Baseball Season Begins at Shriners Showdown

Friday, February 13

11 a.m.

University of Oklahoma

Texas Tech

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Baseball Season Begins at Shriners Showdown

February 12, 2026 | Baseball

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NORMAN – Preseason No. 19/RV Oklahoma opens the 2026 season at the Shriners Children's College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Feb. 13-15, facing off against Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and No. 10 TCU.

OU meets Texas Tech on Friday's Opening Day at 11 a.m. CT before a Bedlam matchup at 3 p.m. Saturday and 6:30 p.m. closing contest vs. No. 10 TCU on Sunday.

The weekend action can be seen via subscription on FloCollege and heard on 99.3 FM/1400 AM The REF with OU play-by-play voice Toby Rowland calling Friday's opener and Josh Helmer calling Saturday and Sunday's games.

The Sooners enter 2026 coming off a 38-22 season and the program's fourth straight and 42nd overall NCAA tournament appearance. The program's inaugural season in the SEC included five conference series victories (14-16 record) and a quarterfinal appearance at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala

Shriners Children's College Baseball Showdown
Date: Feb. 13-15
Times (CT): Fri. 11 a.m. vs. Texas Tech, Sat. 3 p.m. vs. OSU, Sun. 6:30 p.m. vs. TCU
Location: Arlington, Texas
Ballpark: Globe Life Field

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FIRST PITCH

• The Sooners return 13 student-athletes from the 2025 team, including ABCA All-Region selection and SEC All-Tournament Team honoree Jaxon Willits, SEC All-Freshman selection Kyle Branch and starters from a season ago in Drew Dickerson,Trey Gambill, Dasan Harris, Dayton Tockey and Jason Walk, among others. Returning arms for head coach Skip Johnson include juniors Jason Bodin and Cameron Johnson, sophomores Jaden Barfield and Michael Catalano and senior Reid Hensley.

• Oklahoma reloaded on the recruiting trail and via the transfer portal this offseason, bringing in 23 newcomers to the program. Among those on the mound are 2025 All-Mountain West RHP LJ Mercurius, Texas transfer Drew Rerick and TCU transfer Mason Bixby. At the plate, a presumed starter in the infield for the Sooners from Wichita State, Camden Johnson, paced the Shockers in batting average (.325) last year. Others include Nebraska utility player and Edmond, Okla., native Cayden Brumbaugh, Mississippi State two-way transfer Nolan Stevens and JUCO transfer catchers Brendan Brock and Deiten Lachance, who combined for over 40 home runs a season ago.

• For the second season in a row the Sooners will face stiff competition in league play, meeting eight SEC opponents that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament, including four Super Regional teams and the reigning national champion LSU.

• A retooled OU pitching staff will take the mound this season after the departure of All-American and MLB first round draft pick Kyson Witherspoon and twin brother and fellow MLB draft pick, Malachi Witherspoon. Also drafted was OU's third weekend starter from last season, Cade Crossland, marking the third time in the last six years OU's entire weekend rotation was drafted.

• Returning with starting experience and earning the Friday night start on opening weekend is junior LHP Cameron Johnson. The big lefty went 2-0 in 2025, making seven starts and 10 appearances with 24 strikeouts.

• Completing the opening weekend rotation is junior RHP LJ Mercurius, a UNLV transfer, and freshman LHP Cord Rager, the No. 34 prospect out of the state of Texas. Mercurius, a member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer, struck out 58 over 11 starts and 12 appearances a season ago for the Rebels.

• In the batter's box, OU will look to be led by a number of upperclassmen with starting experience including shortstop Jaxon Willits and outfielders Jason Walk and Trey Gambill. Willits ranked second on the team in batting average (.302) and home runs (9) a season ago and has started 96 games throughout his two years in Norman. Walk and Gambill combined for over 100 starts last year, each with 15-plus extra-base hits.

• A tall task behind the plate will be replacing All-American catcher and MLB third round draft pick Easton Carmichael who departed Norman ranked in the program top 10 for career RBIs (174) and 11th in home runs (30). French Canadian and McLennan JUCO product Deiten Lachance and fellow JUCO transfer Brendan Brock out of SW Illinois will both see time behind the plate and look to make an impact in the batter's box, each bringing power with over 45 combined home runs and 175-plus RBIs.

• Other key names to note are starters on the right side of the infield, second baseman Kyle Branch and first baseman Dayton Tockey. Branch started all 60 games as a freshman at second, while Tockey started over 40 games at first and hit seven home runs as a transfer addition last year.

BIG LEAGUE BALLPARKS

• This weekend's Shriners Children's College Showdown at the Texas Rangers' ballpark marks seven of the last eight seasons in which Oklahoma will play at least one game in a Major League Ballpark. Most recently, the Sooners went 5-2 at Globe Life Field in 2024, including a 2-1 record at the season-opening Shriner's Showdown.

• The Sooners played four games at Globe Life Field in 2023 after a program-high 16 games in big league ballparks in 2022.

• Since 2019, OU is a combined 19-14 in games played at MLB ballparks (16-10 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, 2-4 at Daikin Park (formerly Minute Maid) in Houston and 1-0 at Target Field in Minneapolis).

RANKINGS CHATTER

• The Sooners enter the season at No. 19 in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25 and are receiving votes in both the NCBWA and USA TODAY Coaches preseason polls. OU is unranked in the other two major polls, D1Baseball and Perfect Game.

• The Sooners went 11-15 in ranked matchups in 2025, including a 6-10 mark vs. top-10 opponents.

THE BEST BASEBALL CONFERENCE IN AMERICA

• Announced in 2021 was Oklahoma and Texas' move to the Southeastern Conference. The move became official on July 1, 2024, and the OU baseball program held its own in its first season in the league in 2025, winning five of 10 series and winning a pair of games at the conference tournament in Hoover.

• Oklahoma's second season in the SEC includes five road series and five home series at Kimrey Family Stadium. The Sooners are slated to meet eight conference opponents that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament, including road series against four Super Regional teams, one of which is the reigning national champion, LSU.

• OU begins its slate with a home series against Texas A&M, March 13-15, hosting the Aggies for the first time since being fellow Big 12 conference members in 2011. The Sooners then travel to Baton Rouge, La., March 20-22, to compete against defending national champion LSU for their first road contest.

• Oklahoma heads to Austin, Texas, March 27-29, for the Red River Rivalry against Texas before welcoming Alabama to Norman for the first time since 2018, April 2-5. The Sooners then face Vanderbilt, marking their first trip to Nashville, Tenn., April 10-12.

• The Sooners welcome Missouri to Kimrey Family Stadium, April 17-19, for the Tigers first visit to Norman as conference foes since 2012.

• OU heads to Auburn, Ala., April 24-26, for their first-ever series against the Tigers at Plainsman Park.

• Oklahoma hosts Florida the following weekend, May 1-3, for the first time. The Sooners and the Gators have met just once before in 2022, where OU won the Gainesville Super Regional and advanced to the College World Series.

• The Sooners make the trip to Fayetteville, Ark., May 8-10, for their first-ever road series against the Hogs. While Oklahoma and Arkansas have played each other in the past, most recently a 8-5 win over the then-No. 1 Hogs in 2021, the two have never met in a conference series.

• OU closes its conference slate with a home series against 2024 national champion Tennessee, May 14-16, meeting the Vols for the first time since OU beat UT in Arlington, Texas, on opening weekend in 2024.

NON-CON HIGHLIGHTS

• Not only do the Sooners stare down the SEC gauntlet in 2026, the team bolsters its schedule this year facing top non-conference competition.

• OU opens the season at one of college baseball's premier early season tournaments with the Shriners Children's College Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, facing off against former Big 12 foes Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU.

• The Sooners will host preseason Big 12 contender and 2025 NCAA tournament participant Arizona State in Norman, Feb. 24-25, for a two-game midweek set.

• Oklahoma will play familiar foes and tournament regulars Dallas Baptist and Oral Roberts twice each on midweeks, and meet defending champion of the Southland Conference, Southeastern Louisiana, in Hammond, La., in mid-March.

KIMREY FAMILY STADIUM

• The OU Board of Regents approved in November 2025 the naming of Kimrey Family Stadium and the L. Dale Mitchell Plaza in recognition of the transformational support from Brian and Kim Kimrey. In July 2024, the Kimreys generously pledged a leadership gift to OU Baseball and OU Football. The gift marked their third major gift in support of the baseball program and has been critical in making the Baseball Stadium Project a reality.

• Marking a major milestone for the future of Oklahoma Baseball, the BOR also approved actions that advanced the program's stadium renovation and expansion project. Included among the approvals were the construction management firm selection process, design development plans and the preparation of construction documents.

• In September 2025, the Board of Regents authorized improvements to the outfield at L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park. Set for completion by the 2026 season, Project 1 includes updates to the outfield wall, batter's eye, bullpens, exterior fence and spectator areas beyond the outfield wall.

• Project 2 now officially moves forward, featuring significant expansion and improvements to team facilities, seating bowl upgrades and fan enhancements, including new concessions, restrooms and a dedicated fan plaza.

#MLBOOMER

• Since 1967, 22 Sooners have been selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft. Kyson Witherspoon, drafted 15th overall by the Boston Red Sox in 2025, is the most recent Sooner taken in the first round.

• OU's three selections in the first three rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft tied for the most draft picks through three rounds in program history, equaling the 2022, 1983 and 1975 teams.

• With Witherspoon's selection at No. 15 overall, Oklahoma has produced four first rounders in the last eight drafts (also Cade Horton by the Chicago Cubs at No. 7 in 2022, Cade Cavalli by the Washington Nationals at No. 22 in 2020 and Kyler Murray by the Oakland Athletics at No. 9 in 2018), all under head coach Skip Johnson. OU has produced 48 draft picks since Johnson's hiring in 2018, including the four first-round selections. Of those 48, 34 have been pitchers.

• Oklahoma has produced 315 draft picks all-time, a number that ranks top 10 among all colleges.

• Six Sooners made MLB appearances in 2025, highlighted by 2022 first-rounder Cade Horton who finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year race after getting called up in May and pacing the MLB in ERA after the All-Star break. Over 30 OU alums made an appearance across all levels of pro ball last season.

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