Sooners Play Final Road Series at Arkansas

NORMAN – No. 24 OU (30-16, 12-12 SEC) plays its final road series of the regular season this weekend at No. 17 Arkansas in Fayetteville. The three-game set begins with a 6 p.m. CT matchup Friday before a 2 o'clock start Saturday and 1 p.m. finale on Sunday.

The series can be seen via SECN+ with Brett Dolan and Troy Eklund on the call. All games can be heard on The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM with Josh Helmer calling the action.

THE BASICS

• This weekend's series marks the first meeting as SEC foes and the first matchups between the two programs since 2021, an 8-5 OU midweek win over then-No. 1 Arkansas. All-time, the Razorbacks hold a narrow 14-13 advantage.

• The Sooners enter the series at 30-16 and 12-12 in SEC play after dropping the series to No. 21 Florida last weekend. OU took the Friday opener in comeback fashion before falling in the Saturday and Sunday matchups.

• Oklahoma is ranked at No. 24 in this week's D1Baseball Top 25 and rank in the top 25 in four of five major polls, holding their highest ranking (No. 16) in the Baseball America poll.

• On the season, OU is outscoring opponents 301-230 and the pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.83 with 459 strikeouts to 196 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 (4th, 6), hits allowed per nine innings (12th, 7.57), strikeouts per nine innings (16th, 10.6) and triples (27th, 14).

OPPONENT OUTLOOK

• The Sooners meet the Razorbacks for the first time since 2021, an 8-5 OU midweek victory at Baum-Walker Stadium when Arkansas was ranked No. 1. It was the last win over a No. 1-ranked team and Oklahoma's first win over a top-ranked opponent since beating Virginia twice in the 2010 Charlottesville Super Regional.

• OU has won four straight meetings over the Hogs dating back to 2010. The Razorbacks narrowly hold a 14-13 advantage all-time. This weekend's series marks the first meetings as Southeastern Conference foes after the teams did not meet in OU's inaugural season in the league last year.

• The 17th-ranked Razorbacks are batting .274 as a team, paced at the plate by junior outfielders Kuhio Aloy and Damian Ruiz's .314 averages. Catcher Ryder Helfrick leads the team with 15 homers.

• On the mound, redshirt sophomore LHP Hunter Dietz is one of the top pitchers in the SEC, holding a 3.43 ERA, 6-2 record and 101 strikeouts.

IN LEAGUE PLAY

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

• The Sooners have turned 24 double plays in SEC play to lead the conference and the team is second in assists (217) and seventh in fielding percentage with a .977 clip.

• As a team, OU is eighth in league play in batting average (.262) and the pitching staff ranks eighth in strikeouts (232).

• 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 27 RBIs in SEC competition to rank second in the conference and nine from the lead.

• Trey Gambill ranks seventh in the conference in SEC play for on-base percentage, holding a .462 mark.

ON THE BUMP

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

• Johnson paces OU with a 6-1 record and 2.96 ERA to go with 64 strikeouts and has registered at least seven strikeouts in six of his 12 starts on the year, including three appearances with zero walks allowed. Four of his last six starts the lefty has gone at least 5.0 innings and surrendered more than three hits in just one of those starts.

• UNLV transfer LJ Mercurius who was a part of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this past summer, holds a 4.95 ERA with a team-high 75 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 6-5 on 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 54 K's to 17 walks on the season with a 3-3 record. The lefty left has six-plus strikeouts in five of his 10 starts and a pair of appearance with no walks.

• Sophomore transfer Kadyn Leon has made 20 appearances and two start and allowed 11 runs in 25.1 IP to go with 26 strikeouts, a 1-0 record and 3.91 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 seven saves. The Miami transfer has 18 appearances and has struck out 23 in his 26.0 innings.

• Junior Jason Bodin, who made 31 relief appearances in 2025 to rank second in the SEC, has made 17 appearances in 2026 and ranks third on the team with four victories (4-1). He has 30 strikeouts in 26.0 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 4.83 team ERA ranks 66th in the country. The group's 1.34 WHIP ranks 31st 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 fourth in the country.

AT THE PLATE

• Through 46 games OU is outscoring the opposition 301-230 (6.5 runs/game). The offense is batting .277 with 146 extra-base hits to opponents' 123.

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

• Junior third baseman Camden Johnson paces the starters with a .309 batting average, while senior Trey Gambill (.308) and junior Deiten Lachance (.300) are batting over .300. Brendan Brock leads OU with nine home runs while Camden Johnson has seven long balls. Twelve Sooners have combined for 48 blasts.

• The Sooners have homered in 28 of 46 games.

• OU ranks first in the SEC and 27th in the country with 14 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. 24 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. 16) in the Baseball America poll.

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

LAST TIME OUT IN SEC PLAY

• After winning the series opener at home over No. 25 Florida in comeback fashion, the Sooners dropped the final two games of the series to lose their second straight conference series.

• OU stormed back from a three-run deficit on Friday, scoring four runs in the bottom of the eighth courtesy of a three-run triple from Jaxon Willits and go-ahead RBI single from Dasan Harris.

• In Saturday's game two, OU starting LHP Cameron Johnson exited in the second inning due to soreness before the Gators would go on to win 10-5. Florida would win the rubber match on Sunday by a final of 13-2 in eight innings.

UP NEXT

• OU closes the regular season in Oklahoma City, hosting Tennessee at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for the 'Bricktown Showdown', May 13-15. Tickets are available for the series via SoonerSports.com/tickets.

• The Thursday-Saturday series can be seen via SECN+ and heard on the radio on The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma baseball, follow the Sooners on X and Instagram (@OU_Baseball) and like Oklahoma Baseball on Facebook.