OU Opens Atlanta Regional Friday

Friday, May 29

Atlanta, Ga.

4 p.m. CT

University of Oklahoma

The Citadel

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May 28, 2026 | Baseball

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ATLANTA – Oklahoma (32-21) makes its 43rd appearance in the NCAA tournament this weekend as the regional No. 2 seed in the Atlanta Regional. The Sooners open vs. regional No. 3 seed The Citadel (35-24) Friday at 4 p.m. CT. The game can be seen via ESPN+ with Mike Ferrin and Gaby Sanchez calling the action.

All games can be heard on the radio via The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM in Oklahoma and on The Varsity Network app with Toby Rowland and Carly Murray on the call.

THE BASICS

• Oklahoma enters the NCAA postseason at 32-21 with nine wins this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament field, won four SEC conference series in its second season in the league.

• OU ranked No. 24 in the final NCAA RPI and boast an overall strength of schedule that is ranked sixth in the nation. OU also has six wins against RPI top 25 teams and 10 top-50 wins.

• On the season, OU is outscoring opponents 351-297 and the pitching staff has a team ERA of 5.33 with 534 strikeouts to 235 walks.

• The Sooners started the season with a program-record seven straight games scoring double digits and have scored 10+ runs in 13 games, including two of the last five.

OU IN THE NCAA TOURNEY

• This is the fifth straight season and 43rd time overall Oklahoma has been selected to the NCAA postseason. OU's 43 appearances rank tied for seventh all-time and OU's streak of five straight postseason appearances ranks tied for 11th.

• Oklahoma is making its sixth appearance in the tournament under head coach Skip Johnson. The Sooners are 101-86 all-time in NCAA tournament games, have appeared in 11 College World Series (most recently in 2022) and won national championships in 1951 and 1994.

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

OPPONENT OUTLOOK

• OU is 6-1 all-time vs. host Georgia Tech, most recently beating the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta in 2017. Most notably, the Sooners defeated Georgia Tech in the 1994 national championship to win their second title.

• OU has met The Citadel once in program history, beating the Bulldogs 9-7 in Orlando in 2014.

• A meeting against UIC would be the first in the history of the two schools.

UP NEXT

• Oklahoma, the regional No. 2 seed, will play regional No. 3 seed The Citadel (35-24) at 4 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN+. Regional host and No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech (48-9) will face regional four-seed UIC (27-27-1) on Friday at 11 a.m. CT on ACCN.

• With a win, OU will matchup with the winner of Game 1 (UIC vs. GT) at 5 p.m. CT Saturday. A loss would drop the Sooners to the losers bracket for a noon CT matchup vs. the Game 1 loser. The double-elimination regional extends through Sunday with an if necessary game on Monday at a time to be determined.

• The winner of the Atlanta Regional will face the winner of the Lawrence Regional, which features No. 15 national seed Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri State and Northeastern.

POSTSEASON RESUME

• The Sooners' 2026 resume proved worthy of the program's fifth consecutive postseason bid, winning 14 games in the country's toughest conference and playing the No. 6 strength of schedule in the nation.

• OU is No. 24 in the NCAA RPI with four SEC series wins, including one over top 10-ranked and No. 11 in the RPI, Texas A&M.

• The Sooners went 17-1 in Quad 3 and 4 games, went 18-4 in non-conference games and have 15 wins in Quad 1 and 2 contests.

• Oklahoma was ranked as high as No. 8 for two weeks of the season in the D1 Baseball Top 25 and were ranked 12 of 15 weeks among the top 25.

SWINGING HOT BATS

• A number of Sooners have found their strides late in the regular season, highlighted by juniors Dasan Harris, Camden Johnson and Deiten Lachance.

• Since April 17 (17 GP), Johnson is hitting .403 (27-of-67) with 15 RBIs, 14 runs scored and seven extra-base hits.

• Since April 9 (21 GP), Harris is hitting .394 (26-of-66) with 10 RBIs, 13 runs scored and 10 extra-base hits.

• Lachance has come out strong over the last 21 games, with all 12 of the catcher's home runs coming in the last 21 games (since April 9). Lachance has homered in two of OU's last three games and seven of the last nine.

• In game three vs. Tennessee (5/16), Lachance hit three home runs, becoming the first Sooner since Chris Haggard vs. Iowa State in 2000 to accomplish the feat.

WALK NAMED TO SEC ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

• OU outfielder Jason Walk was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team, the conference announced the annual end-of-year awards last week.

• Walk, OU's everyday centerfielder, has started 48 of OU's 53 games and holds a .967 fielding clip. The Acworth, Ga., product has 80 putouts and eight assists to just three errors and has helped turn one double play on the season. The junior has proved to be versatile in 2026, making 42 starts in center along with four starts at second and a pair at third base.

• With over 130 career starts in his three seasons at OU, Walk has shown off his defensive prowess year after year, erasing base hits with catches at the wall and diving grabs in the outfield. His eight assists in 2026 are a career high, besting his two from a season ago. On his career, Walk holds a .975 fielding percentage, committing just seven errors to over 250 putouts.

• Walk is OU's first SEC All-Defensive Team honoree in program history as the Sooners completed their second regular season in the league. Walk joins Kyson Witherspoon (2025 First Team), Easton Carmichael (2025 Second Team) and Kyle Branch (2025 All-Freshman Team) as all-conference selections throughout OU's two seasons in the SEC.

IN LEAGUE PLAY

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

• The Sooners turned 27 double plays in SEC play to lead the conference and the team was fourth in assists (256).

• As a team, OU was sixth in league play in batting average (.273) and the pitching staff ranked seventh in strikeouts (295).

• Individual highlights included Dasan Harris pacing the conference with three triples in league play, followed by Camden Johnson and Deiten Lachance's two to rank tied for second. Brendan Brock was second in the league in stolen bases in conference play with 13.

• Camden Johnson had 43 hits in SEC competition to rank tied for fifth and his 32 RBIs also ranked tied for fifth in the conference.

ON THE BUMP

• OU has deployed six starters on the weekend throughout the season in RHP LJ Mercurius, LHP Cameron Johnson, LHP Cord Rager, RHP Trent Collier, RHP Kadyn Leon and RHP Xander Mercurius.

• Johnson paces OU with a 6-1 record and 4.02 ERA to go with 72 strikeouts and has registered at least seven strikeouts in six of his 14 starts on the year, including three appearances with zero walks allowed. Eight of his 14 starts the lefty has gone at least 5.0 innings and surrendered more than three hits in just three starts.

• UNLV transfer LJ Mercurius who was a part of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this past summer, holds a 5.64 ERA with a team-high 82 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 6-67on the year and the righty has one complete game, a seven-inning one-hitter vs. Gonzaga on Feb. 28.

• Sunday starter and freshman Cord Rager out of Maypearl, Texas, has 67 K's to 18 walks on the season with a 3-3 record and 5.88 ERA. The lefty left has six-plus strikeouts in seven of his 12 starts and three appearances with no walks.

• Sophomore transfer Kadyn Leon has made 21 appearances and two starts and allowed 11 runs in 26.1 IP to go with 28 strikeouts, a 1-0 record and 3.76 ERA. He also has two saves on the year.

• Along with the starting pitching, OU's bullpen has been impactful. Senior transfer Jackson Cleveland has taken on a closer role with eight saves which rank second in the SEC and 37th in the nation. The Miami transfer has 21 appearances and has struck out 30 in his 30.1 innings.

• Junior Jason Bodin, who made 31 relief appearances in 2025 to rank second in the SEC, has made 22 appearances in 2026 and ranks third on the team with five victories (5-1), four of which have come in SEC play. He has 36 strikeouts in 31.1 innings.

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

• The staff's 10.7 K/9 innings ranks 13th in the country, hits allowed per nine (7.97) sits at 19th and 1.41 WHIP ranks 51st in the nation.

• The OU arms have registered six shutouts in 2026, eclipsing the three total the team had in 2025. The number ranks third in the SEC and 10th in the country.

AT THE PLATE

• Through 53 games OU is outscoring the opposition 351-297 (6.6 runs/game). The offense is batting .280 with 173 extra-base hits to opponents' 154.

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

• Junior catcher/first baseman Deiten Lachance paces the starters with a .335 batting average, while junior Camden Johnson is close behind with a .323 average. Lachance leads OU with 12 home runs, followed by fellow junior Brendan Brock's 10 blasts and Johnson's eight. Twelve Sooners have combined for 65 blasts.

• The Sooners have homered in 33 of 53 games.

• OU ranks first in the SEC and 17th in the country with 17 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 13 games.

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