OU Opens 2023 Season at L. Dale Mitchell Park

First Pitch

• Oklahoma opens the 2023 season at L. Dale Mitchell Park this weekend, as the Sooners play host to California Baptist for a three-game series. Game times are 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
• OU will turn around and play a single game against Air Force on Monday at 3 p.m. at Mitchell Park.
• Oklahoma is celebrating its 125th anniversary season in 2023. The program was established in 1898, and OU has competed in 118 seasons since (including 2023).

Tickets/Promotions

• Tickets are available via SoonerSports.com. The L. Dale Mitchell Park ticket office and entrance gates will open two hours prior to the scheduled game time. The ticket office and will call windows are located behind home plate, along W. Imhoff Rd.
• Single-game tickets to all of OU's February games are only $5. Season ticket packages, mini-plans and single-game tickets are all still available for purchase through SoonerSports.com and the OU Athletics Ticket Office.
• Two members of OU's 2022 College World Series finalist squad will throw ceremonial first pitches on Friday and Saturday. Former first baseman Blake Robertson will throw the first pitch on Friday and 2022 closer Trevin Michael will handle ceremonial first-pitch duties on Saturday.
• The 2022 Big 12 Championship and CWS runner-up trophies will be available all weekend for fans to take photos. Music and tailgate games will be available in the grass area behind home plate prior to each game, starting when gates open two hours prior to first pitch. Kids can run the bases on the field after the conclusion Sunday's game as part of "Sunday Runday."

Watch/Listen/Follow

• All four games will be televised via SoonerVision on ESPN+.
• The games will be broadcast locally on Sportstalk 99.3 FM/1400 AM KREF. Taylor Maples will be on the call Friday and Saturday, and Toby Rowland will call the Sunday and Monday games.
• Live stats will be available at OUStats.com.

Leading Off

• Oklahoma is playing four games in four consecutive days to begin the 2023 season. Including their Feb. 22 game against Abilene Christian at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and the three-game set against Rider at L. Dale Mitchell Park next weekend (Feb. 24-26), the Sooners will play eight games in a 10-day span to start the year.
• Oklahoma is in its sixth 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 157-104 record, two NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2022 Big 12 tournament championship and the 2022 College World Series finals since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.
• The Sooners returned 12 letterwinners from the 2022 squad and brought in 25 newcomers for the 2023 season.
• Oklahoma finished the 2022 season as national runner-up after advancing to the NCAA Men's College World Series finals. The CWS appearance was the program's 11th NCAA Men's College World Series, and first since 2010. OU's NCAA Tournament appearance was the 39th in program history and the Super Regional appearance was its fifth (first since 2013). Oklahoma won the 2022 Big 12 Championship with a perfect 4-0 record in the tournament. It was OU's third Big 12 tournament title and first since 2013.
• The Sooners ended the 2022 season with a 45-24 record and a 15-9 mark in Big 12 Conference play. OU's 15 conference wins were its most since 2010 (15-10), and its second-place finish in the regular season standings was its highest since 2010. Oklahoma went 27-12 from April 12 through the end of the 2022 season, after posting an 18-12 record (4-5 Big 12) through the first 30 games.
• In 2022, the OU pitching staff totaled a school record 644 strikeouts (surpassing the previous record of 608 set in 2018), notched 145 stolen bases (the most since the 1989 team registered 168 stolen bases), hit 73 home runs (the most since 2010), and registered a .293 batting average (the highest since the 2011 season [.313]).

Series History

• This will be the first meeting between Oklahoma and California Baptist in baseball.
• Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Air Force 7-0. The Sooners won two midweek games last season by scores of 10-4 and 8-7. Six of the seven meetings (and each of the last five) have been played in Norman. OU won 8-5 and 6-2 in 2012, won 16-1 in 2004 and won 13-2 in 1971 — all in Norman — and won 12-9 in 1983 in a game played in Tampa, Fla.

Opening Day Notes

• Since 1962, Oklahoma is 40-21 on opening day and is 10-4 in its last 14 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 home for the third time in the last five seasons. The Sooners split two games against Omaha to begin the 2021 season and swept Cal Poly to start the 2019 campaign.
• This will be the third time since 2017 that Oklahoma opens the season against a team from California. In addition to the 2019 series against Cal Poly, the Sooners played three games against Long Beach State to start the 2017 season (OU won two of three games vs. LBSU).
• Transfer fourth-year junior right-hander Kale Davis will start on the mound for the Sooners to open the 2023 season. He will be the eighth right-handed pitcher in the last nine seasons to start opening day for OU.