TIMELINE HISTORY
The 1954 Sooners pose for a team picture at Haskell Park located right next to the football stadium (pictured in background).
1998 - OU ESTABLISHES OFFENSIVE RECORDS The 1998 team tied a school single game record with eight home runs against Missouri Southern, including two blasts by OU’s career home run record holder Casey Bookout. The 1998 team also set season marks for total home runs (114) and homers per game (1.84). 2000 - BAJENARU SAVES 20 GAMES, EARNS FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICA HONORS Closer Jeff Bajenaru finished the 2000 season with 20 saves, a school record. The reliever became the 13th Sooner All-American named to the first team. Bajenaru finished his career with 28 saves in his two years as a Sooner. He was the last player at OU to collect first team All-America honors before J.T. Wise in 2009. May 3, 2003 - OKLAHOMA WINS 2,000th GAME The OU baseball program recorded its 2,000th victory on May 3, 2003, in Norman. The Sooners reached the milestone after defeating Texas Tech, 6-1, in game two of the three-game set. OU recorded its 1,000th victory on May 2, 1977, in Norman against Bethany Nazarene, 5-1, in game one of a doubleheader that day.
October 30, 1981 - L. DALE MITCHELL PARK DEDICATION OU’s new $1.27 million stadium is dedicated in honor of Sooner great and longtime pro. The new facility took Oklahoma out of Haskell Park (pictured below), which was located next to Owen Field, its home since the late 1920s. After the ceremony on Oct. 30, 1981, Mitchell, who played in three MLB World Series, called the day his biggest thrill in the sport. The facility would later undergo a $1.3 million expansion that was completed in 2000 and included a new locker room, renovated press box, an upper concourse and increased seating capacity. Since then, the facility has again increased seating, added an indoor hitting facility and practice field and video scoreboard. May 1, 1988 - SEMORE NOTCHES WIN NO. 800 Semore records his 800th win at the helm of the Sooner program on May 1, 1988. OU defeated visiting Missouri in the final game of the three game series. A year later, Semore ended his career as the Big 8 Coach of the year and a 851-370-1 record (.691). June 11, 1994 - COCHELL GUIDES SOONERS TO SECOND NATIONAL TITLE Led by solid hitting in the championship game against Georgia Tech, Oklahoma claimed its second national title on June 11, 1994. The Sooners broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning with five runs en route to their fourth straight win in the tournament. OU finished the CWS as the top hitting (.327 ) and pitching (2.37 ERA) team, while ranking second in defense with five errors. Senior centerfielder Chip Glass was named the Most Oustanding Player of the series and Ryan Minor, Rick Gutierrez, Davin Traylor and Mark Redman were all named to the AllTournament Team. In the history of the NCAA Baseball College World Series, the University of Oklahoma is one of 13 schools to win multiple national titles. June 2, 1995 - SOONERS MAKE NINTH CWS APPEARANCE The Sooners make their ninth appearance at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. OU also recorded its first back-to-back appearances since the 1975 and 1976 seasons. The Sooners’ nine CWS appearances ranks third amongst current Big 12 teams. May 3, 1997 - OU CLAIMS INAUGURAL BIG 12 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP In the first year of the Big 12 Conference, the Oklahoma Sooners defeated Texas Tech, 19-17, in the championship game to claim the first conference tournament title. OU finished the regular season in fourth place with an 18-11 record in Big 12 play. The Sooners were 39-20 overall in 1997 and went 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
July 15, 2005 - GOLLOWAY NAMED EIGHTH HEAD COACH Golloway was named the eighth head baseball coach at the University of Oklahoma on July 15, 2005. His appointment was made after successful stints on the Sooner staff as an assistant and interim head coach and a strong eight-year run as the head coach at Oral Roberts. Golloway was elevated from associate head coach to interim head coach on May 1, 2005, when Larry Cochell resigned. Cochell finished his coaching career at OU with a 511-336-1 overall record (.603). June 5, 2006 - SOONERS WIN 2006 NORMAN REGIONAL OU wins the 2006 NCAA Norman Regional in front of 3,531 at L. Dale Mitchell Park (the second largest in the park’s existence). The regional title was the fifth for OU and first since 1995. The win over Wichita State also meant that OU would make its first appearance in an NCAA Super Regional (format originated in 1999). In the Houston Super Regional, OU dropped the best of three series, 2-1, to then-No. 1 Rice. Sunny Golloway became just the second coach in NCAA history to guide his team to a Super Regional in his first year as a head coach (Smoke Lavall - LSU, 2002). After the 2006 College World Series concluded, the Sooners’ .983 fielding percentage finished as the highest mark in Division I baseball in 2006 and is the highest mark in school history. The percentage is also the second best in NCAA history. May 29, 2007 - IVEY NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN OF THE YEAR Senior outfielder Aaron Ivey was named the ESPN the Magazine and CoSIDA’s Academic AllAmerican of the Year for baseball. The award is one of the most prestigious bestowed upon any college baseball player. Ivey is the first in program history to receive the award and the first Sooner to receive the honor since Stacey Dales (women’s basketball) in 2002. May 25, 2009 - SOONERS RECEIVE NO. 7 NATIONAL SEED OU received the No. 7 national seed for the 2009 NCAA Touranment and hosted an NCAA Regional for the fourth time in 10 years. The Sooners earned the program’s first national seed since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1999. June 26, 2009 - WISE WINS JOHNNY BENCH AWARD Senior J.T. Wise becomes the first Sooner to collect the Johnny Bench award and the second catcher in the history of the Big 12 Conference (Kelly Shoppach - Baylor, 2001). Wise was also named a consensus All-American in 2009 and the Big 12 Player of the Year while Garrett Buechele was named the conference freshman of the year. June 14, 2010 - SOONERS MAKE 10TH CWS APPEARANCE The Sooners top No. 1 Virginia on the road in the Charlottesville Super Regional to advance to the program’s 10th College World Series appearance. OU finished the campaign with a 50-18 record, the fifth time in school history to reach the 50-win plateau. The Sooners were 1-2 in the CWS and finished as the No. 5 team in the country, its highest finish since winning the 1994 National Championship.
1951 & 1994 National champions - 10 CWS Appearances
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