Sooners Set for Top-15 Matchup at Auburn

NORMAN – No. 14 OU (28-12, 10-8 SEC) plays a road series at No. 11 Auburn (28-12, 10-8) for the first time in program history this weekend.

The Friday-Sunday series begins with a 6 p.m. CT start on Friday before another 6 p.m. first pitch Saturday and 2 p.m. finale on Sunday. The series can be seen via SECN+ and heard on the radio via The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM with Chad McKee on the call.

THE BASICS

• The Sooners enter the series at 28-12 following a midweek win over Oral Roberts and series sweep of Missouri last weekend in Norman. OU put up 21 runs on 13 extra-base hits in the Mizzou series, including seven home runs. Sooner starting pitchers LJ Mercurius, Cameron Johnson and Cord Rager combined for just three earned runs on nine hits and one walk to go with 22 strikeouts.

• In Tuesday's win over ORU, the Sooners stormed back from a five-run deficit, capped by a go-ahead grand slam from Jaxon Willits. It was Willits' first career grand slam.

• Oklahoma is ranked at No. 14 in this week's D1Baseball Top 25 and rank in the top 25 in four of five major polls, holding their highest ranking (No. 9) in the Baseball America poll.

• On the season, OU is outscoring opponents 280-183 and the pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.41 with 412 strikeouts to 167 walks.

• The Sooners started the season with a program-record seven straight games scoring double digits and have scored 10+ runs in 11 games.

• OU ranks in the top 30 nationally in a number of categories including shutouts (2nd, 6), hits allowed per nine innings (6th, 7.13), strikeouts per nine innings (14th, 10.9), WHIP (21st, 1.28), triples (18th, 13) stolen bases (29th, 92) and fielding percentage (25th, .980).

OPPONENT OUTLOOK

• OU heads to Auburn, Ala., this weekend for the first series in program history at Auburn. OU is 6-1 vs. the Tigers with all seven games coming at neutral sites.

• It will be the first SEC series vs. the Tigers as the teams did not meet a season ago in OU's inaugural season in the league.

• The teams last met in 2022 at the College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, a 3-0 Oklahoma win.

• The 2026 Tigers are batting .300 as a team and are paced at the plate by Eric Guevara, hitting .363 with eight home runs. On the mound, LHP Jake Marciano leads the starting rotation with a 1.91 ERA and 77 strikeouts

LAST TIME OUT IN SEC PLAY

• OU swept Mizzou at home last weekend, improving to 27-12 on the year, 10-8 in SEC play and 17-5 at home. The Sooners completed their first SEC series sweep of the season.

• OU starting pitching of LJ Mercurius, Cameron Johnson and Cord Rager were lights out, allowing the Tigers a combined three earned runs on nine hits and one walk with 22 strikeouts.

• OU's offense recorded 13 extra-base hits in the series, including seven home runs. Brendan Brock hit his team-leading ninth of the year on Sunday, while Camden Johnson hit a pair of blasts throughout the series to run his season total to seven.

• In game one, OU was powered by a season high four home runs and a nine-strikeout performance from starting right-handed pitcher LJ Mercurius.

• Game two saw the OU pitching staff of Cameron Johnson, Jason Bodin and Jackson Cleveland combine for the Sooners' sixth shutout of the season, allowing the Tigers just two hits. Johnson moved to 5-1 on the season, going 5.1 scoreless innings of two-hit ball and fanning five while walking one.

• Freshman lefty Cord Rager made his return to the bump in game three to finish off the sweep for the Sooners, earning his third win of the season on the mound, matching his career high with eight strikeouts while surrendering his lowest hit total of the season (1).

• OU moved to 6-0 vs. Missouri since joining the SEC.

IN LEAGUE PLAY

• OU is near the top of the SEC in numerous statistical categories in league play.

• The Sooners have turned 19 double plays in SEC play to lead the conference and the team is fourth in fielding percentage with a .980 clip.

• As a team, OU is fifth in league play in batting average (.271) and the pitching staff ranks sixth in strikeouts (185).

• Individual highlights include Brendan Brock second in the the league in stolen bases in conference play with 11. Camden Johnson and Dasan Harris are tied for first with a pair of triples in SEC play.

• Camden Johnson has 24 RBIs in SEC competition to rank second in the conference and just four from the lead. The junior is also tied for seventh for doubles with six.

• Trey Gambill ranks tied for second in the conference in SEC play for on-base percentage, holding a .519 mark. The senior also is tied for seventh with six doubles in conference play.

ON THE BUMP

• OU's weekend rotation of RHP junior LJ Mercurius, LHP junior Cameron Johnson and LHP freshman Cord Rager have combined for 172 strikeouts to 57 walks and 59 ER on the year.

• UNLV transfer LJ Mercurius who was a part of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this past summer, has transitioned smoothly to Oklahoma in his starter role, holding a 4.93 ERA with a team-high 71 strikeouts.

• In Mercurius' OU debut on opening weekend vs. Oklahoma State, the righty fanned a then-career-high tying 12 batters while allowing just one run on three hits. He set a career best with 13 strikeouts at Vanderbilt on April 9.

• Mercurius is 6-4 on the year and the righty has one complete game, a seven-inning one-hitter vs. Gonzaga on Feb. 28.

• Johnson is 5-1 with 58 strikeouts and has registered at least seven strikeouts in six of his nine starts on the year, including two appearances with zero walks allowed. The lefty has 58 strikeouts.

• Sunday starter and freshman Cord Rager out of Maypearl, Texas, has 43 K's to 13 walks on the season with a 3-1 record. The lefty left has six-plus strikeouts in four of his eight starts and a pair of appearance with no walks.

• Along with the starting pitching, OU's bullpen has been impactful. Senior transfer Jackson Cleveland has taken on a closer role with six saves on the year. The Miami transfer has 16 appearances and has struck out 22 in his 23.2 innings. Sophomore transfer Kadyn Leon has made 17 appearances and one start and allowed eight runs in 22.1 IP to go with 24 strikeouts.

• Junior Jason Bodin, who made 31 relief appearances in 2025 to rank second in the SEC, has made 14 appearances in 2026 and ranks tied for third on the team with three victories (3-1). He has 28 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.

• Seventeen arms have seen the mound for Coach Skip Johnson, with six pitchers outside the weekend rotation making at least one start.

• The staff's 4.41 team ERA ranks 43rd in the country. The group's 1.28 WHIP ranks 21st in the nation.

• The OU arms have registered six shutouts in 2026, eclipsing the three total the team had in 2025. The number ranks tied for second in the country.

AT THE PLATE

• Through 40 games OU is outscoring the opposition 280-183 (7.0 runs/game). The offense is batting .283 with 134 extra-base hits to opponents' 91.

• All seventeen Sooners that have made a plate appearance this season has registered a hit.

• Senior Trey Gambill paces the starters with a .330 batting average, while Deiten Lachance is hitting .309 and Jaxon Willits follows with a .304 average. Brendan Brock leads OU with nine home runs while Camden Johnson has seven long balls. Twelve Sooners have combined for 45 blasts.

• The Sooners have homered in 25 of 40 games.

• OU ranks first in the SEC and 18th in the country with 13 triples on the season.

• The team started the season with a program-record seven straight games scoring double digits and have scored 10+ runs in 11 games.

RANKINGS CHATTER

• The Sooners come in at No. 14 in this week's D1Baseball top 25 and rank in the top 25 in four of five major polls (D1, Baseball America, NCBWA and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll). OU holds its highest ranking (No. 9) in the Baseball America poll.

• OU is 4-6 in ranked matchups in 2026 with two wins over top-25 Texas A&M, one over No. 16 Alabama and takedown of then-No. 10 TCU on Opening Weekend. A season ago, OU went 11-15 in ranked matchups.

UP NEXT

• OU meets Texas Tech (22-19) on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. CT at Riders Field in Frisco, Texas. The game can be streamed for free via PEAK Events YouTube channel.

• Next weekend in SEC play, Oklahoma hosts Florida (28-14, 10-8) in Norman for the first time in program history.

• Season and single game tickets for the 2026 season at Kimrey Family Stadium are available now on SoonerSports.com/tickets. For more information about Oklahoma baseball tickets, contact the OU Athletics Ticket Office at 405-325-2424, by email at outickets@ou.edu or by visiting SoonerSports.com/tickets.

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