March 1, 2010

Oklahoma Game Notes

ARLINGTON, Texas -

FIRST PITCH
UT Arlington will play its first midweek game of the season Tuesday, March 2, at Oklahoma with a 3 p.m. first-pitch at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman. The Mavericks closed the month of February with a 2-4 record to start the season. UTA rebounded after an opening weekend sweep at the hands of Dallas Baptist by winning two out of three games against Missouri State. Oklahoma is 6-1 after defeating Valparaiso (12-9) and Richmond (11-3) and losing to Jacksonville (4-3) in Florida last weekend.

INSIDE THE SERIES
UT Arlington and Oklahoma meet for the 27th time as Oklahoma leads the all-time series 17-9, including a 10-3 advantage in Norman. Last season the Mavericks defeated the then-No. 17 Sooners 8-5 in Arlington (5/5/09). Oklahoma has won four of the last five meetings but UTA has won seven of the last 11 overall. The Mavericks won six straight from 2002-2004, which included three wins in Norman. The Mavericks last win in Norman was an 18-12 victory on March 10, 2004.

First Pitch: Tues: 3 p.m.
All-Time Series OU leads, 17-9
Last Meeting UTA defeated OU, 8-5
Arlington, Texas (5/5/09)

Stadium L. Dale Mitchell Park (2,700)
Dimensions: 335 (LF), 411 (CF), 335 (RF)
Live Stats (GameTracker) www.utamavs.com
Live Audio www.SoonerSports.com
Press Box (405) 325-8363

UT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS
Overall Record: 2-4
Conference Record: 0-0
Home Record: 2-2
Away Record: 0-2
Neutral Record: 0-0
Last 5/Last 10: 2-3/2-4
Streak: Lost 1
Rankings: BA: NR/CB: NR/NCBWA: NR/ESPN: NR
Website: www.utamavs.com
Head Coach: Darin Thomas
Career Record: 58-61 (3rd year)
Record at UTA: 58-61 (3rd year)

OKLAHOMA SOONERS
Overall Record: 6-1
Conference Record: 0-0
Home Record: 0-0
Away Record: 4-1
Neutral Record: 2-0
Last 5/Last 10: 4-1/6-1
Streak: Lost 1
Rankings: BA: NR/CB: #17/NCBWA: #22/ESPN: #22
Website: www.SoonerSports.com
Head Coach: Sunny Golloway
Career Record: 511-255 (13th year)
Record at School: 176-99 (6th year)

PROBABLE STARTERS
UT ARLINGTON
Day Pitcher Cl. W-L ERA K/BB
Tues. Preston Beck (RHP) Fr. 0-0 0.00 0/0

OKLAHOMA
Day Pitcher Cl. W-L ERA K/BB
Tues. Ryan Gibson (LHP) Fr. 1-0 0.00 4/2

UT ARLINGTON VS. THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE
UTA is 84-211 all-time against Big 12 opponents. Last season UTA went 2-4 against Big 12 opponents, with a 0-4 mark on the road. The last time the Mavs defeated a Big 12 team on the road was against then-No. 20 Texas (4-3) on April 16, 2008.

OKLAHOMA WELCOMES MAVS FOR HOME OPENER - FIRST TIME SINCE INITIAL MEETING IN 1972
The Mavericks travel to play No. 17 Oklahoma on Tuesday for the Sooners home opener at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The last time Oklahoma hosted UT Arlington for its home opener was the first time these teams met on March 7, 1972. The Sooners won the first meeting 9-3.

TAKING A LOOK BACK
UTA won its first series of the season taking two of three from Missouri State at home last weekend. UT Arlington started the series with a memorable 14-inning, 1-0 victory. The 14-innings played is the most innings in a game for UTA since 2005 when the Mavericks tied the school record in a 4-2 victory in 16 innings at Sam Houston State (3/27/05). UTA also lost to Baylor in Waco (8-7) in 16 innings (4/4/95). The Mavericks won the second game of the series 9-6 on a walk-off, three-run homer by Steffan Guest in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Bears avoided the series sweep with a 5-4 victory on Sunday. Missouri State scored all five runs in the fourth inning.

ON THE HORIZON
Following the midweek game at Oklahoma, UTA will open a 10-game homestand welcoming BYU for a three-game series starting Thursday, March 4. The Mavs and Cougars will play Thurs. (6:30 p.m.), Fri. (6:30 p.m.) and Sat. (1 p.m.).

MITCHELL BREAKS SCHOOL AND SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE STRIKEOUT RECORDS
Jason Mitchell broke a school and Southland Conference record with 18 strikeouts against Missouri State (2/26). Mitchell carried a no-hitter through 8.2 innings and finished the game pitching 9.0 innings, allowing no runs and one walk throwing 134 pitches (85 strikes). His 18 strikeouts broke the UTA all-time record (previously 16 set by Roger Lancaster against UTSA, 4/27/97) and Southland record (previously 17 set by Lamar's Clay Hensley against UTA in 2002). Mitchell became the first Maverick ever to carry a no-hitter through 8.2 innings. There have been five no-hitters in the history of UTA baseball, all coming in 7.0 inning games. The last UTA no-hitter was in 1983 (Duane Mitchell, at Baylor). Mitchell struck out at least two hitters in every inning he pitched except for the eighth inning (struck out one). He struck out the first two batters in the ninth inning before giving up a single up the middle - which ended the no-hit bid - and then struck out a third batter to end the ninth inning. Mitchell's previous career-high in strikeouts was 6 (vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 5/3/09).

MITCHELL NAMED A COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER/LOUISVILLE SLUGGER NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper announced Monday that Jason Mitchell had been named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week. Mitchell is the third Maverick to receive the award since 2003 (Nathan Long, 2009; Ryan Roberts, 2003). Mitchell is automatically the Southland Conference pitcher of the week after earning national honors.

MITCHELL/BOYDSTON TIE NCAA ALL-TIME STRIKEOUT RECORD
Jason Mitchell and Adam Boydston combined for 26 strikeouts against Missouri State, which tied the NCAA all-time record for strikeouts by a pitching staff in a game. Boydston struck out a career-high eight in five innings while earning the win for the Mavs. The duo tied the NCAA all-time record that happened twice before, with the most recent by Murray State vs. Austin Peay (15 inn.) on April 12, 1987, and the first time by Miami (OH) vs. Wright State on April 30, 1971. The previous Southland record for strikeouts by a pitching staff was 22 by Central Arkansas vs. Sam Houston State last season.

Chad Comer NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
Senior catcher Chad Comer has been named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, which was announced Monday, March 1, by The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. The award, which is given annually to the top collegiate catcher, will be narrowed down to 10 semifinalists on May 19. Finalists for the award will be announced June 2.

Steffan Guest ENDS BACK-TO-BACK GAMES IN WALK-OFF STYLE
Senior Steffan Guest had back-to-back walk-off, game-winning base hits for UT Arlington against Missouri State. Guest hit an RBI single up the middle to end a 14-inning marathon to give the Mavericks a 1-0 victory against the Bears on Friday, Feb. 26. The following game, Guest led the Mavs to victory in more dramatic fashion with a three-run, walk-off homer over the left-field fence to give the Mavericks a 9-6 victory.

WALKER BECOMES FIRST FRESHMAN TO START FOR MAVERICKS SINCE 2008
Freshman left-handed pitcher Brody Walker made his first collegiate start for the Mavericks on Sunday in a 5-4 loss against Missouri State. Walker became the first Maverick freshman to start on the mound since 2008 when Mark Picca defeated then-No. 20 Texas on the road on April 16, 2008, in his first career start.

ALL-DECADE TEAM HONORED
UTA honored its 2000's All-Decade team on Sunday prior to the series finale against Missouri State. Eleven of the 15 players selected were on hand to be recognized. Only current MLB players Adam Moore (C, 2006), Ryan Roberts (3B, 2002-03), Hunter Pence (OF, 2003-04) and Triple-A pitcher Dillon Gee (P, 2005-07) were unable to attend.

CHOICE COLLECTS EARLY SEASON HARDWARE, NAMED TO FOUR PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
Michael Choice has been named to four preseason All-American teams, including NCBWA (3rd Team), Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (2nd Team), PING! (2nd Team) and Baseball America (2nd Team). A day before the season opener, Choice was named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Watch List, which is a list of the top 50 amateur players entering the season. The College Baseball Blog tabbed Choice as the No. 13 projected player in the country on their Top 100 list for 2010. Numerous other publications have selected Choice with preseason recognition.