There’s a lot of familiarity between the schools in this year’s Norman Regional.
In fact, top-seeded Oklahoma has played every team in the regional field at least once this year, with a combined record of 4-3. (2-0 vs. Wichita State; 2-2 vs. Washington State; 0-1 vs Arkansas.) The Razorbacks also swept Washington State in a three game series at Baum Stadium to open the season.
Many fans who don’t follow college baseball, however, may not realize that Oklahoma and Arkansas also share a similar past situation.
You see…Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson is the “Dana Altman” of Oklahoma.
In July 2005, Stephenson was announced as the new head baseball coach in Norman, only to return to Wichita the following day. At the time, Stephenson, a former pitching coach for the Sooners, said he reneged because he was concerned with the limited number of scholarships available to his new staff:
“As we assessed the Oklahoma baseball scholarship situation, we would be too limited in our ability to take the program in the direction that we think it should go.”
But that so-called “situation” hasn’t kept current Oklahoma skipper Sonny Golloway from compiling a 168-96-1 record (.634) after Stephenson decided to stay in Kansas. Golloway has also taken his OU teams to three out of the last four NCAA tournaments.
Here’s hoping John Pelphrey’s record four years after Altman’s retreat to Omaha is that good.