Sooners Glad to Be at Home

Originally Published: May 31, 2010 4:5 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- Despite not having a title on the line in their last game, the Oklahoma Sooners still needed a strong showing Saturday to lock down an NCAA Regional in Norman.

A 13-2 eight-inning domination of Kansas State assured that OU would host a regional when they were announced Sunday.

“The fact that we’re at home, spending the night in our own beds is nice,” said Garrett Buechele. “Being on the road is cool, but nothing is as comfortable as being at home. We can stay with our routines and be comfortable in our own environment and that will help us out a lot this weekend.”

Comfort is a common theme among the Sooner players. With a first-game matchup with Oral Roberts Friday, the players and coaches are relying on fans to create a greater home-field advantage.

“Nobody likes sleeping in a hotel or flying to go play in a regional,” said Zach Neal. “Playing at home in front of our home fans will be huge. We need them to come out; I don’t think they’ll have any trouble outnumbering [the other team’s] fans.”

Familiarity will also afford the Sooners an advantage in their regional. Knowing everything from wall distances, shadows and even the way the wind blows in Norman will give the Sooners a leg up in the first round.

“We know our ballpark. We’ve played 30 or 40 games here,” said pitcher Michael Roche. “We know the wind, we know the sun, we know everything. When we’re pitching to certain batters we know where to pitch.”

The Sooners and the Golden Eagles will play the first game of the Norman Regional at 1 p.m. Friday at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman.