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On Tuesday evening I stood with a group of media members around Oklahoma shortstop Sheldon Neuse. The Sooners had just destroyed Arkansas-Little Rock by a final score of 22-0 and Neuse had gone 3-for-3 from the plate with five RBI. As Oklahoma's sophomore phenom was talking, junior Craig Aikin stepped out of the dugout and the attention of the media shifted drastically to the lead-off guy. Aikin had set a school record with six hits that night and had sent his first career home run over the right field fence. Despite the stellar performance from Neuse it was Aikin who was the story...for that night.
While Aikin carried that Tuesday night performance into a good weekend of baseball, Neuse had a great weekend. In Oklahoma's win over UALR and 2-1 series win over the Purdue Boilermakers, Neuse batted .688 (11-for-16), with 10 RBI, 8 runs scored, and sent the ball out of the park three times.
| Neuse's Production Last Week | ||
|---|---|---|
| vs. UALR | 3-for-3, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R | |
| vs. PUR (Fri.) | 1-for-5, 2B, RBI | |
| vs. PUR (Sat.) | 4-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI | |
| vs. PUR (Sun.) | 3-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI | |
On Monday Neuse, a preseason All-American, was named the Big 12 Player of the Week. He became the third Sooner to receive such an honor in the last four weeks, joining pitcher Jake Elliott and infielder Kolby Carpenter.