Oklahoma baseball scored a two game sweep of Arkansas Pine Bluff on Tuesday and Wednesday with 8-2 and 9-3 wins respectively. In the series Oklahoma posted 21 hits to fuel their 17 runs and continued to get solid pitching with Ryan Duke and C.J. Blue getting the starts.

Now, after winning three games in a row, the Sooners are off to the Houston College Classic where they'll play Rice this afternoon, Houston on Saturday afternoon and Tennessee on Sunday morning. Here's a sneak peek at the field.

Rice Owls
First Pitch: Friday at Noon
Record:  3-2
Ranking:  15 (Baseball America); 11 (Collegiate Baseball); 9 (NCBWA)
Series: OU leads 6-4
Game Result: 7-2 Rice

Houston Cougers
First Pitch: Saturday at Noon
Record:  3-2
Ranking:  NA
Series: OU leads 19-7
Game Result: 8-5 Sooners

Tennessee Volunteers
First Pitch: Sunday at 11:00 am
Record:  3-1
Ranking:  NA
Series: OU leads 1-0
Game Result: 2-0 Sooners

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With college baseball underway and the Sooners standing toe-to-toe with the #1 team in the land over the weekend there are many questions surrounding Oklahoma and the baseball season. For this, we’d like to introduce to you the magic baseball. It doesn’t lie and it holds nothing back.

Simply think of your question (works best if you ask it out loud) and then click on the baseball for an answer. Have fun!

Got a question? Ask the
World Famous Infallible Magic Base-Ball!
Just think of your question and click on it

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Game three of Oklahoma's baseball series against the UCLA Bruins was rained out on Sunday so the two teams will have to settle with a split. UCLA won the first game of Saturday's doubleheader with a two run walk-off homerun, by Gabe Cohen, in the bottom of the 9th. The Sooners then struck back by winning a 12 inning pitchers duel 3-2.

OU pitcher Doyle pitches six and one third innings with seven strike outs and no earned runs in OU's second game.

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The college baseball season officially begins Friday and the Big 12 coaches have made their selections as to how the teams will finish in conference. It comes as no surprise that the Texas Longhorns are picked to win again and the Sooners are tabbed to finish at 7th.

Big 12 Baseball Coaches Poll

1. Texas
   
2. Missouri
   
3. Baylor
   
4. Texas A&M
   
5. Oklahoma State
   
6. Nebraska
   
7. Kansas State
   
7. Oklahoma
   
9. Kansas
   
10. Texas Tech

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I'll be honest. When I saw OU's draw for the Big 12 tournament I thought at best they would come away with a 1-2 record in pool play. So after Wednesday's win over Missouri and then the miracle over OSU Friday night I was ecstatic about the possibility of beating Baylor on Saturday and then playing for the conference championship on Sunday.

From early on in the game it was obvious that OU would need some help in the form of sloppy play and just blind luck to have a shot a getting past the Bears. That's exactly what they got but it wasn't enough.

After Baylor built a 7-0 lead OU rallied back by clutch hitting off poor relief hitting to get within a run at 7-6. However with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th the Sooners couldn't capitalize and fell short.

The question now is did OU do enough to earn a birth in the NCAA tournament? I'm not sure that they did but yet I'm not convinced that they didn't either. What I do know is that if they find their way into the tournament then they are going to have to do more than just get lucky in order to advance.  

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Last night Oklahoma State gave the Sooners a game in the Big 12 baseball tournament that will rank second only to the Texas football team this year. Leading 8-4 going into the bottom of the 9th the Cowboys were three outs away from playing for a possible Big 12 Title in baseball, then came the giving.

Oklahoma batted around in the ninth and with the bases loaded leading only by a run Cowboy pitcher Jordy Mercer threw consecutive wild pitches to score the tying and game winning runs for Oklahoma.

Call it luck or fate or destiny or whatever but Oklahoma is still very much in the title hunt. The Sooners play Baylor today with the winner advancing to the championship game tomorrow.

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Showing that they still have life and that they may actually deserve an invitation to the NCAA tournament OU knocked-off the #2 seeded and 11th ranked Missouri Tigers in the opening game of pool play in the Big 12 Tournament.

Unfortunately OSU didn't hold up to their end of the deal and lost to Baylor in the Midnight match-up. OU and OSU will have a round of Bedlam, Big 12 Tournament style, on Friday night and if the Sooners pick up another win then suddenly everything becomes a possibility.

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Back in March I wrote a post welcoming everyone to Oklahoma City for the Big 12 men's and women's basketball tournaments. With the baseball tournament set to begin on Wednesday I thought I would revise the post just a little and get it back up on the main page.  

Bricktown Ballpark

The Bricktown Ballpark is home to the Oklahoma Redhawks, Texas Rangers' AAA farm team, and is one of the best minor league parks in the country. Located in the heart of Bricktown the ballpark is easily within walking distance to the city's restaurants and other entertainment attractions.   Ford Center where the men's tournament is hosted is also home to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets of the NBA. It is located just off I-40 and is easily within walking distance of several downtown hotels and restaurants. If you wanted to you could stay downtown and never have to drive to see the game or to get food. There are several entertainment options within walking distance of the Ford Center as well.

Lodging

Unlike during the basketball tournaments there shouldn't be a problem securing a downtown hotel room if you have the desire to do so. It will be more expensive than staying in the outlining areas but you would have the luxury of being within walking distance from just about everything. The Courtyard is the most centrally located hotel to the ballpark and area attractions.

Bricktown

When not watching baseball Bricktown is where you'll want to be. Located just east of the ballpark, Bricktown offers all the entertainment and dining you could want. Here's a quick rundown of the food options.

BBQ

Earls Rib Palace - 216 Johnny Bench Drive

Italian

Hideaway Pizza - 2 Mickey Mantle

Spaghetti Warehouse - 101 E. Sheridan

Zio's - 12 E. California

Mexican

Abuelos - 17 E. Sheridan

Chelino's - 15 E. California

Seafood

Pearl's Crabtown - 303 E. Sheridan

Sports Grills

Daiquiri Zone - 27 E. Sheridan

Half Time Sports Grill - 115 E. Sheridan

Toby Keith's - 310 Johnny Bench Drive

Steak

Mickey Mantle's Steak House - 7 Mickey Mantle

Complete Bricktown Restaurant Guide

Bricktown Attractions

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial
This was brought up in March during the basketball tournaments and really should be a must see while in Oklahoma City. The memorial pays tribute to those who lost their lives in the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building.

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Thanks to this weekend's Bedlam sweep by Oklahoma State the Sooners have now lost six consecutive regular season conference games to the Cowboys. Watching OU give games away this weekend made me have two thoughts. How in the world was this Sooner baseball team ever ranked and what kind of excuse is there for losing to an instate rival in the manner that the Sooners did over the weekend.

I decided to stay with the second thought for a while and as I was watching the Sooners commit error after error I somehow was reminded of Oklahoma State football and the endless excuses that are offered up season after season when they lose to Oklahoma.

So here's what I decided to do. Take the Cowboys justification for losing to Oklahoma in football and apply it to the Sooners shortcomings in the baseball diamond. Hey, I've got to find some way to smile during this nosedive known as Sooner baseball. See if you recognize any of these...

Wait until (insert sport here) season. You know we own you in that sport.

Our coach is only in his second season. He's putting together one of the best recruiting classes ever and then we will dominate the Big 12.

With all of our young talent we could have the most dangerous offense in the nation next season.

We've won two of the last nine meetings between the two teams including last year's 21-6 spanking in the Big 12 Tournament so you know that the tide is turning.

We've won (insert number) championships in (insert sport) during my lifetime. How many do you guys have?

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The OU baseball team finally got back on track over the weekend by winning their first series in conference since taking 2 of 3 from A&M March 23-25. The series win over Kansas State was much needed for a few reasons.

First and foremost it was a great win for conference seeding as we head into the final month of the season. The series win puts OU in fifth place, two games behind A&M and three behind Missouri.

Secondly it was huge because OU returned to the form that allowed them to not only crack the Top 25 earlier in the season but also climb the polls a little. The Sooners used solid pitching and power hitting to outscore the Wildcats 39-23 during the three game series.

Now the question is will they build on the momentum or throw it away. I guess we'll find out tomorrow and this weekend when they play UT-Arlington and then return home for a weekend series with the Kansas Jayhawks.

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There is no doubt that the OU baseball team is slumping. Losers of three in a row and five of their last eight any good news would be appreciated at this moment. We had hoped that news would come last night from Ft. Worth, Texas when OU beat TCU but the problem is that the Sooners didn't beat the Horned Frogs. So now we have to go to our backup good news.

Yesterday the Big 12 released their Players of the Week in which Stephen Porlier was named co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Week.

Porlier threw the first complete-game shutout of his career in Oklahoma's 3-0 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday.  The four-hit shutout was the first for a Sooner since Daniel McCutchen shut down UC Riverside in 10 innings on March 3, 2006.  Porlier struck out six in the outing and is tied for the Big 12 lead with 68 strike outs this season.

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OU's game against number 11 Wichita State was cancelled on account of rain Tuesday night and will not be made up. Instead the Sooners will host UT Arlington on May 1st. Not a bad tradeoff.    

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