Big games today for area college baseball rivalries
BY JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
4/24/12 at 5:54 AM
Tuesday is a banner day for area college baseball fans.
Oral Roberts visits Arkansas, and Oklahoma State hosts Oklahoma.
OU and OSU match up in a non-conference Bedlam game at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium at 6:30 p.m. It's the third year in a row the teams have met in a midweek showdown outside of Big 12 Conference play. The home team has won the previous two.
"We'll be excited going to Stillwater," OU coach Sunny Golloway said after his team swept Alabama State on Sunday. "It's like a (preview) for our series coming up in two weeks. It'll be an opportunity for both teams to see what the lineups are like. The pitching is gonna be different on the weekend.
"We'll be ready."
OU (26-14 overall, 7-8 and in fifth place in the Big 12 standings) has won eight in a row this season, while the Cowboys - coming off a Big 12 series sweep over Texas Tech - have won four straight. OSU (22-17, alone in fourth place in the Big 12 at 8-7) is 19-3 this year in Stillwater.
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 107-106.
Although the Razorbacks dominate the all-time series with ORU 64-36-1, the rivalry is intense, even at Baum Stadium.
ORU is 2-3 against the Hogs in NCAA regional settings, including a first-round triumph in Fayetteville in 2006, and won half the meetings between 2003 and 2008, although Arkansas has won the last four in the series.
The Golden Eagles (21-18 overall, 8-3 Summit League) have won four in a row. Arkansas (28-12, 9-9 Southeastern Conference) has dropped five of its last six games against Division I competition. Each team has lost to Oklahoma in the past two weeks, Arkansas by the score of 4-0 and ORU 6-3.
Last week in Tulsa, Golloway predicted ORU would be a team to be reckoned with.
"Our defense has been good, for the most part. Pitching, we've been good. If we've struggled, it's been offensively," said ORU coach Rob Walton. "If those adjustments happen, then yeah. But if they don't happen, then we're not that way."
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Oklahoma (26-14)at Oklahoma State (22-17)
Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, Stillwater
ORU (21-18) at Arkansas (28-12)
Tuesday, 6:35 p.m.
Baum Stadium, Fayetteville, Ark.
Original Print Headline: Area rivals clash Tuesday
John E. Hoover 918-581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com
