As Oklahoma Meets Alabama in CWS, Skip Johnson’s Pitchers Take Center Stage

OMAHA, NE — Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson might not be a certified zen master.

But he did study for 10 years under the late, great Augie Garrido.

Regarded as one of college baseball’s best pitching coaches, Johnson’s teaching gifts go well beyond grip and arm angle and release point and RPMs.

Johnson understands the minds of pitchers. He understands how they think, what motivates them, and how to make them believe in themselves — and each other.

And that’s been the strength of this OU pitching staff — indeed, the entire roster — as the Sooners have returned to the College World Series.

“We’re trying to teach them to be selfless people in a world that’s really a selfish world,” Johnson said. “They became really selfless. They didn’t care who got the credit. They went out and played for each other. That’s been the coolest thing that I’ve seen.”

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Johnson’s tutelage will be front and center on Saturday when the Sooners (38-22) take on No. 7 national seed Alabama (42-19) in a 2 p.m. contest at Charles Schwab Field. To advance to Monday’s second round against either Georgia or Texas, OU will have to pitch well against the Crimson Tide — again.

In their regular-season series in Norman, Bama won the opener 10-7, OU took game two 4-2 and the Tide finished with a 3-2 win.

Good pitching was at a premium that early April weekend at Kimrey Family Stadium. But the three starters Johnson called on to stem the Tide two months ago — Cameron Johnson, LJ Mercurius and Trent Collier — could have a completely different role when the teams meet again Saturday.

Johnson’s starters in OU’s three most recent games this postseason — Cord Rager, Xander Mercurius and Michael Catalano — were not starters when the season began. Nick Wesloski, who started the elimination game against The Citadel in Atlanta, also has played various roles.

Johnson views his pitching staff not through traditional lenses like “starter” or “long reliever” or “situational” or “closer.” He comes into most games with the mindset that all 15 guys need to be able to help at any point.

And remarkably, he has convinced the whole pitching staff that predetermined roles might not be all that important to the success of the team.

“As coaches, we always say, ‘Nobody knows at the beginning of the year who is going to get the most important hit, who is going to have the most important at-bat, important pitch, or strikeout.’”

Reid Hensley and Jaden Barfield have logged strong relief innings this postseason. So have Nate Smithburg, Jason Bodin, Trent Collier, Gavyn Jones and Mason Bixby, among others. 

But the “unsung hero” of the staff in the postseason, Johnson said, has been senior Jackson Cleveland. He was roughed up in the comeback win at Georgia Tech, giving up five earned runs (six total) on five hits and two walks over three relief innings. 

But Cleveland was suddenly needed in long relief that day after Johnson pulled starter Cameron Johnson in the top of the first inning. OU trailed 7-2 when Cleveland left in the fourth, but then he pitched four shutout innings in relief over the next two games: three in a closeout win over the Yellow Jackets and one in a romp over KU. 

In seven games over the previous two weekends in Atlanta and Lawrence, Johnson has rolled out 12 different arms, and they’ve posted a 6-1 record with 3.86 earned run average. In the six wins, OU pitchers have 49 strikeouts and 21 walks.

“Cord, we’ve been starting on Sunday,” Johnson said. “Xander was in the bullpen. Starting Nick … we actually start him on Tuesdays right out of the bullpen. Moved LJ (Mercurius) — we thought LJ got a little tired, gave him a little bit of a break and started throwing him out of the bullpen. He’s been really good out of the bullpen.

“As far as Bodin and Bixby and Jones and Cleveland — what Cleveland did at the super regional, I mean, that guy went through the lineup like three times in two different nights back-to-back. I mean, those guys are pretty good. He’s like the unsung hero really when you go back and look at it.”

Back in April, in the opener against Alabama, LJ Mercurius got the start but gave up seven earned runs on five hits, a walk and two hit batters and didn’t make it out of the second inning. His brother Xander replaced him and ate up six innings while yielding three runs with seven strikeouts, and Collier and Bixby finished without allowing any more damage.

Cameron Johnson started game two and was terrific, striking out eight over 6 1/3 innings while giving up just two runs on eight hits, two walks and a hit batter. Kadyn Leon pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief to earn his first save. 

In the rubber match against the Tide, Collier turned in a quality start: one earned run allowed on three hits and a walk to go with three strikeouts in just two innings. The bullpen was excellent, as Wesloski threw two shutout innings, Jones held Bama scoreless over 2 2/3 innings, Bodin was nearly perfect in 1 1/3 innings, and Cleveland gave up just a walk in his only inning.

Ineffective at-bats limited the Sooners during that stretch of the season, but the way OU has hit the ball in the postseason, maybe they’ve turned that corner.

“I think both teams are incredibly different right now,” said Alabama coach Rob Vaughn. “They’re playing great baseball right now. They’re as hot as can be right now.” 

If the Sooners’ bats can stay hot against Bama, Johnson believes his pitching staff — however many he needs, and wherever he needs them — can be the difference Saturday.

“We’re not afraid to put them out there,” Johnson said. “That’s the biggest thing. Our players have confidence in them because they faced them in the fall, and they knew how good they were.

“You can do amazing things when you don’t care who gets the credit.”