Just about every baseball player who dons an Oklahoma uniform as a freshman thinks the same thing.
“In three years, I’ll be getting paid to do this,” is the common thought. Three years is when players become eligible for Major League Baseball’s amateur draft. No matter how much they try to hide it, they’re all thinking the same thing.
Ryan Mottern knows this better than anyone.
“Everybody strives to be here three years max. That was one of my goals, too,” he said.
But things don’t always work out that way. Mottern knows that, too. His three years came and went two years ago, making him the rarest of college baseball players — the fifth-year senior.
Players sticking around for five years is the norm in college football. It’s common in college basketball.
But not in college baseball. Five years might as well be 50 by the game’s standard.
On any given day, you might hear someone calling out “grandpa” in the clubhouse or in the dugout, trying to get the 23-year-old Mottern’s attention.
He doesn’t mind the dig.
“Some people see it as a bad thing, but I don’t,” he said. “I’ve gotten to be around a bunch of guys and have the camaraderie. When you leave here, you can’t have that back. It’s something that I treasure.”
Mottern was one of OU’s young hot shots. Now he’s the crafty veteran. He doesn’t mind being thought of that way. He’s earned it.
Mottern has enough experience to fill up the biggest bat bag. His redshirt season came as a sophomore in 2005. Since, he’s been a starting pitcher, a reliever, an outfielder and designated hitter. Many times he’s done two of the four in the same game.
Mottern has hit .276 in 163 at-bats over his four seasons. Despite arm trouble that has plagued him for four years, he’s still made 59 appearances and started 23 games on the mound.
His last appearance was 32⁄3 innings of hitless ball to preserve OU’s 12-7 win over Texas Tech last Friday. He currently boasts a 4.50 ERA in 12 appearances this season, but hasn’t allowed a hit in his last four trips to the mound.
He’s good enough that he won’t be available when the Sooners (28-17-1) face Wichita State (33-9) at 7 tonight at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
“We’ve got to have him on the weekend,” OU coach Sunny Golloway said after plotting the pitching options for the week.
The Sooners open a three-game series at Kansas Friday and Big 12 Conference games carry more importance.
Too bad for Mottern.
He and senior infielder Jarod Freeman are the only players still on the roster who were around when Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson accepted the OU job, then resigned the same day in the summer of 2005.
“A lot of people weren’t here when that situation happened. I was,” Mottern said. “It was unfortunate and, in a way, made you really upset. It was a bad situation.”
So, when OU takes the field for its final mid-week game of the season tonight and the first-year players see the ballpark has a few more fans than usual, there’s a good chance they’ll ask Mottern what all the hubbub is about.
The elders always have the answers.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Hanging around
- OU Sports
-
-
It’s a recipe for success
Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso was answering questions Saturday after her Sooners clinched another return to the Women’s College World Series when, without really meaning to, she began to make it clear her job has, sort of, become ...
-
Tigers deny Sooners’ Big 12 title hopes
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma wanted to win its first Big 12 tournament in 16 years on Sunday. Missouri needed to win it to get in the NCAA Tournament. Need topped desire at Bricktown Ballpark....
-
Sooners make winning look easy
As Oklahoma’s players locked arms around the pitching circle, coming together for what passed as a celebration following Saturday’s 7-1 NCAA Super Regional-clinching victory over Arizona, three gloves remained near second base....
-
There are no easy outs in the lineup
Looking for a gameplan to stop Oklahoma? Well, one may or may not be available, but walking two of the first three Sooners you face certainly isn’t part of it. Just ask Arizona’s Kenzie Fowler....
-
Sooners will play for Big 12 championship
OKLAHOMA CITY, — It’s been 16 years since Oklahoma won the Big 12 tournament. It’s closer now than its ever been to ending the streak. The Sooners rolled through Baylor, 7-2, on Saturday at Bricktown Ballpark to advance to the tournament’s ...
-
Sooners send five more to nationals
AUSTIN, Texas — Oklahoma track and field teams had five more individuals qualify for the NCAA Championship on Saturday evening at the NCAA West Preliminary. The men’s 4x100-meter relay team also advanced to the national semifinals....
-
OU sophomore Jao-Javanil wins NCAA golf title
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Oklahoma’s Chirapat Jao-Javanil made Oklahoma golf history Friday, becoming the first Sooner, man or woman, to win an individual NCAA national championship....
-
Pitching staff is exactly where Golloway wants it to be
When the Big 12 tournament began, Oklahoma felt like it had the pitching staff to make a deep run. Dillon Overton, Jordan John, Jonathan Gray and Damien Magnifico gave them four quality starters and a closer — Steven Okert — capable of ...
-
Sooners shut out Wildcats, need one more win for WCWS entry
Oklahoma might have scored more runs, not committed an error and starting pitcher Keilani Ricketts could have been just a little more efficient along the way....
-
Sooners send 4 more to NCAAs
AUSTIN, Texas – Oklahoma’s track and field teams added four individuals to the list of Sooners advancing to the NCAA championship Friday at the NCAA West Preliminary. In addition to the four new qualifiers, Brittany Borman advanced to the ...
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
It’s a recipe for success
