The Sunny Disposition

It’s been nearly six seasons since Oral Roberts has played Oklahoma in baseball. Friday the two programs will renew acquaintances.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:46 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Jun 1, 2010 9:53 PM CDT

Kyle Dierking
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma -- It’s been six years since Oral Roberts has played Oklahoma in baseball and Friday will mark the first time the two teams have played since the 2004 season.

??“That was a long time ago - different clubs, different years," said ORU Head Coach Rob Walton, who was in his first season as Golden Eagles head coach when the two teams played in 2004.??

You could say the two teams stopped playing, thanks to a Sunny disposition.??

"I consider [the University of Oklahoma] to be the greatest institution in America and I'm blessed to be able to go back and work there now,” said Sunny Golloway in 2003, the day he left his head coaching position with the Golden Eagles to be an assistant at OU.

Some years after making that statement, Golloway still echoes that sentiment.

"There was clearly some bitterness on the other side because a head coach gave up a head coaching job to be an assistant," Golloway said. "People know what's in their hearts and they know what they want to do. There's not a coach in the country that doesn't follow his dreams and do what they believe they should do. I was one of those guys."

??Amid scandal in the middle of the 2005 season, Golloway succeeded Larry Cochell as the Sooners' skipper.??

"There's probably more talk about it than there needs to be,” Walton said. “It's been seven or eight years ago. [Golloway’s] done a great job at OU and they're playing well."??

Walton is a former Golloway assistant at ORU and took over the program after he departed for OU. The Eagles split a two game series with the Sooners in '04, but haven't played since.

"A lot of the reason why we don't play them is because Rob Walton and I are very close," Golloway said. "We don't like competing against each other unless we're forced to. The only time we're going to be forced to is in the NCAA Tournament, so here we go."??

Then there's OSU, who ORU hasn't played in the regular season since 2006. Walton has a 5-1 record against the Cowboys, including three postseason wins.??

"We'd like to play all the local teams as often as possible,” Walton said. “It would save our travel budget a bunch, especially going to the Dakotas, Southern Utah. We feel like we're world travelers."??

This week, ORU's close to home with a regional stop just down the road in Norman.

??"I would like to go up there and prove they should come down and play us,” said ORU first baseman PJ Sequeira. “We should build a relationship I think. They're a good team in Oklahoma; we're a good team in Oklahoma."

??"A win against OU is not going to give us any extra kudos, it's just a really good baseball team," Walton said.??

And the Golden Eagles have been able to schedule plenty over the years, just not the Sooners or Cowboys.

Oral Roberts vs. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State??

From 1999 to 2003, the Golden Eagles played 11 regular season games against the Sooners and six versus the Cowboys. Friday’s regional against the Sooners will mark the first time since the 2004 season that the two teams have played. They split a two game series that season, which was Walton’s first year as head coach and Golloway’s first season back with the Sooners. The Golden Eagles are 5-1 against the Cowboys since 2005 and have defeated the Cowboys three times in the postseason. That run against Oklahoma State includes four wins during the 2006 season.