No. 15 Aggies Close Regular Season at No. 13 Oklahoma

May 14, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. - The 15th-ranked Texas A&M baseball team (34-18, 14-10) closes out the regular season this weekend as the Aggies head to Norman to face 13th-ranked Oklahoma (37-16, 14-10) in a battle of two of the Big 12's top teams.

Games on Friday and Saturday are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park, while Sunday's regular-season finale is set for 1 p.m.

The series not only will have a big impact on seeding for next weekend's Big 12 Championship, but is expected to play an important role in NCAA selections that come out on May 25.

The Aggies dropped a tough series to No. 7 Texas last weekend, but rebounded with an impressive 13-4 win over No. 25 Texas State on Tuesday at Olsen Field.

The Sooners, meanwhile, have been idle since taking two of three from rival Oklahoma State in the annual Bedlam Series over the weekend.

The weekend marks the start of an 11-day road swing to the Sooner State for Texas A&M, as the Aggies will remain in the area for the Big 12 Tourney next week at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

Fans can listen to all the action on WTAW-AM 1620. Free live audio of the games will be available worldwide on aggieathletics.com and radioaggieland.com.

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:

FRIDAY: #30 Brooks Raley (So., LHP, 7-1, 2.67) vs #14 Andrew Doyle (Jr., RHP, 6-4, 4.19) SATURDAY: #28 Ross Hales (Fr., LHP, 5-1, 3.50) vs TBA SUNDAY: #50 Barret Loux (So., RHP, 3-2, 4.05) vs #26 Garrett Richards (Jr., RHP, 7-3, 6.96)

TEXAS A&M UP CLOSE

`09 Record: 34-18, 14-10 Big 12 (T-4th)
Streak: Won 1
Last 5/10: 3-2/7-3
Rankings: #15 (NCBWA), #16 (BB Amer), #16 (USAT), #16 (rivals), #19 (Col BB)
Up Next: Big 12 Tourney (Wed-Sun)
Head Coach: Rob Childress, 4th year
at A&M: 153-86-1 (.640)
Overall: 153-86-1 (.640)
vs Oklahoma: 5-5
On the Web: aggieathletics.com

OKLAHOMA UP CLOSE

`09 Record: 37-16, 14-10 Big 12 (T-4th)
Streak: Lost 1
Last 5/10: 3-2/5-5
Rankings: #13 (NCBWA), #13 (USAT), #13 (rivals), #15 (BB Amer), #20 (Col BB)
Up Next: Big 12 Tourney (Wed-Sun)
Head Coach: Sunny Golloway, 4th year
at OU: 164-94-1 (.635)
Overall: 464-235-1 (.664)
vs A&M: 5-7
On the Web: soonersports.com

BIG 12 SNAPSHOTS

TEXAS A&M

SERIES WINS: Baylor (split series, 2 of 3), Kansas (sweep), Nebraska (sweep), Oklahoma State (2 of 3).

SERIES LOSSES: at Missouri (2 of 3), at Texas Tech (2 of 3), at Kansas State (2 of 3), at Texas (split series, 2 of 3).

OKLAHOMA

SERIES WINS: at Kansas State (2 of 3), Nebraska (2 of 3), at Missouri (2 of 3), Texas Tech (2 of 3), at Baylor (sweep), Oklahoma State (2 of 3).

SERIES LOSSES: at Texas (sweep), Kansas (2 of 3).

TICKET/PARKING INFO

Seats remain for the series and gates will open 90 minutes prior to first pitch.Tickets are available at the gate, online or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU. The office is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday on the plaza level of the Asp Avenue parking garage.

Discounted tickets for groups of ten or more people are available for just $4 each (with one $5 processing fee on the order) and can be ordered by calling (405) 325-8448. The $4 ticket price is $1 off the regular youth price and $4 off the regular adult price.

TEAM NOTES

A&M averages seven runs per contest and has totaled 73 home runs, 330 RBIs and 69 stolen bases.

The Aggies have won 13 of their last 17 games...over that span A&M has hit .336 with 29 home runs, 125 RBIs, a .977 fielding percentage, a 3.26 ERA and a .236 opponent average.

A&M went 10-3 on its season-long 13-game homestand that wrapped up last Friday...the Aggies finished the regular season 27-9 at Olsen Field.

A&M finished 10-2 at home in Big 12 play this year.

Texas A&M ranks seventh nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (9.6), 12th nationally in fewest walks per nine innings (2.7) and 13th nationally in fewest hits allowed per nine (8.61).

Texas A&M ranks fifth in the league in batting average and third in ERA.

A&M leads the league in fielding percentage in conference games (.983) and ranks third for the entire season (.974)...the Aggies' season percentage of .974 ranks 26th nationally.

A&M put together a string of 263 straight chances without an error from April 9-22.

The Aggie pitching staff leads the league in strikeouts (496) and K/BB ratio (3.6)...A&M also ranks second in opponent batting average (.250).

The Aggies' 496 strikeouts are 40 shy of the school record (536 set in 1991 and 1999) with three regular-season games remaining.

Aggie pitching has struck out eight or more batters in 39 of 52 games (75%) in `09, and 10 or more in 27 (52%)...the season high is 17 (Wright State, Feb. 21).

The Aggies have come from behind in 20 of their 34 wins this year.

Seven of A&M's 10 Big 12 losses this year have been by two runs or less.

Since the start of the 2007 season, A&M is 95-26 (.785) at Olsen Field...the Aggies are also 34-9 (.791) in that time in mid-week contests (Tuesday and Wednesday games).

A&M is 4-1 this season against top-five opponents...the Aggies have defeated UC Irvine (No. 5), Baylor twice (No. 5) and Rice (No. 1), while falling to Cal State Fullerton (No. 4)...A&M is 9-6 overall against ranked opponents.

LAST 5 (3-2): .328, 10 HR, 35 RBI...3.20 ERA, 39 K, .225 opponent avg., .970 fielding pct.

LAST 10 (7-3): .315, 20 HR, 65 RBI...3.66 ERA, 80 K, .256 opponent avg., .968 fielding pct.

vs RANKED TEAMS (9-6): .291, 22 HR, 88 RBI...4.04 ERA, 135 K, .251 opponent avg., .978 fielding pct.

ROAD GAMES (7-9): .262, 20 HR, 70 RBI...4.05 ERA, 139 K, .235 opponent avg., .981 fielding pct.

MORE ON OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma (37-16) is tied with the Aggies for fourth place in the Big 12 standings at 14-10 and is coming off a Bedlam Series win over Oklahoma State last weekend.

OU, which has featured the league's most prolific offense for much of the season, is tied for the Big 12 lead with a .322 batting average. The Sooners have hit 83 home runs, driven in 407 and average 8.4 runs per game. The pitching staff ranks sixth in the league with a 4.88 ERA and sports a .276 opponent batting average

Sunny Golloway is in his fourth season as the head coach in Norman. For more information on Oklahoma baseball, visit soonersports.com.

SERIES HISTORY

Oklahoma leads the all-time series between the schools, 30-29, in a rivalry that dates back to the 1912 season.

Texas A&M won three of the four meetings with OU in 2008...the Aggies swept the regular-season series in College Station before dropping the Big 12 Tourney opener last May.

The Aggies' series sweep in 2008 snapped a four-series losing skid to the Sooners.

There have been two sweeps in Big 12 play (Oklahoma in 2000, A&M in 2008).

A&M has won eight straight series openers between the schools.

Four of A&M's six Big 12 series wins over Oklahoma have come in Norman (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003).

The Aggies and Sooners have played an extra-inning game or had a game decided by one run in every Big 12 series.

Series Record: OU leads, 30-29
A&M Streak: Lost 1
in College Station*: series tied, 10-10
in Norman*: A&M leads, 11-10
neutral sites*: OU leads, 6-4
* since 1971

BIG 12 ERA (1997-present)
overall: A&M leads, 23-21
in College Station: series tied, 9-9
in Norman: A&M leads, 10-8
at Big 12 Tourney: series tied, 4-4

A&M vs OU, in BIG 12 SERIES
overall: Won 7, Lost 5
in College Station: Won 3, Lost 3
in Norman: Won 4, Lost 2
A&M Streak: Won 1
series opener: Won 10, Lost 2

For the complete A&M/OU series history, visit page 160 of the 2009 Aggie Baseball official guide.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M will make the 20-minute drive north following the weekend to participate in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship from May 20-24 at Oklahoma City's AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.