FIRST PITCH
• Oklahoma closes an eight-game homestand with a three-game non-conference series vs. Lamar at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman this Thursday-Saturday.
• First pitches are set for 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday and Friday before a 2 p.m. finale Saturday. All three games can be seen via SoonerVision on ESPN+ and heard locally in Oklahoma on SportsTalk 1400 AM/99.3 FM or nationwide on The Varsity app. Live stats can be found at OUStats.com. Toby Rowland and Rich Hills will be on the radio call, while Chad McKee and Blake Brewster will call the action on ESPN+.
• The Sooners enter Thursday winners of 10 of their last 13 and 7-2 in conference play, putting them second in the Big 12 standings. OU's 7-2 start to conference play is the best start in league play since the 2018 team started 8-1.
• Single game tickets, mini-plan options and family four-pack ticket deals for home games at L. Dale Mitchell Park are available via SoonerSports.com/tickets.
• For the Fans: Friday features Happy Hour from 4:30 p.m. until first pitch with $4 16oz beers. Pregame Saturday will be a Kids Club Easter egg hunt beginning at noon.
LEADING OFF
• The Sooners have opened the season with a 15-9 record, highlighted by a top-10 win over then-No. 9 Tennessee, a walk-off victory over former conference foe Nebraska and a 7-2 start to Big 12 play with sweeps over UCF and then-No. 12 TCU.
• The Sooners started 6-0 in Big 12 play, before dropping the series to West Virginia this past weekend. The Sooners sit second in the conference standings, but hold the most Big 12 wins of any conference team with seven.
• OU cracked the top 25 rankings for the first time this season and for the first time since 2022 last week. In this week's polls OU ranks No. 21, 24 and 25, according to Baseball America, Perfect Game USA and D1 Baseball, respectively.
• Oklahoma is in its seventh season under the direction of head coach Skip Johnson (including the 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Johnson, who spent the 2017 season on staff as an assistant coach, has led the Sooners to a 204-141 record, three NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2022 Big 12 tournament championship and the 2022 College World Series finals since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.
THE NUMBERS
• On the season, the Sooners are batting .310 as a team, paced by junior Easton Carmichael's .402 average. Graduate transfer Michael Snyder leads the team with 33 RBIs, five home runs and a .646 slugging clip. Carmichael paces OU with seven doubles, while senior Bryce Madron has drawn a team-best 20 walks.
• On the mound, the Oklahoma pitching staff has a 4.94 team ERA with 241 strikeouts to 107 walks.
• Nine Sooners have homered so far in the early season for a total of 19 team blasts, led by Snyder's five, while six other Sooners have homered twice.
• Fourteen Sooners have brought in at least one run, with seven plating at least 10 runs.
• Junior LHP transfer Braden Davis has been solid in his six starting appearances as a Sooner, leading OU with 40 strikeouts in 30.0 innings pitched.
• Sophomore righty transfer Kyson Witherspoon paces the team with a 1.33 ERA in 27.0 IP to go with 30 strikeouts, while junior transfer Brendan Girton has 26 strikeouts and veteran lefty James Hitt has 23 K's in 22.0 innings pitched, highlighted by a single-game high for any OU pitcher with 10 vs. Nebraska (2/18).
• The pitching staff has recorded double-digit strikeouts in 14 of OU's first 24 games with a season-high 15 three times (vs. Tennessee [2/17], vs. Wright State [2/24], vs. West Virginia [3/22]).
• The Sooner arms have thrown three shutouts in 24 games played in 2024, already surpassing last season's total of two in 60 games.
• The Sooners have had 17 pitchers make appearances so far in 2024, with 10 registering 10-or-more strikeouts, led by junior LHP Braden Davis' 40 and sophomore RHP Kyson Witherspoon's 30.
• Head coach and pitching coach Skip Johnson and the Sooners have 22 pitchers on the roster in 2024.
RECAPPING THE SEASON'S START
• After dropping the season opener to Oregon, the Sooners bounced back in a big way with a pair of wins vs. No. 9 Tennessee and Nebraska in dramatic fashion at the season-opening Shriners Children's College Classic at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
• Opening the home slate vs. Wright State, the Sooners came sprinting out of the gates on offense, putting up a combined 46 runs on the weekend, highlighted by a 20-0 home-opening day win on Friday.
• The Sooners opened Big 12 play in dominant fashion, sweeping a UCF team that came to Norman at 9-1 and fresh off a win at No. 4 Florida. The Sooners pitching and hitting was firing on all cylinders as OU outscored the Knights 29-8 on the weekend, capped by a 14-2, seven inning run-rule on Sunday.
• Oklahoma stayed unbeaten in conference play with an impressive three-game sweep of No. 12 TCU in Fort Worth. It marked OU's first sweep of TCU at Lupton Stadium and first sweep over the Horned Frogs since 2013.
• Fans have tuned in and showed out for the trending Sooners, with attendance records being set at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman. On home-opening weekend, the fan base set records for: largest opening day attendance, largest student attendance and largest opening series attendance.
• 4,177 fans attended the midweek Bedlam matchup on March 12, ranking second all-time in program single game attendance.
DAVIS, HENSLEY COMBINE ON NO-HITTER
• Juniors Braden Davis and Reid Hensley pitched a combined no-hitter last Friday, totaling 15 strikeouts, as OU shut out West Virginia 13-0.
• Davis struck out a career-high 12 batters over 7.0 innings, allowing only two walks, while Hensley tossed the final two frames, striking out three and walking one. The 15 total strikeouts tied a season high for the OU pitching staff.
• The no-hitter was the program's ninth all-time and the second combined effort. OU's last no-hitter was a solo feat by Dane Acker against LSU on March 1, 2020. The last combined no-hitter was on March 9, 2005, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff by six pitchers (Kevin Duke, John Browenn, Daniel McCutchen, Ryan Mottern, Will Savage and P.J. Sandoval).
• It was the second no-hitter recorded in Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson's tenure.
• The Mountaineers only managed four baserunners, none of which advanced past the first bag.
• Following a fifth-inning walk, Davis ended the frame with two strikeouts and went on to punch out the side in the sixth and seventh innings, ending his outing with eight straight strikeouts.
• Hensley entered to start the eighth inning and retired six of his seven batters, striking out three.
LED BY THE VETS
• Veteran leadership in the field highlights the 2024 Oklahoma squad, paced by redshirt seniors Kendall Pettis and Michael Snyder, seniors Anthony Mackenzie and Bryce Madron, and juniors Jackson Nicklaus and John Spikerman.
• The six combine for 876 career games played and 820 starts. Production at the plate includes a combined 83 home runs, 150 doubles and 502 RBIs.
RANKINGS CHATTER
• The Sooners made their season debut in the polls last week (3/18), earning spots in all five major polls. In Monday's polls, the Sooners still hold top-25 spots in Baseball America (No. 21), Perfect Game USA (No. 24) and D1 Baseball (No. 25) rankings.
• Oklahoma also holds the No. 1 strength of schedule in the nation, already playing seven ranked opponents, going 5-2 in such games.
• OU ranks 16th in the latest NCAA RPI, having been as high as third this season.
• OU is an undefeated 5-0 in games vs. 2023 Men's College World Series participants, beating No. 9 Tennessee, a three-game sweep of No. 12 TCU and a run-rule win over Oral Roberts.
THE SKIPPER SURPASSES 200 WINS AT OU
• OU head coach Skip Johnson collected his 200th career victory at Oklahoma on March 15 with OU's 7-3 win at No. 12 TCU.
• Oklahoma is in its seventh season under the direction Johnson (including the 2020 season that was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Johnson, who spent the 2017 season on staff as an assistant coach, has led the Sooners to a 204-141 record, three NCAA Tournament appearances, the 2022 Big 12 tournament championship and the 2022 College World Series finals since taking over as head coach prior to the 2018 season.
• Johnson holds 618 career wins as a head coach, earning 414 at Navarro (TX) College before making the jump to Division I baseball where he's won 204 at OU.
L. DALE MITCHELL PARK EXPANSION PROJECT
• The Oklahoma baseball facility enhancement project will transform the look of the ballpark from both the interior bowl and the exterior of the stadium. New locker rooms, training areas, coaches offices and team meeting areas combined with chairback seating, terraced berms and additional awnings and concourses will provide a first-class facility for fans and student-athletes. In addition, a new, state-of-the-art performance and player development center will be added. A new entry to the team areas will include a Champions Lobby, displaying the success and tradition of the Oklahoma baseball program.
• More than 35,000 in square-foot-space of new areas benefiting student-athlete performance and recovery including a robust medical services area, weight room and sports science to centralize student-athlete training at the baseball field.
• For more information and to donate to the L. Dale Mitchell project, visit The Sooner Club.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma baseball, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Baseball) and like Oklahoma Baseball on Facebook.
