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Oklahoma City Baseball Club

Oklahoma RedHawks Game Notes

April 19, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Oklahoma City Baseball Club News Release


Oklahoma RedHawks (12-4) at Iowa Cubs (7-7) Game 17 | April 19, 2008 | Principal Park | Des Moines, IA

Radio: Fox Sports Radio AM 1340, RedHawks Radio Network | Play-by-Play: Jim Byers

TODAY'S MATCHUP

LH A.J. Murray (1-0, 5.63) vs. RH Mark Holliman (0-0, 2.00)

Murray-

Surrendered 6 R on 9 H with 3 BB and 5 K in 4/14 ND @ ALB Holliman-

Allowed 0 R on 3 H with 0 BB and 6 K in 4/14 ND @ NAS LAST GAME:

The Oklahoma RedHawks beat the Round Rock Express 6-4 Friday evening at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. Nelson Cruz hit his fourth home run of the year to back starter Eric Hurley, who earned his first win of 2008. The RedHawks jumped to an early two-run lead on Cruz's home run. Nate Gold drove in his team high 14th and 15th runs in the third inning with a single, extending the RedHawks lead to 4-0. Round Rock got on the board with runs in the fifth and sixth off Hurley, but Oklahoma was in control 6-2 when manager Bobby Jones went to the bullpen. The Express were shut down until the ninth when they notched a pair of runs off reliever Kea Kometani, but Frank Francisco came on with the tying run at second base and closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts for his fourth save.

NINE GAMES STRAIGHT:

Jason Ellison extended his team-high hitting streak to nine consecutive games with a fifth inning single last night. The RedHawks outfielder is hitting .410 during his nine-game string. Ellison also has a 12 game on-base streak on the line when he makes his next appearance.

GOING YARD:

Oklahoma has hit home runs on eight consecutive games, dating back to the first game of the series in Albuquerque. Nelson Cruz has been a major factor in that run, including three round-trippers during the four game set with Round Rock at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. Cruz became the third RedHawk this season to hit home runs in back-to-back games with his first inning blast last night. Chris Shelton accomplished the feat against Memphis April 4 and 5, while Nate Gold did the job in the first two games of the Express series this week, going yard on Tuesday and Wednesday.

TOO MUCH HEAT:

Frank Francisco has faced 30 batters this season, and has retired nearly half (14) on strikes (46%). Only Robinson Tejeda has a better mark, but Tejeda (56%) has faced one-third of the batters that Francisco has. The RedHawks as a staff are third in the PCL with 120 strikeouts, just behind Tucson (129) and Round Rock (121).

Iowa AT A GLANCE:

The Cubs are in second place in the American North, two games behind Omaha... Iowa is 14th in the PCL in hitting with a .239 average, and rank sixth in ERA at 3.69... Matt Murton leads the team with a .317 average, while Jacob Fox has a team high three home runs and 15 runs batted in... Iowa features eight players on the Chicago Cubs 40-man roster, including one of the top ten prospects according to Baseball America (Sean Gallagher (5th)).

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION:

Texas fell 11-3 at Boston... Frisco edged Corpus Christi 5-3... Bakersfield lost 4-0 to Lancaster... Clinton beat Dayton 7-2.

DOT-DOT-DOT:

Oklahoma outscored Round Rock 33-11 over their four-game set, with Ryan Roberts tallying seven of the 33 runs... The RedHawks are averaging 5.3 runs per game this season (7.3 over their last ten games), and giving up 4.1 per games this year (3.9 per game over the previous ten)... Brandon Boggs will be riding an eight-game hitting streak upon his return to the lineup. Boggs had Friday off after playing 11 consecutive games... Nelson Cruz has failed to reach base in a game only once this season. Cruz has played 12 games, and failed to reach against Round Rock on Wednesday night, snapping a nine-game run upon his return to Oklahoma this season, and breaking a 23-game streak dating back to July 8 last season while with the RedHawks.

ON THE AIR:

Every game this season can be heard on the RedHawks Radio Network, led by broadcaster Jim Byers for the ninth season, and joined by Adam Marco during each homestand. Fox Sports Radio AM 1340 in Oklahoma City will serve as the flagship station in 2008. The network affiliates this season are KSIW 1450 AM in Woodward, KXCA 1380 AM in Lawton, KPNS 1350 AM in Duncan, KTJS 1420 AM in Hobart, KGFF 1450 AM in Shawnee, and KWSH 1260 AM in Wewoka. Each game will also be broadcast on the internet through the audio link at www.oklahomaredhawks.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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