Completed Event: Baseball at Vanderbilt on April 11, 2026 , Win , 6, to, 5
Final
Baseball
6
at Vanderbilt
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Photo by: Texas Rangers
Sooners to Open 2022 Season at Globe Life Field
February 17, 2022 | Baseball
Oklahoma
Auburn
10 Arizona
Michigan
State Farm College Baseball Showdown / Friday-Sunday, Feb. 18-20 / Globe Life Field / Arlington, Texas
| Pitching Matchups | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Pitch | Oklahoma | Opponent |
| Friday vs. Auburn, 11 a.m. | LHP Jake Bennett | AU: LHP Tommy Sheehan |
| Saturday vs. Arizona, 7 p.m. | RHP David Sandlin | UA: LHP Garrett Irvin |
| Sunday vs. Michigan, 6:30 p.m. | LHP Chazz Martinez | UM: TBA |
First Pitch:
• Oklahoma opens the 2022 season this weekend at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, home of the Texas Rangers.
• The Sooners will face Auburn at 11 a.m. Friday, Arizona at 7 p.m. Saturday and Michigan at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
Watch/Listen/Follow:
• The games will be broadcast on FloBaseball.tv, which can be viewed with a subscription to FloBaseball. Announcing teams Danny Lee and Pat Combs, and Ben Wilson and Mike Hardge will call the broadcast action.
• All three contests will be broadcast locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF. The radio broadcast can also be found at Sportstalk1400.com and on the Sportstalk1400 app. Taylor Maples will be on the call for the games on Friday and Saturday, and Toby Rowland will call the Sunday evening finale from Globe Life Field.
• Live stats will be available at OUStats.com.
Leading Off:
• Oklahoma is in its fifth season under the direction of head coach Skip Johnson (including the 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Johnson, who spent the 2017 season on staff as an assistant coach, has led the Sooners to a 112-80 record since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.
• The Sooners are making their second appearance at Globe Life Field, which opened in 2020. OU played two midweek games at the Rangers' ballpark last season: a 9-5 loss to Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 23) and a 7-1 win over UT Arlington (Feb. 24).
• Oklahoma is scheduled to play in two multi-team events in major league ballparks during the first three weeks of the season. OU will also play in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston, March 4-6.
• This will be the fourth straight season in which Oklahoma has played at least one game in a Major League Ballpark. OU played two games at Globe Life Field in 2021, three at Houston's Minute Maid Park in 2020 (Shriners College Classic) and one contest against Minnesota at Target Field in Minneapolis (2019).
Series History vs. Auburn:
• Oklahoma leads the all-time series against Auburn, 5-1. The Sooners defeated the Tigers 4-3 in 10 innings in the opening game of last season's Round Rock Classic. Prior to 2021, the teams last met in the 1998 NCAA Atlantic II Regional, a 9-8 Auburn win. The Sooners won twice in the 1995 NCAA Midwest II Regional in Oklahoma City (9-8 and 3-1) and were also victorious in the 1994 College World Series (5-4). This will be just the third contest between Oklahoma and Auburn that will not take place in the postseason; OU won the first meeting between the schools, 6-3 in 1992 at a March tournament in Mobile, Ala.
Series History vs. Arizona:
• Oklahoma and Arizona are playing for the second straight year after not meeting on the diamond for 42 years. Last season, the Wildcats won 20-13 and 12-1 at the Frisco Classic. Prior to last year, the teams last played in the 1979 NCAA Midwest Regional in Tucson, and also met in the 1976 College World Series. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 14-3 (15 games played between 1963 and 1979) and have won the last nine meetings.
Series History vs. Michigan:
• Oklahoma leads the all-time series against Michigan, 12-6. The teams last met in 2017 for a three-game series in Ann Arbor, which Michigan swept. The Wolverines have won four straight in the series, including a victory in San Diego in 2007. OU claimed two of three games in Norman during the 2003 season.
Opening Day Notes:
• Since 1962, Oklahoma is 39-21 on opening day and is 9-4 in its last 13 season openers. The Sooners are 29-4 in home season openers since 1962, including a 25-3 mark at L. Dale Mitchell Park, which opened in 1982.
• Oklahoma will open the season at a neutral site for the third time in the last five seasons. OU began the 2020 season in Pensacola, Fla., with a three-game series against Virginia. The Sooners dropped the opener, but won two of three games in the series. In 2018, the Sooners began with four games at the Baseball at the Beach event in Conway, S.C.
• Third-year sophomore left-hander Jake Bennett is slated to start on the mound for the Sooners to open the 2022 season. He is poised to become OU's first left-handed opening day starter since Jacob Evans in 2014.
About the Sooners:
• The Sooners returned 18 players and welcomed 22 newcomers for the 2022 season. Among the returning lineup players are redshirt sophomore catcher Jimmy Crooks, redshirt sophomore infielder Peyton Graham and redshirt senior Tanner Tredaway, redshirt junior Diego Muniz and redshirt sophomore Kendall Pettis in the outfield. OU returns six pitchers from last season: redshirt sophomore Jake Bennett (13 starts in 2021), redshirt junior Braden Carmichael (14 starts), redshirt junior Jaret Godman (19 appearances), redshirt junior Ben Abram (13 appearances), redshirt sophomore Javier Ramos (15 appearances) and sophomore Carson Atwood (12 appearances).
• Oklahoma must replace much of its production at the plate and on the mound in 2022, including three infield starters, one weekend starting pitcher and a three-year closer. Compared to the final 2021 stats, OU returns 48% of its hits, 45% of RBIs and 49% of extra base hits at the plate, and 47% of innings pitched and 41% of strikeouts on the mound.
• Peyton Graham was named on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List, awarded by USA Baseball. He was also recognized as a first-team Preseason All-American by Baseball America and named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team by the league's coaches.
• Jimmy Crooks earned third-team preseason All-America honors from the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball.
• Six Sooners were listed among the top players in the nation at their respective positions by D1Baseball: No. 7 shortstop Peyton Graham, No. 8 catcher Jimmy Crooks, No. 39 relief pitcher Griffin Miller, No. 54 starting pitcher Chazz Martinez, No. 74 starting pitcher David Sandlin, No. 78 starting pitcher Jake Bennett.
• Graham was ranked No. 23 on Baseball America's list of the top 150 overall players in the nation.
• Nine Sooners are ranked among the top 50 players in the Big 12, including seven in the top 20 and four in the top 10, according to D1Baseball: Graham at No. 3, Martinez at No. 5, Crooks at No. 7, Cade Horton at No. 8, Bennett at No. 16, Sandlin at No. 17, Miller at No. 20, Creed Watkins at No. 31 and Tanner Tredaway at No. 34.
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/ BaseballBB Highlights: OU 8, Missouri 4
Sunday, April 19
BB Highlights: OU 4, Missouri 0
Saturday, April 18
BB Highlights: OU 9, Missouri 6
Friday, April 17
BB Highlights: OU 6, Vanderbilt 5
Saturday, April 11
