OU Hosts Vanderbilt for Another Top-25 Matchup in Norman

NORMAN – No. 19 Oklahoma (23-9, 5-7 SEC) caps a seven-game homestand with a conference series vs. No. 17 Vanderbilt (25-8, 7-5 SEC). Friday's game will be shown to a national audience on SEC Network with Tom Hart and Lance Cormier on the call. Saturday and Sunday can be seen via SECN+ and all games can be heard on the radio in Oklahoma on 99.3 FM/1400 AM The REF or nationwide on The Varsity app.

THE BASICS

• Oklahoma enters the contest at 23-9 with a pair of top-10 non-conference wins and two SEC series on its resume. OU started the season 11-0, the program's best start since 2011. The Sooners are 2-2 in SEC series on the season, with both series losses coming to top-10 opponents.

• The Sooners enter the series as a consensus top-20 team in the nation, ranking No. 19 in this week's D1 Baseball poll. The team holds its highest rank in the Baseball America poll at No. 16 and hold No. 18 in the NCBWA top 15, No. 19 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and No. 22 in Perfect Game's rankings. Oklahoma currently sits at No. 20 in the NCAA RPI.

• The Sooners and Commodores have met five times in the history of the two programs with OU holding a 3-2 all-time advantage. Most recently, the teams met in the Tempe Regional in 2008 with OU taking a pair of games over Vandy (11-0, 8-5). This weekend will be the first matchups in Norman.

#17 Vanderbilt vs. #19 Oklahoma
Dates: April 11-13
Times (CT): 7 p.m./4 p.m./2 p.m.
Location: Norman
Ballpark: L. Dale Mitchell Park

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Game Notes

FOR THE FANS

• Friday is OU's annual "Go Mitch Go" game where the team honors the Go Mitch Go Foundation and the program's longstanding relationship with the Whitaker family who's son, Mitchell, passed away in 2007 due to Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. The team wears baby blue accents to honor Mitchell's eye color and the annual Mitchell Whitaker "Go Mitch Go" Award will be presented pregame to a Sooner who demonstrates oustanding character and leadership qualities.

• As is every Friday will be Happy Hour from gates open (5:30 p.m.) up until first pitch where fans can purchase $4 16oz draft beer. Postgame on Friday will also be Friday Night Fireworks, every conference Friday of the season.

• Live from Section 405 on Friday will be the OU radio broadcast with OU play-by-play voice Toby Rowland, along with OU alum and analyst Blake Brewster, and sideline reporter Carly Murray. Section 405 tickets are still available here.

• Available for purchase starting Friday will be special edition OU Baseball Simple Modern reusable tumblers.

• Sunday's game theme will be The Masters with themed golf towels available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Sunday is also Sooner Four Pack Sunday where families can take advantage of a ticket deal that includes four general admission tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and one popcorn all for $40.

THE NUMBERS

• OU's pitching rotation is headlined by 2025 Preseason All-SEC RHP Kyson Witherspoon, who is 5-2 this season in eight starts with a 68-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List honoree has struck out a career-high 12 batters in two of his eight starts and recorded double-digit strikeouts in three games.

• Twin brother, Malachi Witherspoon, holds a 2-3 record in eight starts with 37 strikeouts. Lefty Cade Crossland has made his debut in the rotation the last three weekends. In eight appearances this season (five starts), Crossland has fanned 35 batters and walked 15. Lefty transfer Cameron Johnson is 2-0 in seven starts with 21 K's.

• The pitching staff ranks 40th in the country with a 4.35 team ERA. Kyson Witherspoon ranks seventh in the country and third in the SEC in strikeouts with 68 and fourth in the conference and 13th in the nation in K/9 (13.60). His 0.98 WHIP is good for fifth in the league and his five victories rank third in the SEC.

• The Sooners are outscoring opponents 214-156 and OU's pitchers have struck out 323 batters on the year. This season marked the first time in program history the Sooners have started a season 11-0 and held each opponent to five runs or less. OU has surrendered double-digit runs just four times on the year.

• Oklahoma is 15-5 at L. Dale Mitchell Park, outscoring the opposition 142-85 on its home field, including a 19-12 home run advantage in Norman.

• OU's deep bullpen has been impressive, surrendering 65 runs with a 163-to-62 K/BB ratio. The Sooners have utilized 11 bullpen arms so far in 2025. Senior Dylan Crooks has taken on the closer role, ranking second in the SEC and third in the nation with nine saves in 14 appearances, striking out 17 and surrendering three runs (1.37 ERA) in 19.2 innings of work.

• In the batter's box, four starters are batting above .300 on the season. Sophomore Jaxon Willits leads the team with eight homers, while Willits and returning NCBWA All-American Easton Carmichael pace OU with 14 extra-base hits each. Carmichael leads the team with 30 RBIs. Centerfielder Jason Walk has been the table setter in the leadoff spot, with hits in 22 of 31 games played and five homers on the year, already besting his season total of three from his freshman year a season ago.

• Freshman second baseman Kyle Branch has impressed in his first collegiate season, batting .319, good for second on the team, to go with 10 XBH and 19 RBIs. Redshirt sophomore Sam Christiansen leads OU with 35 walks drawn, good for first in the SEC and 10th in the country. Junior transfer Trey Gambill paces OU in batting average (.338) and on-base percentage (.505).

• Oklahoma has proven to be a menace on the base paths, stealing 74 bags on the year to rank first in the SEC and 29th in the country. Dawson Willis paces OU with 12 stolen bases, good for third in the SEC, while seven Sooners have registered at least five on the year. OU is 74-for-88 on stolen base attempts.

• The Sooners have utilized the long ball, hitting 36 home runs on the year. The Sooners have homered in 22 of OU's 32 games, including 15 of the last 20 and have 10 multi-homer games.

ANOTHER TOP-25 MATCHUP

• This weekend's series between No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 17 Vanderbilt marks the third straight weekend the Sooners have faced off against a ranked conference foe.

• OU met then-No. 12 Alabama in Tuscaloosa two weekends ago, before hosting then-No. 7 LSU last week at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Commodores come to Norman ranked No. 17 by D1Baseball, and as high as No. 14 by two polls.

• The remaining schedule for the Sooners features three weekend series versus teams currently in the D1Baseball top 25 (at No. 7 Georgia [4/24-26], vs. No. 6 Ole Miss [5/2-4] , vs. No. 2 Texas [5/15-17])

• The SEC leads all conferences with 10 of this week's D1Baseball top 25 teams, including four of the top five, six of the top 10 and 10 of the top 20.

• The Sooners are 3-6 in ranked matchups in 2025 after going 4-1 in such games throughout the regular season in 2024, with all four wins coming against top-15 opponents.

THE BEST BASEBALL CONFERENCE IN AMERICA

• The OU baseball program looks to make a name for itself in the premier baseball conference in the country in its inaugural season in 2025.

• The Sooners are no strangers to competing against their new conference foes. Since head coach Skip Johnson's hiring in 2018, OU is 43-37 versus current members of the SEC (including Texas).

• OU won its first two conference series as members of the SEC. On SEC Opening Weekend at South Carolina, Oklahoma took the rubber match in Columbia by a final of 6-5 in 10 innings, erasing a two-run deficit with two outs in the ninth before Jason Walk launched a homer at the top of the 10th to give OU the win.

• The Sooners took two of three vs. Mississippi State at Mitchell Park in Norman, March 21-23. After falling in the opener despite 11 strikeouts from Kyson Witherspoon, OU turned around to win back-to-back games and clinch the series on its home turf.

• OU dropped its first conference series of the year at then-No. 12 Alabama in a highly-contested top-15 series. OU forced a rubber game with a Saturday win after falling 8-6 on Friday, and nearly completed a Sunday comeback after being down seven runs but couldn't finish the job and fell 8-6 to drop its first conference series.

• Oklahoma suffered its first conference sweep at Mitchell Park since 2021 last weekend when No. 7 LSU took all three games in Norman. A pitcher's duel in game one went LSU's way, 2-0, before a 10-2 loss in game two and narrow 3-2 result in Saturday's finale. The Sooners had the opportunity to win via walk off in the finale with the tying run in scoring position and go-ahead run at first base but a flyout squashed the chance.

• The Sooners will play 30 conference games this season, highlighted by five home series versus four of the past five national champions (Vanderbilt [2019], Mississippi State [2021], Ole Miss [2022], LSU [2023]), and a home regular season finale vs. rival Texas.

• The Sooners travel to South Carolina, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia and Kentucky in 2025.

RANKINGS CHATTER

• Oklahoma dropped to No. 19 in this week's D1Baseball poll after suffering a series loss to now-No. 3 LSU. After starting the season unranked, Oklahoma has vaulted into the polls, including spending weeks in the top 10. The Sooners made their debut at No. 16 on Feb. 24 after the Round Rock sweep, and have since been ranked 13th, 12th and 10th, 9th , 10th and 19th this week.

• The Sooners are a consensus top-20 squad across the board, holding their highest rankings in the Baseball America poll (No. 16) and NCBWA ranks (No. 18). The Sooners hold No. 19 and 22 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and Perfect Game top 25, respectively.

NEWCOMERS MAKING NOISE

• Looking to replace 22 lost letterwinners from 2024, the Sooner coaching staff hit the transfer portal and recruiting trail hard to bring in 28 newcomers for 2025.

• Of those 28, 16 are transfer student-athletes, including 11 from junior colleges, a testament to OU assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Todd Butler and the OU staff's expertise at the JUCO level.

• The newcomers have made an impact this season, with nine newcomer position players making starts and three freshmen or transfers making starts on the mound already in 2025.

• Freshman Kyle Branch and junior transfer Dawson Willis have started all 32 games at second and third, respectively. Fellow newcomer outfielders Trey Gambill and Sam Christiansen, and first baseman Dayton Tockey, have all recorded 25 or more starts. Gambill and Branch rank first and second on the team with respective .338 and .319 batting averages, while Tockey and Willis have each provided power at the plate with a combined 20 extra-base hits.

• On the bump, 10 Sooners new to the program in 2025 have made appearances with junior JUCO transfer Cade Crossland pacing the group with 35 strikeouts. Freshman Michael Catalano (23 K) and sophomores Cameron Johnson (21 K), Jason Bodin (20 K) and Gavyn Jones (21 K) have been instrumental to OU's pitching success.

ALL THE ACCOLADES

• Junior right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon recently collected a plethora of midseason accolades. The OU ace was named D1 Baseball's Midseason Top Pitcher and Perfect Game Midseason Pitcher of the Year. Witherspoon was also a unanimous midseason first team All-American by Perfect Game and midseason first team All-American by D1 Baseball.

• Witherspoon collected OU's first SEC weekly honor in program history on Feb. 24, being named SEC Pitcher of the Week following a career-high 12 strikeouts vs. Minnesota at the Round Rock Classic.

• Preseason honors heading into the 2025 season for Witherspoon included preseason All-America nods from four different outlets: Baseball America (second team), D1 Baseball (second team), NCBWA (second team) and Perfect Game (first team).

• Witherspoon was also named to the Preseason All-SEC Team as a second team selection. He was one of nine starting pitchers named to the first or second teams.

• Witherspoon and junior catcher Easton Carmichael were both named to the 2025 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List. The award, given annually to the best amateur baseball player in the nation, announced the 55-player watch list last week. Oklahoma was tied for second with two players on the list.

• The Sooners were picked to finish 11th in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll by the conference's 16 head coaches. Texas A&M was predicted to win the 2025 conference crown, while five different schools received first place votes.

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