 two weeks ago at Eck Stadium. OU won two of three games last season, defeating the Shockers 6-2 on Feb. 22 and 9-5 on April 19. WSU won the final meeting 18-0 on May 16.
• Oklahoma won the last meeting prior to 2022, 9-4 at Wichita State in 2019. The Shockers lead the series in Wichita 12-4, and OU is 3-5 there since 2006.