OU Set for NCAA Norman Regional at L. Dale Mitchell Park

Oklahoma

NCAA Norman Regional

May 31-June 3 / Norman, Okla. / L. Dale Mitchell Park

FIRST PITCH

• Oklahoma (37-19) was selected as the No. 9 overall seed and will host Duke (39-18), UConn (32-23) and Oral Roberts (27-30-1) at L. Dale Mitchell Park this weekend for the NCAA Norman Regional.

• The Sooners open the weekend vs. ORU Friday night at 6 p.m. CT. The game can be seen via ESPN+ with Victor Rojas and Keith Moreland on the call

• The game can be heard locally in Oklahoma on SportsTalk 1400 AM/99.3 FM or nationwide on The Varsity app with OU play-by-play voice Toby Rowland calling the action with analyst Blake Brewester and dugout reporter Carly Murray.

• Oklahoma, which has 12 wins this season against teams in the NCAA Championship field (12-12 record), has won 20 of its last 25 contests and 11 of its last 13.

• The Sooners enter Friday with a 37-19 record and 23-7 mark in conference play, winning their first Big 12 regular season title in program history by three games.

• The winner of this weekend's regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional round against the winner of the Tallahassee Regional, hosted by eight-seed Florida State featuring Alabama, UCF and Stetson.

• Eight teams will advance out of Supers to Omaha, Neb., for the 2024 Men's College World Series, June 14-24.

OKLAHOMA NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY

• This is Oklahoma's 41st NCAA Tournament appearance, 15th since 2000 and third straight. The Sooners are 95-82 all-time in the NCAA postseason.

• Oklahoma has won 14 regionals, appeared in five Super Regionals and advanced to the College World Series 11 times. OU won national championships in 1951 and 1994.

• This weekend's regional marks the fourth time in program history OU has hosted a regional at L. Dale Mitchell Park and the first since 2010.

• The Sooners previously hosted at L. Dale Mitchell in 2006, '09 and '10, winning in '06 and '10 (CWS).

• Mitchell Park opened in 1982 after the Sooners had twice hosted a regional at Haskell Park in 1975 and 1977. OU had also hosted NCAA regionals in Oklahoma City.

• The Sooners won the 2022 Gainesville Regional in Gainesville, Fla. Prior to '22, Oklahoma last won a regional in 2013 at Blacksburg, Va. OU won three regionals in four seasons (2010, 2012 and 2013), and the '12, '13 and '22 regionals were won on the road.

Lead, Nicklaus WO vs KU Big 12 Semis

THE NUMBERS

• The Sooners rank first in the Big 12 and 14th nationally with a .313 team batting average.

• OU is averaging a league-best 8.3 runs/game, ranking 30th in the country.

• Five Sooners with at least 35 GP hold batting averages over .300, paced by John Spikerman's .386 clip and Easton Carmichael's .362 average.

• In conference play, OU led the Big 12 in nine major categories: BA (.327), SLG (.545), OB% (.419), runs scored (293), hits (347), RBIs (263), doubles (73), triples (13) and total bases (578). The team ranked in the top five in numerous other categories including second in stolen bases (48) and walks (148) and fourth in home runs (44).

• Carmichael leads the team with 84 hits and 61 RBIs, while graduate transfer Michael Snyder leads the team with 24 doubles (1st in B12 & 10th nationally). Senior Bryce Madron has a team-best 11 home runs and 39 walks, and also leads the team and ranks third in the Big 12 with 65 runs scored.

• OU has homered in eight of its last nine games and 34 of its 56 games on the season.

• 11 Sooners have homered for a total of 68 team blasts, led by Madron's 11, while three other Sooners have 10 (Snyder, Nicklaus, Willits).

• Four Sooners have 40-plus RBIs, led by Carmichael's 61 and Snyder's 55.

• On the mound, the Oklahoma pitching staff has a 5.22 team ERA with 515 strikeouts to 249 walks.

• Junior LHP transfer Braden Davis has been exceptional in his Friday night role with 15 starts, leading OU with 107 strikeouts in 85.2 innings pitched. The OU ace has won seven straight starts and went 7-1 in Big 12 play (9-3 overall).

• Sophomore righty Kyson Witherspoon (10 GS) paces the starting pitchers with a 4.01 ERA in 74.0 IP to go with 81 strikeouts.

• The pitching staff has recorded double-digit strikeouts in 25 of OU's 56 games with a season-high 15 four times (vs. Tennessee [2/17], vs. Wright State [2/24], vs. West Virginia [3/22], at BYU [4/18]).

• The Sooner arms have thrown five shutouts in 56 games played in 2024, the most since 2019 (5). The five shutouts rank first in the Big 12 and 11th nationally.

• The Sooners have had 18 pitchers make appearances so far in 2024, with four striking out 40-plus and 10 surpassing the 20 K mark.

• Head coach and pitching coach Skip Johnson and the Sooners have 22 pitchers on the roster in 2024.

RANKINGS CHATTER

• The Sooners made their season debut in the polls the week of March 18, earning spots in all four major polls. After falling out briefly, OU made its return to the ranks April 22 and has been ranked each of the past five weeks.

• This week's regionals-week ranks have OU at: No. 8 (D1Baseball), No. 11 (USA TODAY Coaches), No. 14 (NCBWA) and No. 17 (Baseball America).

• The Sooners went 4-1 in ranked contests in the regular season, all four wins being against top-15 opponents.

RECORD WATCH & MORE NUGGETS

• Kendall Pettis currently holds a tie for ninth on the the program top-10 list with 57 career stolen bases. Coincidentally, Pettis has recently passed OU associate head coach Reggie Willits' career mark of 54 and OU assistant coach Todd Butler's 53 in his two seasons at OU from 1987-88 (including a program record 46 in '87).

• Senior Bryce Madron has drawn 100 career walks as a Sooner in just two seasons in Norman. His 100 BB currently ranks inside the top 20 in program history and is just five shy of the top 10. Madron's 61 walks drawn in 2023 ranked fourth in program single-season history.

• Redshirt senior LHP Carter Campbell is currently third in program history with 91 career appearances. Fellow senior Carson Atwood is close behind with 84 to rank fourth in school annals.

• Junior Jackson Nicklaus has hit 27 career home runs in his three years as a Sooner to rank 15th in program history. Nicklaus is just four shy of cracking the program top-10 list. Senior Bryce Madron has hit 23 in just two seasons as a Sooner to rank in the top 25.

• 6-4, 226-pound redshirt senior Michael Snyder has stolen 15 bases on 16 attempts in 2024 after not registering a stolen base in four seasons at Washington, a testament to OU and associate head coach Reggie Willits' 'CHAOUS' brand of baseball, creating havoc on the base paths.

• Nine Sooners hold double-digit multi-hit games on the season, led by sophomore Easton Carmichael's 28 games with multiple knocks. Michael Snyder and Anthony Mackenzie are close behind with 22 and 21, respectively. 13 Sooners have multi-RBI performances, paced by Snyder's 16. Bryce Madron holds the single-game season high with 7 RBI vs. BYU (4/20), the most by a Sooner since 2010.

SEASON FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

• The Sooners have put together an historic season, highlighted by a top-10 win over then-No. 9, and current No. 1, Tennessee, four ranked victories, six Big 12 sweeps for the first time and the first Big 12 regular season crown in program history.

• OU's six conference sweeps are the most in the program's history in the Big 12 era and the most across conference play since 1994 (6, Big 8).

• OU won 23 games in Big 12 play, the most for the program in the Big 12 era and tying the most in program history with the 1994 and '95 teams. The Sooners were one win shy of tying the Big 12's all-time record for league wins in a season (24, Texas; 2010)

• The Sooners won 14 of their last 16 conference games, including sweeps in four of the last six weekend series.
• Oklahoma had a wire-to-wire lead over the Big 12 standings, sitting in first or a tie for first place after every weekend of Big 12 play.

• Oklahoma is in its seventh season under the direction of head coach Skip Johnson. Johnson, who spent the 2017 season on staff as an assistant coach, has led the Sooners to a 223-150 record, three NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2024 Big 12 regular season title, 2022 Big 12 tournament championship and the 2022 College World Series finals since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.

JOHNSON NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR, 12 SOONERS COLLECT BIG 12 HONORS

• Oklahoma Baseball placed three players on the 2024 All-Big 12 First Team and two on the second team, head coach Skip Johnson was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year and a total of 12 Sooners earned recognition, the conference office announced the honors last Monday. Selections were made by the league's head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own players.

• Johnson claimed the program's first Big 12 baseball coach of the year honor. Senior infielder Michael Snyder, sophomore designated hitter Easton Carmichael and sophomore pitcher Braden Davis earned All-Big 12 First Team honors, while senior outfielder Bryce Madron and sophomore pitcher Kyson Witherspoon were named to the second team. Shortstop Jaxon Willits was selected to the All-Freshman Team and six Sooners earned honorable mention recognition (Carter Campbell, Anthony Mackenzie, Scott Mudler, Jackson Nicklaus, John Spikerman and Jaxon Willits).

LED BY THE VETS

• Veteran leadership highlights the 2024 Oklahoma squad, paced by redshirt seniors Kendall Pettis and Michael Snyder, seniors Anthony Mackenzie and Bryce Madron, and juniors Jackson Nicklaus and John Spikerman.

• The six combine for 1,045 career games played and 982 starts. Production at the plate includes a combined 114 home runs, 200 doubles and 650 RBIs.

RECAP THE REGULAR SEASON

• After dropping the season opener to Oregon, the Sooners bounced back in a big way with a pair of wins vs. No. 9 Tennessee and Nebraska in dramatic fashion at the season-opening Shriners Children's College Classic at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

• Opening the home slate vs. Wright State, the Sooners came sprinting out of the gates on offense, putting up a combined 46 runs on the weekend, highlighted by a 20-0 home-opening day win on Friday.

• The Sooners opened Big 12 play in dominant fashion, sweeping a UCF team that came to Norman at 9-1 and fresh off a win at No. 4 Florida.

• Oklahoma stayed unbeaten in conference play with an impressive three-game sweep of No. 12 TCU in Fort Worth, March 15-17. It marked OU's first sweep of TCU at Lupton Stadium and first sweep over the Horned Frogs since 2013.

• OU dropped home series' to West Virginia and Lamar and was narrowly edged by OSU in Stillwater but rebounded with a seven-game conference win streak, including back-to-back Big 12 sweeps of Kansas State in Norman and BYU in Provo.

• After a series loss to Texas in which the rubber match was called short in the seventh inning with OU trailing by two, the Sooners responded with a three-game sweep at Tech for the first time since 2006.

• In the final home regular season series, OU won yet again in sweep fashion, capping the three-game sweep of Baylor by clinching the program's first Big 12 regular season crown. In the final regular season series, OU won the series at Cincinnati to push its Big 12 win total to 23, a program record and one shy of the all-time Big 12 mark.

• The Sooners went 5-4 in midweek contests in 2024, highlighted by a season sweep of Wichita State.

• Fans have tuned in and showed out for the trending Sooners, with attendance records being set at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman. On home-opening weekend, the fan base set records for: largest opening day attendance, largest student attendance and largest opening series attendance.

• In 2024, OU set the top three single-game attendance marks in program history, recently breaking the all-time mark with 4,812 in attendance for OU's Friday night win over Texas on April 26. It broke a 29-year-old attendance record of 4,544 vs. Texas in 1995

• In addition, the OU-Texas series in Norman set a single-series program attendance record with 12,335 fans attending the three-game set, shattering the previous record of 7,269 vs. Texas in 2014.

• The Sooners broke their single season attendance record with 60,962 fans attending games at LDM this season.

OU'S ARLINGTON RUN

• The Sooners went 3-1 in their run to the Big 12 Championship game at Globe Life Field last week, beating TCU 4-0 Wednesday, before back-to-back wins over Kansas by finals of 7-5 and 8-6. The Sooners fell to Oklahoma State 9-3 in the final.

• OU advanced to the championship game in dramatic fashion Friday, with junior Jackson Nicklaus hitting a walk-off two-run home run to cap a six-run OU rally.

• Thursday, the Sooners rallied from an early two-run deficit and a season-high seven errors to advance to the semifinals, powered by a two-run go-ahead home run from freshman Jaxon Willits.

• OU opened the tournament Wednesday with a 4-0 win over TCU as OU starting LHP Braden Davis tossed a complete-game shutout. Offensively, Anthony Mackenzie and Jackson Nicklaus hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning to power OU.

• Davis' CG SO was the seventh in conference tournament history, first since 2015, and just the fifth in nine innings. Davis joined Jonathan Gray (2013 vs. BU) as the only Sooners to toss CG SOs at the Big 12 Championship.

• Davis went nine full, surrendering just four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. The junior lefty faced the minimum in five of nine innings. It was the first CG for the Sooners this season and OU's fifth SO, the most since 2019.

THE SKIPPER SURPASSES 200 WINS AT OU

• OU head coach Skip Johnson collected his 200th career victory at Oklahoma on March 15 with OU's 7-3 win at No. 12 TCU.

• Oklahoma is in its seventh season under the direction Johnson. Johnson, who spent the 2017 season on staff as an assistant coach, has led the Sooners to a 226-151 record, three NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2024 Big 12 regular season title, 2022 Big 12 tournament championship and the 2022 College World Series finals since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.

• Johnson holds 640 career wins as a head coach, earning 414 at Navarro (TX) College before making the jump to Division I baseball where he's won 226 at OU.

L. DALE MITCHELL PARK EXPANSION PROJECT

• The Oklahoma baseball facility enhancement project will transform the look of the ballpark from both the interior bowl and the exterior of the stadium. New locker rooms, training areas, coaches offices and team meeting areas combined with chairback seating, terraced berms and additional awnings and concourses will provide a first-class facility for fans and student-athletes. In addition, a new, state-of-the-art performance and player development center will be added. A new entry to the team areas will include a Champions Lobby, displaying the success and tradition of the Oklahoma baseball program.

• More than 35,000 in square-foot-space of new areas benefiting student-athlete performance and recovery including a robust medical services area, weight room and sports science to centralize student-athlete training at the baseball field.

• For more information and to donate to the L. Dale Mitchell project, visit The Sooner Club.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma baseball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Baseball) and like Oklahoma Baseball on Facebook.