Sooners Back Home for Ranked Matchup vs. DBU

Oklahoma

DBU

March 19 / Norman, Okla. / L. Dale Mitchell Park

FIRST PITCH

• Oklahoma returns to the friendly confines of L. Dale Mitchell Park for an eight-game homestand, starting Tuesday with a top-20 matchup vs. No. 15 Dallas Baptist.

• The game can be watched via SoonerVision on ESPN+ and heard locally in Oklahoma on SportsTalk 1400 AM/99.3 FM or nationwide on The Varsity app. Live stats can be found at OUStats.com. Toby Rowland will be on the radio call, while Chad McKee and Rich Hills will call the action on ESPN+.

• Single game tickets and mini-plan options for home games at L. Dale Mitchell Park are available via SoonerSports.com/tickets.

• For the Fans: Tuesday's matchup is another Two's Day, as is every Tuesday throughout the season, where fans can get $2 beer, soda, popcorn and hot dogs.

• The Sooners enter Tuesday's meeting on a four-game win streak and winners of eight of their last nine. Now in its 27th and final season in the Big 12 conference, Oklahoma is 358-318-2 all time in conference play.

LEADING OFF

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The Sooners have opened the season with a 13-6 record, highlighted by a top-10 win over then-No. 9 Tennessee, a walk-off victory over former conference foe Nebraska and a 6-0 start to Big 12 play with sweeps over UCF and No. 12 TCU.

? The Sooners are an undefeated 6-0 in Big 12 play and sit atop the conference standings as the only undefeated team in league play.

? OU cracked the top 25 rankings for the first time this season and for the first time since 2022 are ranked in all five major polls, sitting at No. 14 (Baseball America), No. 17 (D1 Baseball), No. 18 (Perfect Game USA), No. 20 (USA Today Coaches Poll) and No. 23 (NCBWA).

? Oklahoma is in its seventh 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 202-138 record, three 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.
Lead, Snyder at TCU

SERIES HISTORY

• Dallas Baptist: The Sooners and Patriots history goes back to the first meeting between the programs in 1978. OU holds the all-time series lead over DBU, 26-17.

• The teams have already met once this season, an 11-7 DBU victory in Dallas on Feb. 20. The Sooners rallied from a four-run deficit to tie the game in the seventh inning before the Patriots hit a go-ahead grand slam to win the contest.

• The programs met twice a season ago, splitting the season series with the away team winning each contest. The most recent meeting in Norman was an 8-6 DBU victory on March 21, 2023.

THE NUMBERS

• On the season, the Sooners are batting .316 as a team, paced by sophomore Easton Carmichael's .400 average. Graduate transfer Michael Snyder leads the team with 29 RBIs, five home runs and a .727 slugging clip. Carmichael paces OU with seven doubles, while senior Bryce Madron has drawn a team-best 17 walks.

• On the mound, the Oklahoma pitching staff has a 5.02 team ERA with 185 strikeouts to 89 walks.

• Nine Sooners have homered so far in the early season for a total of 19 team blasts, led by Snyder's five, while six other Sooners have homered twice.

• Fourteen Sooners have brought in at least one run, with five plating at least 10 runs.

• Junior LHP transfer Braden Davis has been solid in his five starting appearances as a Sooner, leading OU with 28 strikeouts in 23.0 innings pitched.

• Sophomore righty transfer Kyson Witherspoon paces the team with a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 IP to go with 19 strikeouts, while veteran lefty James Hitt has 22 K's in 22.0 innings pitched, highlighted by a single-game high for any OU pitcher with 10 vs. Nebraska (2/18).

• The pitching staff has recorded double-digit strikeouts in 10 of OU's first 19 games with a season-high 15 twice (vs. Tennessee [2/17], vs. Wright State [2/24]).

• The Sooners have had 17 pitchers make appearances so far in 2024, with eight registering 10-or-more strikeouts, led by junior LHP Braden Davis' 28 and senior LHP James Hitt's 22.

• Head coach and pitching coach Skip Johnson and the Sooners have 22 pitchers on the roster in 2024.

SCORCHING SOONERS

• After dropping the season opener to Oregon, the Sooners bounced back in a big way with a pair of wins vs. No. 9 Tennessee and Nebraska in dramatic fashion at the season-opening Shriners Children's College Classic at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

• Opening the home slate vs. Wright State, the Sooners came sprinting out of the gates on offense, putting up a combined 46 runs on the weekend, highlighted by a 20-0 home-opening day win on Friday.

• The Sooners opened Big 12 play in dominant fashion, sweeping a UCF team that came to Norman at 9-1 and fresh off a win at No. 4 Florida. The Sooners pitching and hitting was firing on all cylinders as OU outscored the Knights 29-8 on the weekend, capped by a 14-2, seven inning run-rule on Sunday.

• Following a four-game win streak at home, the Sooners saw the streak snapped by Bedlam rival Oklahoma State Tuesday, with the Cowboys besting the Sooners, 14-5. Last Wednesday, OU got back in the win column with a 5-1 win at UTA. Starter Carson Atwood led the OU pitching staff with a career-high tying four strikeouts.

• Oklahoma stayed unbeaten in conference play with an impressive three-game sweep of No. 12 TCU in Fort Worth this past weekend. It marked OU's first sweep of TCU at Lupton Stadium and first sweep over the Horned Frogs since 2013.

MADRON NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Oklahoma senior outfielder Bryce Madron was named Big 12 Player of the Week, the conference announced the weekly honors Monday.

• Madron helped lead OU to a 4-0 week including a series sweep over No. 12 TCU, hitting .438 (7-for-16) with a home run and four RBIs. The outfielder also stole three bases, drew four walks and scored five runs.

• In conference play, Madron ranks first in runs scored (8), third in walks (7), stolen bases (3) and RBIs (7), and ninth in batting (.450).

• On the season, Madron is hitting .353 with two home runs, eight extra-base hits and 15 RBIs. He leads the team with 26 runs scored, 17 walks drawn and a .483 on-base percentage.

• The weekly award marks OU's second Player of the Week honor in as many weeks, as sophomore Easton Carmichael claimed Big 12 Co-Player of the Week accolades a week ago.

• The honor is the first career weekly award for Madron, a 2023 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and 2024 All-Big 12 Preseason Team selection.

LED BY THE VETS

• Veteran leadership in the field highlights the 2024 Oklahoma squad, paced by redshirt seniors Kendall Pettis and Michael Snyder, seniors Anthony Mackenzie and Bryce Madron, and juniors Jackson Nicklaus and John Spikerman.

• The six combine for 851 career games played and 795 starts. Production at the plate includes a combined 83 home runs, 143 doubles and 484 RBIs.

RANKINGS CHATTER

• The Sooners made their season debut in the polls this week (3/18), earning spots in all five major polls. OU sits at No. 14 (Baseball America), No. 17 (D1 Baseball), No. 18 (Perfect Game USA), No. 20 (USA Today Coaches Poll) and No. 23 (NCBWA).

• Oklahoma also holds the No. 1 strength of schedule in the nation, already playing five ranked opponents with wins in four of those five. OU's opponents hold a combined record of 228-87 for a .724 winning percentage.

• OU ranks fifth in the NCAA RPI with a win over No. 3 RPI Nebraska and a sweep of No. 7 in the RPI, UCF.

THE SKIPPER SURPASSES 200 WINS AT OU

• OU head coach Skip Johnson collected his 200th career victory at Oklahoma last Friday with OU's 7-3 win at No. 12 TCU.

• Oklahoma is in its seventh season under the direction 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 202-138 record, three 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.

• Johnson holds 616 career wins as a head coach, earning 414 at Navarro (TX) College before making the jump to Division I baseball where he's won 202 at OU.

L. DALE MITCHELL PARK EXPANSION PROJECT

• The Oklahoma baseball facility enhancement project will transform the look of the ballpark from both the interior bowl and the exterior of the stadium. New locker rooms, training areas, coaches offices and team meeting areas combined with chairback seating, terraced berms and additional awnings and concourses will provide a first-class facility for fans and student-athletes. In addition, a new, state-of-the-art performance and player development center will be added. A new entry to the team areas will include a Champions Lobby, displaying the success and tradition of the Oklahoma baseball program.

• More than 35,000 in square-foot-space of new areas benefiting student-athlete performance and recovery including a robust medical services area, weight room and sports science to centralize student-athlete training at the baseball field.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma baseball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Baseball) and like Oklahoma Baseball on Facebook.