First Pitch

The No. 27 ORU Golden Eagles face their first of many tough non-conference road series in 2007 this weekend against No. 16 TCU. The series begins Friday at a 6:30 p.m. start time at Lupton Stadium on the campus of TCU. It will continue on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and then be concluded Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

The Coaches

Rob Walton is in his fourth season as ORU head coach, with a record of 135-47 (.742). Not only was Walton the 2006 Mid-Con Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons, he also was awarded the 2006 ABCA Mid-West Region Coach of the Year. TCU is coached by Jim Schlossnagle. Schlossnagle came to TCU in 2004 after serving as head coach of UNLV for two seasons. He has guided the Horned Frogs to a 122-69 (.639) record.

The Series: ORU vs. TCU

Tonight�€™s game is the 37th meeting between the two teams. ORU leads the overall series, 25-11, and has won the last five meetings. ORU and TCU last played each other in the 2004 NCAA Regional in Austin, Texas when they squared off against each other twice. The Golden Eagles won the first contest, 6-5, in first round action and then defeated the Horned Frogs, 10-1, in the Regional Semifinal.

ORU Notes

The Golden Eagles are 2-0 and coming off a two-game sweep over Missouri Southern in Tulsa this past weekend. With the two wins ORU moved up from their preseason ranking of No. 29 to No. 27 by Collegiate Baseball. DH Marcus Tackett leads the squad with a perfect 1.000 batting average with one home run and four RBI, but did not bat in the second game last weekend. The Golden Eagles are batting .329 as a team while producing four home runs and 23 RBI. The Golden Eagles are picked to win their 10th consecutive Mid-Con Championship.

TCU Notes

TCU is 3-1, coming off a 6-5 extra-inning victory over Dallas Baptist this past Tuesday ... Junior righthanded pitcher Jake Arrieta garnered All-America honors last season, being named to the second team by Baseball America and NCBWA. This season, Arrieta has been named preseason first-team All-American by all four major publications. Senior outfielder Keith Conlon has started 2007 hot from the plate, batting .643 (9-14) with five RBI and six runs scored. TCU has stolen 12 bases this season in 15 attempts. TCU is picked to finish first in the Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll.

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