Baseball Preview: UTA At #16 Oklahoma - Jonathan Gray Moves To Mid-Week Starter

To say that righty Jonathan Gray has struggled in his first two outings could be a bit of an understatement. Fact is the sophomore from Chandler, Oklahoma has been near disastrous in his two Saturday starts against Pepperdine and Hartford and now Skipper Sunny Galloway is hoping a different day of the week will be kinder on the Sooner hurler.

Gray has an 0-1 record with a 9.64 ERA in just 4.2 innings pitched this week. He has given up seven hits while also walking seven batters and only striking out six. The good news for Oklahoma is that Mavericks pitcher Kasey Merck also has an 0-1 record and a 19.29 ERA in 2.1 innings pitched.

UT-Arlington has six position starters returning from last year's squad that finished 27-28. The Mavericks are off to a quick 5-2 start this season and notched their first win over a Big XII opponent when they beat Texas 7-5 last week. They'll provide a challenge Oklahoma's Jonathan Gray because they have four players batting .310 or better, led by Matt Shortall's .389 average.

The Sooners also have four players batting above .300 led by Matt Oberste's .364 average. In twenty-two at bats he's knocked in five runs on eight hits and has crossed the plate himself six times. Freshman catcher Hunter Lockwood is the only Sooner to hit a homerun. He's gone yard four times this season and has a team high 9 RBIs.

Tonight's game against UT-Arlington starts at 5:30 PM.