Oklahoma

College baseball week in review: Oklahoma keeps rolling, Clemson sweeps South Carolina

Published

1 year ago

March 3, 2025

College baseball week in review: Oklahoma keeps rolling, Clemson sweeps South Carolina

Oklahoma is on the rise in its first season in the Southeastern Conference. The Sooners entered The Athletic college baseball Top 25 last week at No. 23 after they beat then-No. 9 Oregon State and then-No. 3 Virginia at the Round Rock Classic.

Oklahoma remained perfect with a weekend sweep over Cal State Northridge in Norman. The Sooners rallied for a 3-2 win on Sunday after they scored 39 runs in four games over the previous five days.

Right-handed junior Kyson Witherspoon, the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week, threw six shutout innings Friday against Northridge. Witherspoon has a 28-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.50 ERA in three starts, coming off an offseason in which he pitched for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.

Witherspoon gives the Sooners a high-end SEC ace. And his twin brother, Malachi, is a solid No. 2 for the Sooners, posting a 2-0 mark with a 1.88 ERA in three starts. He closed for Team USA last summer. The Witherspoon twins came to OU from Northwest Florida State College ahead of the 2024 season.

The Sooners’ No. 3 starter is Cameron Johnson, a top-15 national recruit in the Class of 2023 who spent his freshman season at LSU. His command continues to be an issue — he has walked 10 in 13.1 innings — but opposing hitters are batting only .204 against him in his three starts.

OU improved to 11-0, its best start since it won its first 16 games in 2011, with the three wins against Northridge. The Sooners visit Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, the most significant obstacle in the way of Oklahoma taking a 16-0 record into its SEC opener at South Carolina on March 14.

The Sooners advanced to the College World Series finals in 2022 but failed to get out of a Regional the last two seasons.

Clemson made a statement in handing rival South Carolina its first three losses of the season, sweeping the Gamecocks 5-3, 5-1 and 8-2. The opening game was played Friday at Clemson, Saturday in Greenville, S.C., and Sunday at Founders Park in Columbia, the Gamecocks’ home stadium.

Ethan Darden pitched seven scoreless innings on Saturday, allowing three hits, to win the Bob Bradley Award as Clemson’s MVP in the annual series. The Tigers are 10-1.

Columbia has enjoyed a rich recent history in baseball. The Lions have won the Ivy League postseason championship five times dating back to 2013.

They took Miami to a winner-take-all seventh game of a Regional in 2015 and won a pair of games at the Blacksburg Regional in 2022.

In Columbia’s not-so-recent history, Lou Gehrig played at the New York school.

Over the weekend, Columbia played at Oregon, the preseason Big Ten favorite. The Ducks swept the four-game series, scoring 55 runs in the first two games. Oregon won 35-1 in the opener of a Saturday doubleheader.

Columbia does not need a pity party. The Lions will be fine. They play at Georgia this week.

But the lopsided scores in Eugene serve as a canary in the coal mine for college baseball.

What is to come of the Division I format, with more than 300 teams vying for the same postseason, as the 11.7-scholarship limit disappears in the wake of the NCAA v. House settlement?

If terms of the settlement are approved next month, the roster limit will drop in 2026 from 40 players to 34. But coaches will no longer be limited by the NCAA in how they distribute scholarship money.

Rich SEC schools and other power-conference programs that invest in baseball can soar past 11.7 scholarships if they choose to pay for it. Scholarship costs will be deducted from revenue revenue-sharing allotment, expected in 2025-26 to be capped at $20.5 million.

Columbia and its Ivy League partners do not award athletic scholarships. Safe to say the Lions also won’t see any part of revenue-share dollars. And while the vast majority of college baseball players will not get rich from the House settlement, its impact and the next wave of NIL payments are sure to tip the scales further in this sport.

In fact, it all may prove to be a death knell in the bids of under-resourced programs to compete with the likes of Oregon and Georgia.

Administrations on both sides of the power structure ought to think twice about scheduling such future series.

Columbia will continue to find and develop good players. Just not enough of them to stay on the field with an elite group of power programs on track to grow more powerful.

Gardner-Webb designated hitter Dale Francis smashed four home runs on Saturday in the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ 16-14 win at Appalachian State.

Francis, a fifth-year senior from Fort Pierce, Fla., drove in 12 runs. After he hit a grand slam in the seventh inning, Francis was denied a chance at his fifth home run when the Mountaineers intentionally walked him in the top of the ninth inning with one out.

Have a day @Too_good_dj ‼️
4 homeruns
12 RBIs
Intentionally walked, with the bases loaded. @KendallRogers @aaronfitt @d1baseball @midmajors_d1 @JoeHealyD1 @Mike_Rooney @Monty2740 @CollegeBaseCNT @Micah_CBC @GWUSports @BigSouthSports @NCAABaseball pic.twitter.com/SolDmwBSxg
— Gardner-Webb Baseball (@GWUBaseball) March 2, 2025

He also homered in the first, fifth and sixth innings. Francis transferred after last season to Gardner-Webb from Division II Erskine College, where he hit .405 with 15 homers in 33 games last year. Through 13 games this season, he’s hitting .409 with seven homers, 27 RBIs and a 1.436 OPS.

Marshall McDougall of Florida State owns the NCAA record for home runs and RBIs in a game. McDougall hit six bombs and drove in 16 runs against Maryland in 1999.

Gardner-Webb dropped to 6-7 after a 9-7 loss on Sunday to App State. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Francis, hitting in the cleanup spot, finished 1 for 3 with a single.

Gardner-Webb of the Big South has not appeared in the NCAA postseason since its move to Division I in 2003. For any host school that might draw G-W in a Regional — if the Bulldogs can find a way to win the conference tournament — there’s a big bat in the middle of that lineup to avoid.

Miami won the series finale, 13-7, against Florida on Sunday in Gainesville to hand the fourth-ranked Gators their first loss in 12 games this season.

To say their rivalry has been tightly contested through the years is an understatement.

It’s been all Hurricanes today in Gainesville. They are going to salvage the series and hand the Gators their 1st loss of the season
All-Time series is now back tied up 136-136-1 between the 2 schools pic.twitter.com/WrxTO9eAPf
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) March 2, 2025
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Top-ranked Texas A&M, after a 5-0 start, lost four consecutive games but avoided a winless week with a 14-4 victory against Rice on Sunday night in the Astros Foundation College Classic. Also at Dalkin Park over the weekend in Houston, Oklahoma State beat the Aggies 4-0, and Arizona scored twice in the top of the ninth inning for a 3-2 over A&M.

Texas State beat Texas A&M 7-3 on Tuesday in College Station after the Aggies lost the finale of a three-game series against Cal Poly on Feb. 23.

Earlier in the Week, A&M learned that sophomore Gavin Grahovac, their All-America third baseman, will miss the rest of the 2025 season due to a shoulder injury.

Speaking of Arizona, Chip Hale’s team has rebounded nicely after a 0-3 start. The Wildcats, ranked No. 15 in the preseason, won seven consecutive games before losing 5-1 to Tennessee on Sunday in Houston.

Arizona beat Texas A&M on run-scoring infield singles by Easton Breyfogle and Brendan Summerhill in the decisive ninth inning on Friday. On Saturday, Arizona reliever Tony Pluta escaped a two-aboard, no-out jam in the bottom of the ninth as the Cats beat Mississippi State 6-5.

The unbeaten Volunteers were the class of the Astros Foundation College Classic. Defending national champion Tennessee (11-0) swept past Oklahoma State, Rice and Arizona. Four Tennessee relievers shut down Arizona in the de facto championship game of the event over the final seven innings.

Tennessee pitchers allowed five earned runs in three games and recorded 45 strikeouts while holding the opposition to a .204 batting average. Junior second baseman Gavin Killen hit .600 with four homers and seven RBIs in the tournament.

Kansas last played in a Regional in 2014. It’s off to a 10-1 start under third-year coach Dan Fitzgerald and opened its latest series in Lawrence with a bang. Dariel Osoria hit a walk-off grand slam on Thursday as the Jayhawks beat Omaha 12-8. The Mavericks took a two-run lead to the bottom of the ninth inning before Chase Diggins hit a game-tying, two-run shot.

Omaha, which beat then-No. 4 LSU a week earlier on the road, rebounded Friday to win 9-5, but Kansas took three of four games in the series. The Jayhawks are off to their best 11-game start since that 2014 season when they won one game at the Louisville Regional.

KU finished 31-23 overall and 15-15 in the Big 12 last year and had six players selected in the MLB Draft.

Arkansas left-hander Parker Coil hurled an immaculate inning on Sunday in the Razorbacks’ 4-3 win against Charlotte. Coil threw nine pitches in the eighth inning, all for strikes, to fan the side.

Strike three. Strike six. Strike nine.
Sit back and enjoy all nine pitches from @parker_coil‘s immaculate inning 😇 pic.twitter.com/P6p5gcKoYq
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) March 2, 2025

Even more impressive, Portland’s Ryan Rembisz threw a perfect game — on just 90 pitches! — against Seattle on Tuesday in an 8-0 win for the Pilots. Rembisz, a senior lefty, struck out 12 to complete the 21st nine-inning perfecto in Division I history.

The game at Joe Etzel Field in Portland was attended by 165 people — all of them witnesses of history.

(Photo of Kyson Witherspoon: Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images)

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Oklahoma City Comets preliminary 2026 roster

Published

7 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma City Comets preliminary 2026 roster

The Oklahoma City Comets, the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, unveiled their initial roster on Thursday, with opening day set for Friday night in Oklahoma City against the Albuquerque Isotopes, a Rockies’ farm team.

Among the 43 players on the Dodgers 40-man roster, 10 are on the injured list (three on the 60-day IL, which expands this list to 43), and 26 are active in the majors. Six of the seven remaining 40-man players for the Comets.

River Ryan is the only unaccounted 40-man player not on the preliminary Oklahoma City roster, but he could join them soon. Ryan is slated to pitch this weekend in Arizona, Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic reported Thursday.

Hyeseong Kim lost out to Alex Freeland for a spot on the opening day roster, with the Dodgers wanting Kim to split time between second base, shortstop, and center field in Triple-A.

“There’s no doubt that Hyeseong at some point is going to come help us out. I think the driver, as far as at the outset, is giving Hyeseong an opportunity to play every day, play all over the diamond,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday.

Kyle Hurt is among the relievers. After an impressive spring training, the Dodgers opted to slow-play the right-hander missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get called up as a need arises in the majors.

Paul Gervase also impressed in spring, and left-hander Ronan Kopp is in his first year on the 40-man roster. Expect a lot of strikeouts from that pair.

Ryan Ward is also on the 40-man roster for the first time, but he returns to Oklahoma City, where the reigning Pacific Coast League MVP he holds several club records in the Bricktown era, a period since the current ballpark opened in 1998. Michael Siani will patrol the outfield for the Comets, likely flanked by Zach Ehrhard and/or James Tibbs.

Ehrhard and Tibbs, acquired from the Boston Red Sox for Dustin May last July, impressed as non-roster invitees in camp and as the older and more experienced of the plethora of stellar Dodgers outfield prospects are the closest to the majors among the group.

Jack Suwinski was briefly on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster this offseason, as was utility man Ryan Fitzgerald, who will likely play all over the infield and potentially some outfield for the Comets. Defensive whiz Noah Miller will play shortstop for Oklahoma City, whose infield also has Nick Senzel and Ryan Fitgerald, all of whom were non-roster invitees this spring for the Dodgers.

Veteran pitchers Cole Irvin and Keynan Middleton are on the Comets’ staff. Other Oklahoma City pitchers with major league experience are River’s brother Ryder Ryan, Garrett McDaniels, and Carlos Duran (pitched one game for the Athletics last season).

Irvin and Ryder Ryan will start the first two games, followed by Christian Romero on Sunday, per play-by-play broadcaster Alex Freedman.

Left-hander Antoine Kelly and right-hander Chris Campos, who were the last two non-roster pitchers standing in Dodgers camp this spring, each are on the Comets preliminary roster. left-hander Logan Allen, who signed a minor league contract last week, is also with Oklahoma City.

Pitcher José Rodríguez, who was touted as a potential Rule 5 Draft pick last December but went unselected, was a non-roster invitee this spring training but did not pitch. He starts the season on the 60-day injured list, as does veteran first baseman Matt Gorski.

Oklahoma City preliminary roster

Starting pitchers (4): Cole Irvin, Ryder Ryan, Cristian Romero, Carlos Duran
Right-handed relievers (8): Kyle Hurt*, Paul Gervase*, Chris Campos, Keynan Middleton, Jordan Weems, Wyatt Mills, Antonio Knowles, Jerming Rosario
Left-handed relievers (4): Ronan Kopp*, Antoine Kelly, Logan Allen Garrett McDaniels
Catchers (2): Eliézer Alfonzo, Seby Zavala
Infielders (4): Ryan Fitzgerald, Noah Miller, Nick Senzel, Austin Gauthier
Outfielders (4): Michael Siani*, Ryan Ward*, Jack Suwinski, Zach Ehrhard
Infielder/outfielders (2): Hyeseong Kim*, James Tibbs III
Injured list (2): rhp José Rodríguez (60-day), 1b Matt Gorski (60-day)

The Comets will finalize the roster before Friday’s season opener.

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Snoop Dogg’s new movie ‘God of the Rodeo’ to film in Oklahoma

Published

19 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Snoop Dogg’s new movie ‘God of the Rodeo’ to film in Oklahoma

Snoop Dogg will star in and produce the upcoming movie “God of the Rodeo.”
The film is set to shoot this summer in Tulsa and the historic Black town of Boley, Oklahoma.
Shia LaBeouf is also cast in the film, which is produced by Ridley Scott and Giannina Scott.

Grammy-nominated pop-culture icon Snoop Dogg will star in and produce an upcoming movie set to film this summer in Oklahoma’s second largest city as well as one of the Sooner State’s historic Black towns.

The hip-hop legend, television personality and actor is the second A-lister to board the period piece “God of the Rodeo.” Deadline reports that Snoop has not only been cast in a starring role, but he and his Death Row Pictures partner, Sara Ramaker, also have signed on to produce the historical drama.

They are joining actress-turned-producer Giannina (Facio) Scott (“House of Gucci”), who is producing for Cara Films, and her husband, celebrated British filmmaker and four-time Oscar nominee Sir Ridley Scott (the “Gladiator” movies), who is producing via his Scott Free Productions.

“Linking up with Scott Free Productions and working with Ridley Scott and Giannina Scott on God of the Rodeo is life changing and an honor,” Snoop told Deadline.

“Me and the team at Death Row Pictures stepping in as producers, I’m acting in it, and Death Row Records is building the soundtrack — and this one got soul. … We’re bringing an important story and something special to the screen.”

Snoop joins embattled actor Shia LaBeouf (“Holes”), whom Deadline reported last year was starring in the project, in the cast of “God of the Rodeo.”

“Snoop Dogg is one of the most gifted and influential artists alive, with admirers and fans all over the world and from every generation transcending music, sports and culture,” Giannina Scott told Deadline. “Ridley and I, with our companies Scott Free and Cara Films, are so excited and blessed to have Snoop join the cast, and for him, Sara and Death Row Pictures to partner with us to produce this important and soulful project from Rosalind Ross.”

What is the upcoming movie ‘God of the Rodeo’ about?

The film is based on the work of New York City-based author and journalist Daniel Bergner, whose 1998 nonfiction book “God of the Rodeo: The Search for Hope, Faith, and a Six-Second Ride in Louisiana’s Angola Prison” was named a notable book of the year by The New York Times.

Set in 1967 inside Louisiana’s Angola Prison — now the largest maximum-security prison in the country and historically one of the most dangerous in the South — the forthcoming film centers on Buckkey, a hardened inmate serving a life sentence who finds a glimmer of redemption in an unlikely opportunity: the prison’s first-ever inmate rodeo.

As Buckkey and his fellow inmates prepare for a last grasp at glory, they’re confronted with the reality that the rodeo is nothing more than a gladiatorial showcase — a grueling fight for survival designed to satiate the public’s bloodlust and fulfill the warden’s delusion of godliness.

Rosalind Ross (“Father Stu”) is writing and directing the project, and Snoop praised her adaptation of “God of the Rodeo” as “a story with heart and grit, and that’s what I’m about” in the Deadline story.

“It’s a thrill and an honor as a filmmaker to bring the legendary swagger, soul and eccentricity of Snoop to this story in what will be a completely transformative role for him,” Ross said, according to Deadline.

“Moreover, I’m deeply gratified by the kindred artistic spirit and conviction of cause that Snoop, Sara and Death Row Pictures have for this collaboration with myself, Giannina, Ridley, and the rest of our incredible producing team.”

When and where in Oklahoma is the movie ‘God of the Rodeo’ set to film?

“God of the Rodeo” also is a project of Rebellium Films, a prolific Tulsa-based production company behind the recent Oklahoma made-movies “Brian,” a comedy that premiered earlier this month at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, and “The Gates,” a thriller featuring the late James Van Der Beek’s final film role that opened this month in select theaters.

“God of the Rodeo” will film in Boley and Tulsa and use the state film incentive as well as the new Tulsa Film Incentive, Rebellium Films owner and producer Randy Wayne told The Oklahoman.

The largest and best-known of Oklahoma’s historically all-Black towns — and one of only 13 still in existence — Boley has a rich rodeo history. Since 1903, the the Okfuskee County town has hosted the Boley Rodeo, the nation’s oldest Black community-based rodeo and a longstanding Memorial Day weekend tradition.

“God of the Rodeo” is scheduled to film June 15 to July 31 in the Sooner State, according to the Oklahoma Film + Music Office.

Will Shia LaBeouf be able to star in ‘God of the Rodeo?’

While Snoop Dogg has been experiencing a career resurgence — the rapper served as Team USA’s first honorary coach for the 2026 Winter Olympics, was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025 and recently spent two seasons as a coach on NBC’s “The Voice” — LaBeouf has been embroiled in more legal trouble since his casting in “God of the Rodeo” was announced last year.

During last month’s Mardi Gras celebrations, the controversial actor and former child star was arrested in New Orleans for a pair of alleged assaults, USA TODAY reports. A NOLA judge subsequently ordered to LaBeouf to return to rehab as well as submit to weekly drug tests.

Plus, his former partner FKA Twigs is suing LeBeouf, alleging he tried to use an “unlawful” nondisclosure agreement to silence her, years after she accused him of sexual battery and assault. In a legal complaint filed Wednesday, March 25, the British electronic pop artist set out to block LaBeouf from enforcing parts of the NDA that she claims violate California law and public policy.

She previously accused LeBeouf of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress in a 2020 lawsuit that was settled in July 2025.

LeBeouf has filmed in Oklahoma before, including on the 2016 Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize-winning road movie “American Honey,” which was partially made in Muskogee.

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Chicago faces Oklahoma City on 3-game road skid

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Chicago faces Oklahoma City on 3-game road skid

Chicago Bulls (29-43, 12th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (57-16, first in the Western Conference)

Oklahoma City; Friday, 8 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Chicago travels to Oklahoma City looking to stop its three-game road losing streak.

The Thunder are 29-7 in home games. Oklahoma City ranks second in the Western Conference with 34.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Chet Holmgren averaging 7.0.

The Bulls are 11-23 on the road. Chicago is seventh in the Eastern Conference scoring 116.3 points per game and is shooting 46.9%.

The Thunder are shooting 48.2% from the field this season, 0.6 percentage points higher than the 47.6% the Bulls allow to opponents. The Bulls are shooting 46.9% from the field, 3.4% higher than the 43.5% the Thunder’s opponents have shot this season.

The teams play for the second time this season. The Thunder won the last matchup 116-108 on March 4. Jared McCain scored 20 points to help lead the Thunder to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Cason Wallace is scoring 8.5 points per game and averaging 3.1 rebounds for the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 29.8 points and 4.4 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Josh Giddey is scoring 17.6 points per game with 8.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists for the Bulls. Matas Buzelis is averaging 20.3 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 44.9% over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 9-1, averaging 115.4 points, 43.6 rebounds, 24.8 assists, 8.4 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 48.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.1 points per game.

Bulls: 4-6, averaging 120.3 points, 47.1 rebounds, 28.2 assists, 7.2 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 47.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 125.6 points.

INJURIES: Thunder: Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee).

Bulls: Anfernee Simons: day to day (wrist), Jalen Smith: day to day (calf), Noa Essengue: out for season (shoulder), Jaden Ivey: day to day (knee), Nick Richards: day to day (elbow), Zach Collins: out for season (toe).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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