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Baseball Welcomes Kansas State
May 8, 2008
With six games left in the regular season, the Sooners (29-20-1 overall, 6-14-1 Big 12) sit ninth in the Big 12 standings and host Kansas State (23-25, 7-14), the Big 12's eighth place team, this weekend in a pivotal series.
The series gets underway on Friday, May 9 at 6:35 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman. Game two on Saturday is slated for a 7 p.m. first pitch and the three-game set will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The top eight teams qualify for the 2008 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The Sooners will conclude the regular season next weekend against Oklahoma State while Kansas State has Kansas (29-22, 8-13) remaining on its slate.
RADIO BROADCAST INFORMATION
All three games of the Kansas State series will be broadcast live on the Sooners' flagship station, KOKC 1520 AM, with Chuck Kelly and DeWayne Vaughn providing the on-air talent. On Sunday, the game will be aired over the Sooner Sports Radio Network, enabling fans to listen to affiliates across the state of Oklahoma.
Live audio will also be available on the internet via Oklahoma All-Access, SoonerSports.com's premium site.
MORE OKLAHOMA BASEBALL ONLINE
WEB CAST: A live web cast for all three games will be available on Oklahoma All-Access.
LIVE STATS: Live stats are available for all games on SoonerSports.com.
UPDATING THE SOONERS
The Oklahoma Sooners will look to rebound this weekend after suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the Jayhawks in Lawrence. Despite scoring 29 runs on the weekend, OU was unable to hold the Kansas offense at bay. The Sooners lost game one, 17-15, and fell 13-10 in game two and 9-4 in the finale.
UP NEXT
OU will have four days to prepare for the final three games of the regular season against No. 8 Oklahoma State. The Ford Bedlam Series begins on Friday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Drillers Stadium in Tulsa, Okla. The series then shifts to Oklahoma City at the AT&T Bricktwon Ballpark. Game two is set for 7:35 p.m. and Sunday's finale is slated for 4 p.m.
SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
Record: 23-25 overall, 7-14 Big 12
Ranking: NA
Overall Series: OU leads 145-46 overall since 1942 and 26-7 in Big 12 play
Kansas State is 5-5 in its last 10 games and most recently topped No. 4 Arizona State on Tuesday, 7-6, in Manhattan.
In Big 12 play, KSU has two series victories after taking two out of three early in the season against Oklahoma State and most recently at Texas Tech.
Offensively, Kansas State is hitting .254 as a team and is led by senior infielder Brett Scott who is the only Wildcat hitting over .300 on the season at .318. Sophomore Justin Bloxom leads KSU with 38 RBIs and junior Nate Tenbrink is the home-run leader at eight.
On the mound, the Wildcats own a 4.89 team ERA. Senior RHP Brad Hutt will get the starting nod on Friday in the series opener. Hutt is 4-4 this season with a 3.81 ERA in 78 innings of work with 36 strikeouts and 17 walks.
MORE ON THE OU-KANSAS STATE SERIES
Oklahoma won two out of three games last season in Manhattan, Kan. After dropping the opener (10-6), the Sooners claimed victory in games two (20-9) and three (12-4) over the Wildcats. OU also won the last series played in Norman in 2006, 2-1, in similar fashion (lost game one and won games two and three). Below is a closer look at the series between the Sooners and Wildcats.
- OU leads 145-46 overall since 1942
- In Big 12 play, OU is 26-7 overall against KSU
- The Sooners have won the last six series meetings
- The Sooners have won seven of the last 10 games
- OU is 63-12 against KSU in Norman since 1962, including 22 of the last 23 games
- OU has won every Big 12 series vs. KSU except 2001
- In Big 12 play, six of KSU's seven wins were series openers
- OU has scored in 10-plus in 18 of the 33 Big 12 games
- Since 1997, OU is 4-0 in decisive game threes, including the last three seasons and the 2003 series
HITTING .300 in BIG 12 PLAY
The Sooners are hitting .314 in Big 12 games this season, the second best mark in the league behind Texas A&M (.326). OU has finished a season hitting over .300 in Big 12 play on four occasions (2006, 2000, 1998 and 1997).
WELCOME HOME
Oklahoma is 19-9 this season at home and has won 20 or more games at L. Dale Mitchell Park in each of the last four seasons. The Sooners are hitting .348 at home this season and averaging 8.5 runs per game.
MORE ON THE RUN RULE OVER MISSOURI
The 22 runs scored on April 20 is the second most by an OU team in a Big 12 regular season game and tied the mark set on May 11, 2003 against Kansas State (W, 22-6). That game was also the last time OU run ruled a Big 12 team during the regular season. OU's 22-4 victory also marked its largest margin of victory in a Big 12 regular season game. OU connected for more hits with runners in scoring position on April 20 (17), than the previous two games (8).
SCORING FIRST
OU is 15-8-1 this season when scoring first, suffering losses to Nebraska (GM1), Baylor (GM3), Texas A&M (GM1&2), Missouri (GM1), Southern Nazarene, Texas Tech and Kansas (GM2). The Sooners have struck first in 10 of their 21 Big 12 games. OU has also scored in the first inning on 23 occasions and holds a 14-8-1 record in those contests.
OU UNDER GOLLOWAY IN EXTRA INNINGS
The Sooners have had success with games played in extra innings in 2008. OU is 5-1-1 this season with wins over then-No. 1 UCLA, Houston, Baylor, TCU, Wichita State and a tie at Nebraska. The only loss was suffered against then-No. 11 Missouri on April 19. In his fourth season at OU, head coach Sunny Golloway is 13-1-1 when his Sooners play in extra frames.
MIDWEEK SUCCESS
Oklahoma finished the season with a 15-1 record in midweek games, topping the opposition by an average of five runs. The Sooners have recorded quality wins over Dallas Baptist (2), TCU (2) and Wichita State. Until the loss to Southern Nazarene, OU was the only undefeated team in the Big 12 Conference in midweek play.
10 OR MORE IS A PLUS
OU has 10 or more hits in 29 games this season owns a 18-10-1 record in those contests. The Sooners have scored 10 or more runs on 14 occasions and hold a 12-2 record in those contests. In comparison, opponents have connected for 10-plus hits in 25 games (11-13-1 record) and scored 10 or more runs in seven games where OU is 1-6 (beat WSU).
FREEMAN NAMED A FINALIST FOR LOWE'S AWARD
OU senior Jarod Freeman was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2008 Lowe's Senior Class Award on April 17. Freeman's selection marks the second consecutive year that a Sooner has appeared on the finalist list (Aaron Ivey - 2007). The 10 student-athletes were chosen from a list of 30 candidates based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete, including: classroom, community, character and competition. The 10 finalists will be placed on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award baseball ballot for a nationwide vote (April 17-June 2. Fan balloting, available on the award's official website www.seniorclassaward.com, will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the winner.
QUALITY STARTS AND RELIEF
The Sooners have found success on the mound when receiving quality starts from their pitchers. Fifteen starts turned in by OU pitchers have been under five innings and 14 have lasted six or more innings (OU 9-5 in those games).
TOUGH SCHEDULE
The Sooners are 6-12-1 so far this season against ranked competition with wins against then-No. 1 UCLA, then-No. 20 Baylor (2), then-No. 14 Texas, then-No. 11 Missouri and No. 8 Wichita State. OU also lost to UCLA, then-No. 9 Rice, then-No. 22 Nebraska (2), Baylor, Texas (2), then-No.11 Texas A&M (3) and Missouri (2). OU still has four games remaining against teams ranked in the top 25 this week; 1 vs. Wichita State (No. 7) and 3 vs. Oklahoma State (No. 14).
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