Sooners Set for NCAA Chapel Hill Regional

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Oklahoma (35-20, 14-16 SEC) makes its 42nd appearance in the NCAA tournament this weekend as the regional No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional. The Sooners open vs. regional No. 3 seed Nebraska Friday at 4 p.m. CT. The game can be seen via ESPN+ with Wes Durham and Danan Hughes calling the action.

All OU games can be heard on the radio in Oklahoma on 99.3 FM/1400 AM The REF or nationwide on The Varsity app. This weekend's radio crew includes Toby Rowland, Kendall Pettis and Carly Murray.

THE BASICS

• Oklahoma enters the NCAA postseason at 35-20 with 13 wins this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament field. The Sooners won five of their 10 SEC conference series in its inaugural season in the league. The Sooners boast series wins over No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt and No. 10 national seed Ole Miss, along with five RPI top-10 victories.

• The Sooners ranked No. 26 in the final NCAA RPI and boasted an overall strength of schedule that is ranked 15th in the nation. OU also has nine wins against RPI top-25 teams and 13 top-50 wins.

• Probable Pitching Matchups: FRI: OU RHP Malachi Witherspoon (3-8, 5.53 ERA) vs. NU LHP Jackson Brockett (4-3, 3.41 ERA).

Oklahoma at NCAA Chapel Hill Regional
Dates: May 30-June 2
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Ballpark: Boshamer Stadium

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OU IN THE NCAA TOURNEY

• For the fourth straight season and 42nd time overall, Oklahoma has been selected to the NCAA postseason.

• The No. 2 seed Sooners will play regional No. 3 seed Nebraska at 4 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN+. Regional host and No. 5 national seed North Carolina will face regional four-seed Holy Cross on Friday at 11 a.m. CT.

• The winner of the Chapel Hill Regional will face the winner of the Eugene Regional, which features No. 12 national seed Oregon, Arizona, Utah Valley and Cal Poly.

• Oklahoma is making its fifth appearance in the tournament under head coach Skip Johnson. The Sooners are 98-84 all-time in NCAA tournament games, have appeared in 11 College World Series (moster recently in 2022) and won national championships in 1951 and 1994.

• This is the sixth time in OU's last eight NCAA tournament appearances that Oklahoma will play a regional at an ACC school. In those five previous regionals, the Sooners have advanced to Supers twice.

• A season ago, the Sooners hosted a regional in Norman for the first time since 2010, falling in the regional final to UCONN.

SOONERS VS. THE REGIONAL FIELD

• Nebraska: Familiar foes meet for the first time in the NCAA tournament this Friday. OU and Nebraska have met over 200 times in the history of the two programs but this weekend's matchup will be the first in the NCAA tournament as the teams were formerly conference counterparts in the Big 8 and Big 12. The Sooners walked off the Huskers, 7-6, on opening weekend last year at Globe Life Field, the first meeting since Nebraska's 2011 departure from the Big 12.

• North Carolina: OU owns a 2-0 all-time advantage over UNC, a pair of meetings in the NCAA Norman Regional in 2010. The Sooners defeated the Tar Heels in the winner's bracket game and regional final to advance to Super Regionals en route to Omaha.

• Holy Cross: The Sooners beat the Crusaders in a pair of games on opening weekend in Norman in 2018, the only two matchups in program history. The first matchup vs. Holy Cross was head coach Skip Johnson's first home game at the helm, a 1-0 shutout victory with current big leaguer Jake Irvin striking out 11 for OU.

HOOVER RECAP

• Oklahoma made its inaugural appearance in Hoover for the 2025 SEC Tournament last week, going 2-1 with a top-10 win over Georgia.

• The 12-seed OU opened with a 5-1 win over 13-seed Kentucky, The Sooners were powered by a two-run, go-ahead home run from sophomore Jason Walk in the third inning. OU starting left-handed pitcher Jaden Barfield and relievers James Hitt and Dylan Crooks combined to hold the Wildcats to just one run on six hits.

• Oklahoma advanced to the quarterfinals Wednesday with a 3-2 win over five-seed and 10th-ranked Georgia.

• The Sooners completed the upset behind another exceptional start from right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon, as the OU ace went a season-high 7.2 innings of two-run baseball, striking out eight and scattering just five hits and no walks to a potent UGA offense.

• OU's run came to an end in the quarterfinals with a 6-1 loss to eventual tournament champion and NCAA No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt. The Sooners were stifled by Vandy pitching on the night, striking out a season-high 17 times while leaving 10 runners on base.

GOLDEN ARM: KYSON A GOLDEN SPIKES SEMIFINALIST

• OU's pitching rotation is headlined by 2025 Golden Spikes Award semifinalist Kyson Witherspoon, who is 10-3 this season in 15 starts with a 120-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Witherspoon was named one of 25 semifinalists on Sunday, May 18.

• His 10 wins rank first in the SEC and ninth nationally. His K/BB ratio (6.0) is second in the conference and 13th nationally.

• The All-SEC First Team honoree has struck out a career-high 12 batters in two of his 15 starts and recorded double-digit strikeouts in four outings. He has seven or more strikeouts in 11 of his 15 starts and has surrendered more than three earned runs in just two appearances and six hits or less in all 15 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 sixth in the country in strikeouts with 120 and 26th in the nation in K/9 (11.87).

• The righty is first in the SEC with a 2.47 ERA which sits at 18th in the nation. His 0.91 WHIP is good for first in the league and 12th nationally).

• Witherspoon has been the pitcher of record in 13 of his 15 starts (10-3). 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 game, 4-3.

TRIO OF SOONERS NAMED ALL-SEC

• Named to the All-SEC First Team as a starting pitcher was junior right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon. Junior catcher Easton Carmichael claimed All-SEC Second Team honors, while freshman Kyle Branch was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team at second base.

• Witherspoon, a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, has been dominant on the mound for Oklahoma this season. The righty ranks first in the SEC and 18th nationally in ERA (2.47), first in the league and ninth in the country in victories (10) and fourth and sixth in the conference and nation, respectively, with 120 strikeouts.

• Carmichael has paced the Sooner offense in 2025, leading OU with 14 home runs, 27 extra-base hits and 55 RBIs. His .588 slugging percentage and .975 OPS are good for first on the team and the junior also paces OU with 14 multi-RBI games and 20 multi-hit games. In SEC play, the Prosper, Texas, product ranked fourth in hits (42), sixth in RBIs (32) and 10th in total bases (73). The junior has been a speedster on the base path as well with 12 stolen bases on 17 attempts. In SEC play, Carmichael ranked second among catchers in runners caught stealing with six.

• Making a name for himself as a freshman has been Branch, starting all 55 games for the Sooners at second base. The frosh ranks third on the team in hits (59) and batting average (.295). Branch has batted in 27 runs and hit two home runs and 12 extra-base hits. The Lucas, Texas, native has flashed the leather, helping turn 29 of OU's 45 double plays as the Sooners paced the league in SEC play with 24 double plays. In league play, Branch's 71 assists ranked fifth and his 16 double plays fielded ranked ninth.

• The Sooner trio collect Oklahoma's first SEC baseball annual awards in program history as the Sooners near the completion of their inaugural season in the conference. It marks consecutive all-conference seasons for Carmichael and Witherspoon as the two were first and second team All-Big 12, respectively, a season ago.

AT THE PLATE

• The Sooners are outscoring opponents 361-273. Two starters are batting above .300 on the season in junior Easton Carmichael (.321) and sophomore Jaxon Willits (.305).

• OU has utilized the long ball, hitting 61 home runs on the year. The Sooners have homered in 36 of OU's 55 games, and have 16 multi-homer games. Carmichael paces OU with 14 long balls on the year, followed by Willits' nine.

• Oklahoma ranks first in the SEC with 18 triples on the year (20th nationally). Carmichael paces the team with four three-baggers, good for a tie for first in the SEC, followed by Willits and Jason Walk's three each.

ON THE MOUND

• The pitching staff ranks 28th in the country with a 4.44 team ERA. Kyson Witherspoon's 2.47 ERA ranks first in the conference and 18th nationally.

• OU's pitchers have struck out 539 batters on the year and have 25 double-digit strikeout games this 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 17th in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (10.3) and 14th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.8), striking out 539 batters to 193 walks.

RANKINGS CHATTER

• Oklahoma dropped out of the D1 Baseball top 25 after its series loss at Kentucky, marking the first week the Sooners had 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 13 weeks, holding ranks of 13th, 12th, 10th, 9th , 10th, 19th,18th, 14th, 21st and 17th.

• The Sooners are 10-13 in ranked matchups in 2025, including a 5-8 mark vs. top-10 opponents.

• OU also has nine wins against RPI top-25 teams and 13 top-50 wins, including series wins over RPI No. 1 Vanderbilt and RPI No. 12 Ole Miss, along with five RPI top-10 victories.

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