Oklahoma is back in the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row and is hosting a regional in Norman for the first time in 14 years.
OU is the No,. 9 national seed in this year's tournament and will host 4-seed Oral Roberts, 3-seed Connecticut and 2-seed Duke this weekend at L. Dale Mitchell Park. OU hasn't hosted a regional since 2010.
The Big 12's regular season is hoping to catch the kind of fire that sent them to the College World Series and the CWS Championship Series two summers ago. Skip Johnson has an almost entirely new roster from that squad, but does have a handful of carryovers, like John Spikerman, Jackson Nicklaus and Kendall Pettis.
This year's team has that kind of talent, and will try to ride the talented left arm of ace Braden Davis to a regional victory and a trip to the super regionals, where they would likely meet No. 8 national seed Florida State next weekend.
Here's a rundown of the Sooners' opponents this week in Norman:
Record:27-30-1
Head Coach:Ryan Folmar
Last Time Out:Beat Northern Colorado 11-4 in the Summit League title game.
Notable Regular Season Wins:Oklahoma (3-1 on April 30 in Tulsa), Wichita State (8-3 on April 17 in Wichita).
Ace on the Mound:Jakob Hall
After a strong season leading three talented Golden Eagle arms last season, Jakob Hall (10-2, 3.71 ERA) was a productive workhorse this season, with 105 strikeouts in 102 innings and throwing ORU’s only complete game in 15 starts.
Standout Sluggers:Holden Breeze, Drew Stahl
Holden Breeze leads the team with a .353 batting average and is the co-leader with nine home runs, but Drew Stahl is the masher with a team-leading nine home runs and 56 RBIs to go with a 2.84 average. Speed in the lineup comes from Elijah Rodriguez, Kyle Booker and Alex Rodgers, who have combined for 42 stolen bases.
Meet the UConn Huskies
Record:32-23
Head Coach:James Penders
Last Time Out:Swept 3-2 by Xavier and 10-9 by Georgetown in the Big East Tournament.
Notable Regular Season Wins:Louisville (4-3 on Feb. 16 in Tampa), Auburn (8-4 on March 2 at Auburn), UCLA (5-2 on March 12 in Los Angeles), UC Irvine (5-0 on March 13 in Irvine), Kansas State (4-0 on April 16 in Storrs).
Ace on the Mound:Garrett Coe
RHP Stephen Quigley (5-3, 3.89) has 15 starts, has thrown 88 innings and has 81 strikeouts this season. But the ace moniker goes to LHP Garrett Coe (9-5, 4.53), who has made 16 starts, thrown 97.1 innings, logged 86 strikeouts. Coe has given up 16 home runs and 21 doubles.
Standout Slugger:Luke Broadhurst
Luke Broadhurst leads the Huskies with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs. He also had a team-leading .571 slugging percentage and two triples, although Korey Morton leads UConn with 115 total bases. Broadhurst is only fifth on the squad with a .291 batting average, but nine Huskies hit .262 or better.
Record:39-18
Head Coach:Chris Pollard
Last Time Out:Won the ACC Tournament with four wins over ranked teams: No. 10 Virginia Tech (11-8), No. 3 NC State (8-1), No. 11 Miami (8-2) and No. 5 Florida State (16-4).
Notable Regular Season Wins:No. 18 Coastal Carolina (5-3 Feb. 18 in Conway, SC), No. 1 Wake Forest (8-5 on March 8 and 10-8 on March 10 in Winston-Salem), No. 10 Clemson (5-2 on March 15 in Durham), NC State (13-2 on March 24 in Raleigh), No. 9 Virginia (9-4 on March 28 and 7-4 on March 30 in Durham), Miami (4-3 on April 5, 5-4 on April 6, 11-10 on April 7 in Durham), No. 23 Virginia Tech (9-8 on April 19, 13-10 on April 21 in Blacksburg), No. 10 Florida State (16-4 on April 28 in Durham), No. 6 East Carolina (5-2 on May 7 in Greenville), Georgia Tech (14-10 on May 11 in Atlanta), No. 7 North Carolina (5-3 on May 16 in Durham).
Ace on the Mound:Duke has an experienced and well-rounded staff, with three arms combining for 33 starts. LHP Jonathan Santucci (6-1, 3.54) leads the team with an eye-popping 86 strikeouts in 56 innings, but the staff ace is RHP and closer Charlie Beilenson, who has 32 relief appearances with a 7-3 record, a 1.98 ERA, 12 saves and a whopping 87 Ks in 59 innings.
Standout Sluggers:In one of the most prolific offenses in the country (seven starters have a batting average of .309 or better, five players have an OPS north of 1.000 and two others are over .900 in a lineup with 112 home runs), Zac Morris leads the way with 18 home runs and is tied for a team-high 59 RBIs, and Ben Miller leads with a .375 average and 18 doubles, plus 15 homers with 49 RBIs. Logan Bravo has 17 bombs with 59 RBIs, and Alex Stone has 13 and 59.
