Red River Rivalry in Norman Caps Regular Season

NORMAN – Oklahoma (32-17, 13-14 SEC) hosts Red River rival and No. 3-ranked Texas (40-10, 20-7) at L. Dale Mitchell Park this weekend for the regular season finale.

The Thursday-Saturday series can be seen via SECN+ and heard on the radio in Oklahoma on 99.3 FM/1400 AM The REF or nationwide on The Varsity app. This weekend's broadcast and radio crew includes Toby Rowland, Chad McKee, Rich Hills, Kendall Pettis, Josh Helmer and Carly Murray.

THE BASICS

• Oklahoma enters the series at 32-17 with eight ranked wins, including a pair of top-10 non-conference victories, and five SEC series wins on its resume. The Sooners are 5-4 in SEC series on the season, with three of their four series losses coming to top-15 opponents and three series losses came on the road. This weekend's matchup is the sixth ranked series OU has played out of 10 SEC weekends.

• The Sooners head into the final weekend of the regular season unranked in the D1 Baseball top 25 for the first time since Feb. 18. OU holds No. 16 in the NCBWA poll, No. 23 in Perfect Game and are receiving votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. The Sooners currently sit at No. 26 in the NCAA RPI and SOS.

OU welcomes Texas for the first SEC installment of the Red River Rivalry as the teams spent the last 26 seasons as Big 12 foes. The teams have met over 200 times on the diamond dating back over 100 years. Most recently, Texas took two of three a season ago in Norman in the final Big 12 series between the two programs. In the Big 12 era, Texas held a 49-23 advantage.

• Probable Pitching Matchups: TH: OU RHP Kyson Witherspoon (9-3, 2.45 ERA) vs. UT TBA; FRI: OU LHP Cade Crossland (4-4, 6.62 ERA) vs. UT TBA; SAT: OU RHP Malachi Witherspoon (3-7, 5.66 ERA) vs. UT TBA.

#3 Texas at Oklahoma
Dates: May 15-17
Times (CT): 6:30 p.m./6:30 p.m./2 p.m.
Location: Norman
Ballpark: L. Dale Mitchell Park

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Game Notes

SENIOR WEEKEND

• OU will honor its five outgoing seniors this Saturday at L. Dale Mitchell Park before the home regular season finale: RHP Dylan Crooks, RHP Reid Hensley, LHP James Hitt, catcher Scott Mudler and LHP Grant Stevens.

• The five have combined for over 200 games played across three seasons for the Sooners as Hitt is the longest-tenured Sooner, joining the team in 2023. All five have transferred in to Oklahoma and been a part of three winning seasons, including a 40-win season a year ago where Oklahoma won its first Big 12 regular season title in program history and hosted an NCAA Regional in Norman for the first time since 2010.

FOR THE FANS

• This weekend's home regular season finale features numerous family-friendly promotions. Tickets are still available via SoonerSports.com/tickets. Thursday, fans can take advantage of 'Happy Hour' with $4 16oz beers from the time gates open up until first pitch.

• Friday will be a 'Crimson Out' at The Dale, as fans are encouraged to wear crimson for the Friday night installment of the Red River Rivalry. The giveaway will be shakers for reserved seats.

• Saturday's highlights include a pregame flyover and Senior Day ceremony as fans are encouraged to be in their seats before the 2 o'clock first pitch to celebrate OU's five seniors.

AT THE PLATE

• The Sooners are outscoring opponents 339-242. Four starters are batting above .300 on the season in junior Easton Carmichael (.318), freshman Kyle Branch (.315), junior Trey Gambill (.303) and sophomore Jaxon Willits (.301).

• OU has utilized the long ball, hitting 56 home runs on the year. The Sooners have homered in 32 of OU's 49 games, including 25 of the last 37 and have 16 multi-homer games. Carmichael paces OU with 13 long balls on the year, followed by Willits' nine.

• Oklahoma ranks first in the SEC with 17 triples on the year (19th nationally). Carmichael, Willits and Jason Walk are tied for the team lead with three each, good for a tie of fourth in the SEC.

GOOD EYE

• OU ranks seventh in the SEC and 49th in the country in walks drawn, averaging 5.4 BB per game.

• Trey Gambill and Sam Christiansen rank third in the conference and 48th in the country with 43 walks drawn. The two rank third and fourth, respectively, in the league in BB/game with Gambill drawing .96 BB/game followed by Christiansen's .93.

• In league play, OU ranks first with 145 walks drawn, the next closest team is 10 walks behind in Arkansas (135).

• A direct correlation, OU ranks second in SEC play in on-base percentage (.383) and a pair of Sooners rank among the top of the league in the category in Jaxon Willits (8th, .455) and Trey Gambill (13th, .436).

• Number to note: When Oklahoma draws five or more walks this season, the team's record is 25-7.

ON THE MOUND

• The pitching staff ranks 33rd in the country with a 4.47 team ERA. Kyson Witherspoon's 2.45 ERA ranks second in the conference and 25th nationally.

• OU's pitchers have struck out 481 batters on the year and have 22 double-digit strikeout games on the season. Kyson Witherspoon paces all Sooners with four double-digit K games individually.

• OU has surrendered double-digit runs just six times 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.

• As a team, OU ranks 16th in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (10.3) and 17th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.73), striking out 481 batters to 176 walks.

K'S WITH KYSON

• OU's pitching rotation is headlined by 2025 Preseason All-SEC RHP Kyson Witherspoon, who is 9-3 this season in 13 starts with a 104-to-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

• His nine wins rank tied for first in the SEC and fifth nationally. His K/BB ratio (5.47) is fourth in the conference and 19th nationally.

• The Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List honoree has struck out a career-high 12 batters in two of his 13 starts and recorded double-digit strikeouts in four outings. He has seven or more strikeouts in nine of his 13 starts and has surrendered more than three earned runs in just two appearances and six hits or less in all 13 games. The righty has one individual shutout on the season, a seven-inning complete game performance in a run-rule win over Vanderbilt. He has combined on two other shutouts.

• Witherspoon ranks eighth in the country and fourth in the SEC in strikeouts with 104 and eighth in the conference and 24th in the nation in K/9 (12.16).

• The righty is second in the SEC with a 2.45 ERA which sits at 25h in the nation. His 0.94 WHIP is good for third in the league (17th nationally).

• Witherspoon has been the pitcher of record in 12 of his 13 starts (9-3). Two of his three losses came vs. fellow elite arms in Mississippi State's Pico Kohn (10 K; 3/21) and LSU's Kade Anderson (14 K; 4/3). OU lost the games by narrow margins of 2-1 and 2-0, respectively. His other loss, May 9 at Kentucky, was a one-run loss, 4-3.

RANKINGS CHATTER

• Oklahoma dropped out of the D1 Baseball top 25 after its series loss at Kentucky, marking the first week the Sooners have been unranked since Feb. 16, the second week of the season. OU spent 11 weeks ranked across all five major polls. After starting the season unranked, Oklahoma 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 been among the top 25 10 of the past 11 weeks, holding ranks of 13th, 12th, 10th, 9th , 10th, 19th,18th, 14th, 21st and 17th.

• The Sooners rank No. 16 in the NCBWA top 25 and hold No. 23 in Perfect Game's poll this week, while receiving votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. The Sooners are unranked in the Baseball America top 25. OU holds No. 26 in both the NCAA RPI and strength of schedule.

• The remaining regular season schedule for the Sooners features a ranked rivalry matchup vs. No. 3 Texas (5/15-17) in Norman.

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

• The Sooners are 8-10 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.

UP NEXT

• OU plays in the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala., for the first time next week. The tournament runs Tuesday through Sunday, May 20-25. OU will learn its final seeding and opponent by Sunday as all SEC series this week run Thursday-Saturday.

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