NORMAN – No. 10 Oklahoma (23-5, 5-4 SEC) returns to SEC play as it hosts No. 7 LSU (27-3, 7-2 SEC) at L. Dale Mitchell Park for a three-game series this weekend.
Thursday’s 6 p.m. CT matchup will be shown to a national audience on ESPN2 with Dave Neal and Todd Walker on the call. Friday (6:30 p.m.) and Saturday (2 p.m.) will be available via SECN+ with Toby Rowland and alum Rich Hills calling the action. All the 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 23-5 and winners of 12 of their last 16 games. The Sooners have a pair of top-10 non-conference wins and two SEC series already on their resume. OU started the season 11-0, the program’s best start since 2011. The Sooners dropped their first SEC series of the season at No. 8 Alabama last weekend as the Tide took two of three in a tight series in Tuscaloosa.
• The Sooners are a consensus top-10 squad in the nation, ranking 10th in this week’s D1Baseball poll. The team is ranked ninth in the Baseball America, Perfect Game USA and USA TODAY Coaches polls and No. 10 in the NCBWA top-25 rankings. Oklahoma also currently sits at No. 10 in the NCAA RPI.
• The Sooners and Tigers have met 13 times in the history of the two programs with LSU holding a 9-4 advantage. This weekend’s matchups will be the first games played in Norman. Most recently, LSU beat OU in 11 innings at the 2022 Shriners College Classic in Houston. Most notably in recent matchups was OU pitcher Dane Acker’s complete game no-hitter vs. the Tigers in 2020.
• Probable Pitching Matchups: TH: OU RHP Kyson Witherspoon (5-1, 2.31 ERA) vs. LSU LHP Kade Anderson (5-0, 3.52 ERA); FRI: OU LHP Cade Crossland (1-1, 6.66 ERA) vs. LSU RHP Anthony Eyanson (4-0, 3.89 ERA); SAT: OU TBA vs. LSU RHP Chase Shores (4-1, 5.40 ERA).
FOR THE FANS
• This weekend’s promotions include “Winning Every Inning” with prizes to be given out each inning of all three games of the series.
• Friday features happy hour with $4 16oz beer from gates open up until first pitch. Weather pending, Friday night will also feature postgame fireworks.
• Other weekend promos include: 250 Whataburger coupons for Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits on Thursday, performances by the OU pom squad on Thursday and Friday, appearnces by the OU Rufneks and Lil Sis’, and a $1,000 OKC Lottery giveaway on Saturday.
THE NUMBERS
• OU’s pitching rotation is headlined by 2025 Preseason All-SEC RHP Kyson Witherspoon, who is 5-1 this season in his seven starts with a 64-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Golden Spikes Preseason Watch List honoree has struck out a career-high 12 batters in two of his seven starts and recorded double-digit strikeouts in three games.
• Twin brother, Malachi Witherspoon, holds a 2-2 record in seven starts with 33 strikeouts. Lefty Cade Crossland has made his debut in the rotation the last two weekends. In seven appearances this season (four starts), Crossland has fanned 29 batters and walked 13. Lefty transfer Cameron Johnson is 2-0 in seven starts with 21 K’s.
• The pitching staff ranks 35th in the country with a 4.22 team ERA. Kyson Witherspoon ranks fifth in the country and second in the SEC in strikeouts with 64 and sixth in the nation in K/9 (14.77). His 0.95 WHIP is good for fourth in the league. His five victories rank eighth in the country and second in the SEC.
• The Sooners are outscoring opponents 209-132 and OU’s pitchers have struck out 285 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 three times on the year.
• Oklahoma is 15-1 at L. Dale Mitchell Park, outscoring the opposition 137-61 on its home field, including a 19-6 home run advantage in Norman.
• OU’s deep bullpen has been impressive, surrendering 54 runs with a 144-to-54 K/BB ratio. The Sooners have utilized 10 bullpen arms so far in 2025. Senior Dylan Crooks has taken on the closer role, ranking first in the nation with nine saves in 13 appearances, striking out 17 and surrendering three runs (1.42 ERA) in 19.0 innings of work.
• In the batter’s box, six starters are batting above .300 on the season. Sophomore Jaxon Willits leads the team with eight homers, while returning NCBWA All-American Easton Carmichael paces OU with 14 extra-base hits and 30 RBIs. Centerfielder Jason Walk has been the table setter in the leadoff spot, with hits in 21 of 27 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 .333, good for second on the team, to go with nine XBH and 19 RBIs. Redshirt sophomore Sam Christiansen leads OU with 33 walks drawn, good for first in the SEC. Junior transfer Trey Gambill paces OU in batting average (.377) and on-base percentage (.536).
• Oklahoma has proven to be a menace on the base paths, stealing 74 bags on the year to rank first in the SEC and 16th in the country. Dawson Willis paces OU with 12 stolen bases, good for second 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 28 games on the year, including 15 of the last 16 and have 10 multi-homer games.
* Above NCAA rankings as of 3/31/25
TOP-10 TUSSLE AT THE DALE
• This weekend’s matchup between the tenth-ranked Sooners and No. 7 LSU marks the first top-10 matchup at L. Dale Mitchell Park since a midweek meeting in 2011 between No. 8 OU and No. 9 TCU, a 13-6 Sooner win.
• The series marks the first top-10 weekend series in Norman since No. 7 Texas visited the No. 9 Sooners in 2010.
• After its top-15 matchup vs. then-No. 12 Alabama last weekend, No. 10 OU faces back-to-back top-15 opponents on the weekend for the first time since meeting No. 8 Texas and No. 4 Oklahoma State in consecutive weeks in 2022.
• LSU is the first top-10 team to come to Norman since OU split a four-game set with No. 7 Stanford in 2023.
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 43-34 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. 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 last weekend at 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 series.
• 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 one spot to No. 10 in this week’s D1Baseball poll after a hard-fought series at now-No. 8 Alabama. After starting the season unranked, Oklahoma has vaulted into 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 and back to No. 10 this week.
• The Sooners are a consensus top-10 squad across the board, holding their highest rankings in the Baseball America, Perfect Game USA and USA TODAY Coaches polls (No. 9) and 10th in the NCBWA top 25 and D1Baseball.
• The Sooners are 3-3 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.
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 28 games at second and third, respectively. Fellow newcomer outfielders Trey Gambill and Sam Christiansen, and first baseman Dayton Tockey, have all recorded 20 or more starts. Gambill and Branch rank first and second on the team with respective .377 and .333 batting averages, while Tockey and Willis have each provided power at the plate with a combined 20 extra-base hits.
• On the bump, nine Sooners new to the program in 2025 have made appearances with junior JUCO transfer Cade Crossland pacing the group with 29 strikeouts. Freshman Michael Catalano (20 K) and sophomores Cameron Johnson (21 K), Jason Bodin (20 K) and Gavyn Jones (17 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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