University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Baseball Team Faces Midweek Challenges In TCU And UTA :: Oklahoma looks to return to form against Horned Frogs, Mavericks.

Sooner Baseball Team Faces Midweek Challenges In TCU And UTA :: Oklahoma looks to return to form against Horned Frogs, Mavericks. Sooner Baseball Team Faces Midweek Challenges In TCU And UTA

Oklahoma looks to return to form against Horned Frogs, Mavericks.




Chris Jakubauskas and the Oklahoma baseball team look to return to form against midweek foes TCU and Texas-Arlington.

April 16, 2002

Dates: vs. TCU, April 16; vs. Texas-Arlington, April 17

First Pitches: Both games will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Ballpark: L. Dale Mitchell Park (2,700)

Location: Norman, Okla.

Radio: Tuesday's game can be heard on KREF-1400 AM, as well as through OU's official athletic website, soonersports.com. James Hale will call the action.

Rankings: For the first time in five weeks, Oklahoma is not ranked. Neither TCU nor Texas-Arlington are ranked.

Coaches: Oklahoma is coached by Larry Cochell, who is 435-264-1 in his 12 seasons with the Sooners, and 1,231-724-4 over his 35-year coaching career. Lance Brown leads the Horned Frogs and has compiled a record of 472-447 record in 15 years at the school. UTA is coached by Jeff Curtis, who is in his first season at the helm of the Mavericks baseball program.

Series Notes: Oklahoma leads the all-time series with TCU by a margin of 46-20 ... Under head coach Larry Cochell, Oklahoma is 18-7 against the Horned Frogs ... This was to have been the second meeting between the clubs this season, however a Feb. 26 game was cancelled due to cold weather in the Dallas-Fort Worth area ... The teams split a home-and-home series during the 2001 season, with TCU winning in Fort Worth, 6-1, on Feb. 20 and OU winning a 9-5 contest on April 3 in Norman ... OU leads the all-time series versus Texas-Arlington 9-3 ... The Mavericks defeated Oklahoma by a score of 15-5 on April 2 in Arlington ... It was Cochell's first loss to UTA during this 12 years at OU's head coach ... UTA cranked out 20 hits and scored in every inning en route to the win ... Austin Mix took the loss in the game and Luke Alexander hit his second home run of the season ... OU was originally scheduled to play at UTA on March 20, however heavy rains forced the postponement of the game.

Scouting TCU and Texas-Arlington

TCU enters its game against Oklahoma with a season mark of 20-17, including 11-4 in Conference USA play. The Horned Frogs swept Saint Louis this past weekend and have won five of their last six ball games. On the year, TCU has defeated such national powers as Texas, Baylor (twice) and Notre Dame, as well as C-USA rivals East Carolina, Charlotte and South Florida. Ironically, enough, TCU has lost twice this season to Texas-Arlington, OU's opponent on Wednesday night.

Terry Trofholz leads the offensive attack with an incredible .456 average. Chris Meeks is batting .395 with 10 doubles and 31 RBI, while Walter Olmstead has belted seven home runs and has driven in 36, both team highs. As a team, TCU has a batting average of .315 and boasts eight players who have driven in 16-or-more teammates.

Clayton Jerome is TCU's top pitcher, with a record of 6-2, an ERA of 2.67 and a team-high 49 strikeouts. Kyle Shoemaker is another arm the Horned Frogs rely upon heavily, going 5-2 with an earned run average of 3.58. Patrick Newburn (2-1, 5.53 ERA) serves as the club's third starter. Ryan Weems (2-1, 2.42 ERA, one save) and Ryan Hesloney (1-0, 2.63 ERA) are valuable members of the TCU bullpen.

Texas-Arlington is 19-18 on the season and will be looking to complete a season sweep of Oklahoma, after downing the Sooners 15-5 in Arlington on April 2. The Mavericks won two out of three games against Lamar, a team OU faced earlier in the season, this past weekend. UTA has won eight out of its last 10 games and boasts two wins over TCU this season.

Darrell Preston, who went 4-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBI in the first meeting with OU, leads the club in batting with a .367 average and has 36 RBI on the season. K. J. Hendricks was 3-for-5 against Oklahoma two weeks ago and boasts a batting clip of .340. Ryan Roberts leads the club with 37 runs batted in, and Daniel Ortmeier has drilled a team-high six homers with 35 RBI on the year.

Pierce Loveless is UTA's number one starter and has a 2-2 record, a 6.21 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 58 innings of work. Lefty Chris Minissale (1-0, 3.77, two saves) picked up the win against OU on April 2 and Aaron Pullin is 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA on the season. Mike Snapp is UTA's top reliever with two saves and a 2.55 ERA, but has a 5-4 mark

Texas Takes Red River Series, Two Games To One

Oklahoma enjoyed its biggest home crowds of the season for the Red River baseball rivalry series against Texas, but the Longhorns spoiled the party by taking two of three games. Saturday's contest was postponed due to rain, so after winning the first game on Friday night, OU dropped both ends of a Sunday doubleheader to the 'Horns.

After falling behind 5-2 in the third inning, Oklahoma bounced back and rallied to top No. 9 Texas 6-5 in front of 2,225 fans at L. Dale Mitchell Park on Friday night. Mark Roberts (4-2) pitched seven innings and allowed five runs on six hits, while striking out three en route to the win. Evan Greusel recorded his second save by pitching two perfect innings and freshman Matt Bose brought home the winning run with an RBI base hit in the seventh inning.

The Sooners fell to No. 9 Texas by a score of 8-2 in the first game of a Sunday doubleheader. OU catcher Ryan Richardson belted two solo home runs on the day, his fifth and sixth of the year and his second multi-home run game of the season. The sophomore from Mesa, Ariz., went deep twice in a loss at Nebraska on April 6. Curtis White (0-1), who took the loss in his first start as a Sooner, pitched 3.2 innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits, while walking four. Austin Mix pitched admirably in relief of White, going 5.1 innings and giving up just one run on three hits.

Finally, Texas ran away from the Sooners, 8-1, in the second half of Sunday's doubleheader in front of 2,517 fans, a season high. Jarod McAuliff pitched five innings and two-thirds, struck out two and allowed five runs - four earned - on seven hits.

"Texas just out-pitched us and out-hit us," said Oklahoma head coach Larry Cochell. "There's no secret to what happened out there, we just couldn't get anything going and we weren't getting it done on the mound. We had some opportunities, but we couldn't put anything together. They just kept coming up with great defensive plays."