Completed Event: Baseball versus #3 Texas on May 16, 2025 , Win , 8, to, 6
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Baseball
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vs #3 Texas
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Five Sooners Selected on Day Two of MLB Draft
July 14, 2025 | Baseball
NORMAN — Five Sooners heard their name called on the second and final day of the 2025 MLB Draft, bringing Oklahoma's total to eight draftees in this year's draft.
OU's eight selections ranked tied for fourth among all schools.
Junior left-handed pitcher Cade Crossland was the first Sooner off the board Monday, being selected in the fourth round with the 120th pick by the St. Louis Cardinals. Fellow pitchers senior James Hitt (Round 8, Pick 250, San Diego Padres), junior Dylan Tate (Round 11, Pick 345, Los Angeles Dodgers), senior Dylan Crooks (Round 15, Pick 437, Colorado Rockies) and junior Brandon Cain (Round 19, Pick 563, Pittsburgh Pirates) were also taken to complete OU's draft class.
Oklahoma has now produced 315 draft picks all-time, a number that ranks top 10 among all colleges. With Kyson Witherspoon's first-round selection Monday, OU has 22 first-rounders in program history. Since head coach Skip Johnson's hiring in 2018, OU has 48 draft picks and four first-round selections. Of those 48, 34 have been pitchers.
OU's third weekend starter from 2025 to be selected, Crossland made 16 appearances in his one season in Norman, making 13 starts (5-5 record). The Rockwall, Texas, native finished with 84 strikeouts to rank third on the team. He closed his Sooner career with an exceptional nine-strikeout performance in seven innings vs. Nebraska at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional.
Crossland's selection marks the third time in the last six years OU's entire weekend rotation has been drafted. Of those nine Sooners, eight were taken in the first four rounds.
Hitt, an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (2023) and three-year Sooner that made 62 appearances and 19 starts throughout his time in Norman, struck out 108 batters in 140.2 innings pitched. As a senior in 2025, Hitt held a 3.82 ERA and 3-0 record to go with 35 strikeouts in 35.1 IP. His 28 relief appearances in 2025 ranked second on the team and fifth in the SEC.
A Sooner for just a season, Tate missed majority of 2025 due to injury before returning for postseason play. In his two appearances (5.0 IP), the righty struck out six and surrendered just one earned run and one walk.
A two-year Sooner that served as OU's closer in 2025, Crooks put together an All-American campaign his senior season with 16 saves, good for second in the country and second for a single season in program history. Also a finalist for NCBWA Stopper of the Year, Crooks' 16 saves in 2025 alone ranked sixth in school history for career saves. In his two years in Norman, he held a 2.43 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 59.1 IP, allowing just 16 earned runs and 13 walks. Crooks joins his brother, Jimmy (2022), as OU alums and MLB draft picks.
Cain, a two-way player from Mobile, Ala., saw time in the field and on the mound after transferring to OU in 2025. Cain played in 21 games with two starts in the outfield, tallying five runs scored and striking out one in his one appearance on the mound.
Season ticket deposits for 2026 Oklahoma Baseball are available now via SoonerSports.com/tickets.
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