Oklahoma

KSR's 2025 SEC Baseball Preview: Oklahoma

Published

1 year ago

January 24, 2025

KSR's 2025 SEC Baseball Preview: Oklahoma

With the 2025 College Baseball season just around the corner, KSR will be previewing all 15 SEC teams that will be competing with Kentucky for an SEC crown this season. Up next; the Oklahoma Sooners.

The 2025 season will mark the first in the SEC for both Oklahoma and Texas. The Sooners, who compiled a 40-21 (23-7) record in 2024, won the Big 12 Regular Season Championship in their final season in the conference. They fell to rival Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament Finals.

Oklahoma brings a prestigious program to the nation’s premier baseball conference. The Sooners have made the NCAA Tournament 16 times since 2000, including two Men’s College World Series appearances (2010 and 2022) with a runner-up finish in 2022. Head coach Skip Johnson is about to embark on his seventh season as head man in Norman, compiling a 229-153 (85-65) record in that span.

The Sooners, who were left out of D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings, were listed as a Preseason Top 25 outsider.

Returning Players:

Jr. C Easton Carmichael (2024: 61 G, .366 AVG, 19 2B, 7 HR, 64 RBI, .563 SLG%, .406 OBP%)
So. INF Jaxon Willits (2024: 57 G, .268 AVG, 11 2B, 10 HR, 39 RBI, .484 SLG%, .376 OBP%)
Sr. C Scott Mudler (2024: 47 G, .279 AVG, 6 2B, 4 HR, 31 RBI, .401 SLG%, .367 OBP%)
So. INF/OF Jason Walk (2024: 42 G, .281 AVG, 4 2B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, .414 SLG%, .376 OBP%)
So. OF Dasan Harris (2024: 6 G, .167 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .167 SLG%, .167 OBP%)

Jr. RHP Kyson Witherspoon (2024: 17 APP, 11 GS, 8-3, 3.71 ERA, 80 IP, 90 K, 40 BB, .228 B/AVG)
Gr. LHP Grant Stevens (2024: 18 APP, 9 GS, 6-1, 4.28 ERA, 54 2/3 IP, 54 K, 20 BB, .291 B/AVG)
Sr. LHP James Hitt (2024: 17 APP, 7 GS, 2-4, 8.41 ERA, 35 1/3 IP, 32 K, 14 BB, .333 B/AVG)
Sr. RHP Dylan Crooks (2024: 25 APP, 0 GS, 1-0, 4.11 ERA, 30 2/3 IP, 20 K, 3 BB, .256 B/AVG)
Jr. RHP Malachi Witherspoon (2024: 21 APP, 0 GS, 2-2, 5.64 ERA, 22 1/3 IP, 29 K, 10 BB, .256 B/AVG)
Sr. RHP Reid Hensley (2024: 17 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 3.21 ERA, 14 IP, 22 K, 10 BB, .170 B/AVG)
So. RHP Jacob Gholston (2024: 2 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 108.00 ERA, 1/3 IP, 0 K, 4 BB, .000 B/AVG)

Departing Players:

R-Sr. INF Michael Snyder (2024: 61 G, .354 AVG, 26 2B, 11 HR, 59 RBI, .638 SLG%, .465 OBP% – 10th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
R-Sr. INF Kendall Pettis (2024: 60 G, .276 AVG, 8 2B, 4 HR, 34 RBI, .398 SLG%, .398 OBP% – Graduated)
Jr. INF Jackson Nicklaus (2024: 57 G, .303 AVG, 9 2B, 10 HR, 37 RBI, .533 SLG%, .429 OBP% – 17th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
Sr. OF Bryce Madron (2024: 55 G, .318 AVG, 19 2B, 12 HR, 53 RBI, .607 SLG%, .439 OBP% – 10th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
Sr. INF Anthony Mackenzie (2024: 54 G, .291 AVG, 10 2B, 7 HR, 44 RBI, .453 SLG%, .407 OBP% – Graduated)
Jr. OF John Spikerman (2024: 42 G, .367 AVG, 12 2B, 3 HR, 32 RBI, .542 SLG%, .429 OBP% – 3rd Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
Fr. INF Isaiah Lane (2024: 26 G, .321 AVG, 2 2B, 0 HR, 6 RBI, .396 SLG%, .464 OBP% – Transfer Portal)
So. UTIL Rocco Garza-Gongora (2024: 23 G, .224 AVG, 2 2B, 0 HR, 11 RBI, .259 SLG%, .338 OBP% – Transferred to Texas State)
Jr. OF Carter Frederick (2024: 13 G, .343 AVG, 1 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, .543 SLG%, .400 OBP% – 20th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
So. INF Patrick Engskov (2024: 8 G, .111 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .111 SLG%, .273 OBP% – Transferred to Arkansas State)

Jr. LHP Braden Davis (2024: 16 APP, 16 GS, 9-4, 4.30 ERA, 92 IP, 117 K, 41 BB, .208 B/AVG – 5th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
Sr. LHP Carter Campbell (2024: 28 APP, 1 GS, 4-1, 5.64 ERA, 44 2/3 IP, 35 K, 20 BB, .263 B/AVG – Graduated)
Sr. RHP Carson Atwood (2024: 26 APP, 4 GS, 1-2, 3.96 ERA, 36 1/3 IP, 30 K, 14 BB, .229 B/AVG – Graduated)
R-Jr. RHP Brendan Girton (2024: 16 APP, 10 GS, 0-1, 7.32 ERA, 35 2/3 IP, 47 K, 31 BB, .297 B/AVG – 10th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
Sr. RHP Jett Lodes (2024: 17 APP, 1 GS, 2-1, 4.80 ERA, 30 IP, 31 K, 17 BB, .200 B/AVG – Graduated)
Jr. RHP Ryan Lambert (2024: 23 APP, 0 GS, 4-0, 2.57 ERA, 21 IP, 19 K, 12 BB, .184 B/AVG – 8th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
Sr. RHP Will Carsten (2024: 13 APP, 2 GS, 0-1, 8.66 ERA, 17 2/3 IP, 12 K, 12 BB, .347 B/AVG – Graduated)
Jr. LHP Jace Miner (2024: 13 APP, 0 GS, 1-1, 4.50 ERA, 10 IP, 12 K, 7 BB, .289 B/AVG – Transferred to Wichita State)
Fr. RHP Brad Pruett (2024: 10 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 7.71 ERA, 7 IP, 9 K, 4 BB, .300 B/AVG – Transferred to East Carolina)
R-Jr. RHP Jason Bollman (2024: 3 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 4.80 ERA, 1 2/3 IP, 4 K, 5 BB, .375 B/AVG)
Jr. RHP Myles Meyer (2024: 1 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1/3 IP, 1 K, 2 BB, .500 B/AVG – Transfer Portal)

Incoming Transfers:

Jr. INF/OF Brayden Horton (2024: 48 G, .265 AVG, 6 2B, 11 HR, 39 RBI, .506 SLG%, .397 OBP% – Transferred from Liberty)

So. LHP Cam Johnson (2024: 13 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 12.00 ERA, 9 IP, 13 K, 16 BB, .167 B/AVG – Transferred from LSU)
So. RHP Jason Bodin (2024: 2 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 K, 3 BB, .200 B/AVG – Transferred from Texas A&M)

Oklahoma had eight players selected in the 2024 MLB Draft, including five offensive players and three pitchers. Coach Skip Johnson’s team however returns major contributors from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, including 2024 Third Team All-American junior catcher Easton Carmichael, 2024 Perfect Game Midseason All-American junior right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon, and 2024 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention sophomore shortstop Jaxon Willitts.

Kyson’s brother, junior right-handed pitcher Malachi Witherspoon, returns as well. The Witherspoon’s totaled 38 appearances, 11 starts, 102 /13 innings, and a 4.14 ERA last season.

The Sooners will rely heavily on returning players and incoming freshman, as they brought in just three players from the Transfer Portal. Junior outfielder Brayden Horton, who a Third Team All-ASUN selection in 2023, could be a great addition in Norman. He’ll look to bounce back this season however, as his batting average dropped 76 points from 2023 to 2024.

Oklahoma is scheduled to face five SEC teams present in D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings this season (No. 3 LSU, at No. 8 Georgia, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 19 Texas). Four of these five series will be played at Oklahoma’s L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Kentucky, which has never faced Oklahoma before, will host the Sooners at Kentucky Proud Park on the weekend of May 9-11. Along with Oklahoma, the Cats will also host newcomer Texas the weekend of April 11-13.

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Oklahoma

Jack Van Dorselaer: ‘No-Brainer’ to Follow Jason Witten to Oklahoma

Published

7 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Jack Van Dorselaer: ‘No-Brainer’ to Follow Jason Witten to Oklahoma

NORMAN — Located just 190 miles from Norman, Southlake, TX, sits comfortably within Oklahoma’s recruiting footprint. Many Dallas–Fort Worth prospects grow up viewing OU as either a favorite destination or a local option thanks to its close proximity.

New Oklahoma tight end Jack Van Dorselaer, however, had a different perspective during his recruitment at Southlake Carroll High School.

“Honestly, growing up, I wasn’t the biggest OU fan,” Van Dorselaer said Monday during Oklahoma’s Spring Media Day. “When I was getting recruited, I was really into Tennessee and going to Tennessee.”

He wasn’t exaggerating — his recruiting profile backs it up. Oklahoma extended an offer to Van Dorselaer on March 25, 2023, never took a visit. At the time, former tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley’s track record probably didn’t do much to boost confidence in a highly-touted tight end’s development.

Tennessee Volunteers tight end Jack Van Dorselaer dives for a touchdown against East Tennessee State Buccaneers. | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Van Dorselaer would go on to pledge to the Volunteers, playing in all 13 games — an experience where he “learned some things as the season went on,” — before entering the transfer portal.

If Oklahoma’s previous tight ends coach left doubts lingering, one phone call changed everything. Ironically, it came from a Tennessee alum — now tabbed to coach that same position in Norman. For Van Dorselaer, it was the pitch that finally landed.

“I guess that was kind of a funny coincidence (getting a call from Jason Witten), but once he got the job, it was kind of a no‑brainer for me,” Van Dorselaer said. “To not pass that up and also to come back home and play in the SEC and play for Oklahoma.

“And I just felt like this offense was better for me and a better opportunity for me to succeed at the next level,” he added.

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The irony ran deeper than Van Dorselaer’s plan to leave Tennessee — only to get recruited by a Tennessee legend for Oklahoma.

It also sprang from his Southlake roots, where he grew up idolizing hometown hero Witten through his Hall of Fame Cowboys career — an opportunity Van Dorselaer sees as being able to make him a more complete tight end.

“I think last year at Tennessee, I was really utilized in the run game,” Van Dorselaer said “I feel like I have the ability to do everything — not just run block, not just pass catch, but to do everything. A lot of tight ends just want to catch and not block. I think coach Witten offers that coaching that really helped me in the pass game.”

Jason Witten watches from the sidelines | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Van Dorselaer joins fellow transfer tight ends Hayden Hansen and Rocky Beers — all tasked, as general manager Jim Nagy put it, with “flipping the room” from last year under Witten. Each brings a unique skill set that Ben Arbuckle will channel his inner Dr. Frankenstein to stitch together.

If Hansen is the bigger body that can help open lanes for Sooner ball carries and Beers is the field-stretching tight end, Van Dorselaer already seems him as a bridge between then two.

“I think (Arbuckle) sees me more as like a hybrid guy — not just blocking, not just pass catching, but doing everything,” he said. “I think that’s kind of also what drew me to Oklahoma, was that aspect of it.”

For that vision to be fully realized, Van Dorselaer will have to use this spring and summer as the time to build chemistry with his new quarterback, John Mateer, who appealed to the tight end during his transfer portal recruitment.

“I think his mindset is a big thing for me,” Van Dorselaer said. “But I mean, just being around him more, I think his mindset is something that’s cool for me to be a part of. He holds me to a standard that is going to make me a better football player and a better person.”

Van Dorselaer enters spring ball with a clean slate, syncing his hybrid skill set alongside Mateer’s winning mindset and under coach Witten’s complete-tight-end blueprint.

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Oklahoma

Christian Coleman ‘motored up’ as Oklahoma State basketball advances in Big 12 Tournament

Published

19 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Christian Coleman ‘motored up’ as Oklahoma State basketball advances in Big 12 Tournament

KANSAS CITY, MO — Christian Coleman reached high but couldn’t grab the alley-oop pass from Jaylen Curry.

But it glanced off his fingertips, hit the backboard, then the rim and fell in the basket.

It wasn’t the prettiest clutch play by the Oklahoma State forward, but it was as important as any of them.

Coleman’s alley-oops layup with just over two minutes remaining helped the 14th-seeded Cowboys stretch their lead on the way to a 92-83 win over No. 11 Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday at T-Mobile Center.

Had Coleman gotten his hands on the ball, it would have been a massive exclamation-point jam, yet as he rose for it, he could tell it was out of his reach.

“But God had his hands around it and it kinda fell in for me,” Coleman said with a laugh. “So we count it.”

Coleman finished with 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds, backing guard Anthony Roy, who had 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. Curry added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Late in the game, the lanky 6-foot-8 Coleman moved to center as coach Steve Lutz was forced to put a small lineup on the floor.

The Cowboys were without their two most-used bigs, Parsa Fallah and Andrija Vukovic, because of injuries. Their freshman replacements, Benjamin Ahmed and Mekhi Ragland, found themselves in foul trouble.

“He’s versatile,” said OSU point guard Kanye Clary, who had seven points, six assists and five rebounds. “He can guard the 1-5. He switches and plays hard.

“When he’s motored up, I don’t really think there’s nobody who can stop him. He’s the only person who can stop himself. And tonight, he went out there and showed how impactful he is.”

The Cowboys (19-13) will take on sixth-seeded TCU at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday as they try to once again keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

“Our mentality has been the same every game in the Big 12, because the league is so darn hard,” Lutz said. “If you look forward, you have no chance.

“I’m proud of the guys for sticking together and banding together, because we’ve had some key people, teammates, go down and we had to piece it together. I’m just happy for them and excited to face TCU tomorrow night.”

Here are three takeaways from the OSU victory:

Anthony Roy settles in for big game

In an odd twist, Colorado was hit with a technical foul for not submitting its lineup in time prior to the game, and that put Roy on the free throw line before the tipoff.

He missed the attempt, but it was the only one he’d miss all night, hitting the next 10.

Roy hit some rough patches throughout the first half, at one point getting quickly subbed out after missing an awkward 3-pointer from the corner.

But in the second half, he found his rhythm, going 5 of 6 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and a couple tough drives for layups.

“He got to the free-throw line and made 10 of 11,” Lutz said. “I thought he did a good job with that. And we tease him a bunch about his defense, but I thought at the end of the game when it mattered, he played good defense. And he rebounded the basketball.”

Freshmen Benjamin Ahmed, Mekhi Ragland play key minutes

With the Cowboys thin in the frontcourt, Ahmed made his third straight start, and Ragland was the first center off the bench.

Ahmed went to the bench after getting his fourth foul with 7:20 to play and didn’t return, but still played his second-most minutes in a game this season at 21. He finished with seven points, six rebounds and a blocked shot.

“Parsa going down, he spoke to me about it that I have a big role to fill,” Ahmed said. “It’s a learning process for me. I’m just excited to see what the future holds for me.”

Ragland had four points, a rebound and an assist in eight minutes — his most against a Big 12 opponent.

“It felt good being able to step up,” Ragland said. “I’ve wanted to show myself and show what I can do all year.

“The first couple up-and-downs, you’re a little nervous, but that goes away fast. It’s just basketball at the end of the day, so I was ready for the moment.”

OSU by the numbers

∎ The Cowboys are now 29-1 under Steve Lutz when scoring at least 81 points. The only loss came to TCU earlier this year, 95-92 in overtime at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

∎ The 92 points scored Tuesday are the most by OSU in the Big 12 Tournament. The previous high was 87, scored against Colorado in 2005.

∎ Coleman’s 14 rebounds were his season high and tied his career high.

∎ Adding a new combination Tuesday, OSU has used 19 different starting lineups this season.

∎ Clary led the team in plus-minus at 17, followed by Vyctorius Miller at 14.

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on X at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

Oklahoma State vs. TCU

TIPOFF: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. (ESPNU)

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Oklahoma

Severe weather threat increasing for Oklahoma tonight

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Severe weather threat increasing for Oklahoma tonight

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Severe weather is still expected tonight across much of our area. In fact, the threats have increased since this morning due to more clearing skies in western Oklahoma. More sunshine means more instability to work with.

SPC Severe Weather Outlook. (KOKH)

Due to this, the Storm Prediction Center has increased all hazards for our part of Oklahoma. The strongest storms could produce winds up to 80 mph, baseball size hail, and a few tornadoes. This would be from essentially now until early Wednesday morning.

SPC Tornado Outlook. (KOKH)

The tornadic potential has increased across much of the area generally along and east of I-44/I-35.

The general thinking is that discrete supercells will form in western North Texas in the 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM window and begin to make their way towards southwest Oklahoma. These storms will then quickly go from being individual cells to more clusters of storms. This would increase the wind potential and make it possible for brief spinup tornadoes to form. These QLCS (quasi-linear convective systems) tornadoes can form and develop quickly.

Once the storms are generally east of I-35, there won’t be any more cells anymore and we’d be looking at a larger squall line. Check out the below model images for a look at the evolution of the storms tonight:

There is also the potential for very heavy rain with these storms too.

A cold front will sweep the storms away to the east tonight. After the front, strong northerly winds are possible. Due to this, there is a Wind Advisory Wednesday for parts of our area.