Cade Horton – Syndication Server

Sooners leads Oklahoma universities in MLB Draft picks since 2003

No school in Oklahoma has sent more players to the MLB Draft than the University of Oklahoma since 2003, with players like Kyler Murray, Cade Cavalli, and Cade Horton leading the way.

While baseball isn’t the first sport people think of when they think of the University of Oklahoma, no school in Oklahoma has sent more players to the MLB Draft than the Sooners since 2003. After 11 Sooners were taken in the 2022 draft, Oklahoma leads the state with 121 players selected.

Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts round out the top three with 113 and 66 draft picks.

Oklahoma colleges with the most drafted players (2003-2022)

1 @OU_Baseball 🏆 121
2 @OSUBaseball
3 @ORUBaseball
4 @ocustars
5 @WOSC_Baseball
6 @SSCbaseball
7 @ConnorsBaseball
8 @OBU_Baseball
9 @EOSC_Baseball
10 @GoldenNorsemen https://t.co/gVt1PAnOxP pic.twitter.com/UAw0qZZn8J

— The Baseball Cube ⚾️ (@theBaseballCube) January 3, 2023

A full list of every single Sooner draft pick can be found on The Baseball Cube’s website. OU has had three first-round draft picks since 2018, [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag], [autotag]Cade Cavalli[/autotag], and [autotag]Cade Horton[/autotag].

Cavalli is the Washington Nationals No. 4 prospect and made his MLB debut back in August. Cade Horton is the Chicago Cubs No. 4 prospect and signed with the Cubs following the last year’s draft.

While the Oakland Athletics still own Kyler Murray’s MLB rights after drafting him back in 2018, Murray’s contract with the Arizona Cardinals is worth more money per season than the A’s entire payroll.

After OU’s run to the National Championship, Skip Johnson received a contract extension and a hefty raise. The Sooners’ skipper is getting $750,000 per year and is under contract through the 2026 season.

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Sooners shortstop Peyton Graham taken No. 51 overall by the Detroit Tigers in the MLB draft

Oklahoma Sooners’ star shortstop Peyton Graham was taken 51st overall by the Detroit Tigers in the 2022 MLB draft.

The Oklahoma Sooners had a good night on Sunday during the 2022 MLB draft, with three players selected in the top 51 picks. First, it was Cade Horton who went No. 7 overall to the Chicago Cubs, and Jake Bennett went Nol. 45 overall to the Washington Nationals. Capping off the weekend was the Oklahoma Sooners’ star shortstop Peyton Graham.

Graham was selected No. 51 overall in the second round by the Detroit Tigers.

“He’s got dynamic athleticism,” head coach Skip Johnson said. “There’s nothing that he can’t do on a baseball field. He can run, he can throw, he can hit. He’s got power, he’s got instincts to play the game, instincts to run the bases. He’s got every tool that you can imagine. For him, the ceiling is incredible. (The Tigers are getting) an all-star. A superstar that’s going to play a long time. He loves to compete. He wins every competitive thing we do on the field, whether it’s outfield, pop-ups, bunting – he’s going to win all of them because he’s so competitive.”

Graham hit .335 for the Oklahoma Sooners with 20 home runs, 71 RBIs, and 75 runs scored.

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Oklahoma Sooners P Jake Bennett selected No. 45 overall by the Washington Nationals

Oklahoma Sooners starting pitcher Jake Bennett taken No. 45 overall by the Washington Nationals in the Major League Baseball draft.

After Cade Horton went to the Chicago Cubs with the No. 7 overall pick, the Oklahoma Sooners No. 1 starter in the rotation Jake Bennett also came off the board in the second round with the No. 45 pick to the Washington Nationals.

Bennett, like Horton, had a great postseason, helping the Sooners advance through the College World Series to the final against Ole Miss.

Bennett went 10-4 with a 3.69 ERA in 20 starts, striking out 133 batters in 117 innings pitched in 2022.

“They’re going to get a professional type of kid that understands what routines are, understands what pitchability is, understands the work that it takes to put in,” head coach Skip Johnson said about Bennett. “He’s like the poster child of our program. Came in as a freshman – body changed, delivery changed, makeup changed, command – everything you can think of from a pitcher, he did well in it. He’s going to be an innings eater in pro ball. He posted up every time, every outing all year long. I think there were maybe one or two guys all year that did that throughout the year. Every week he posted up and pitched once a week. That right there tells you he’s going to eat innings. He’s very routine-oriented, a lot like – I’m not saying he’s ever going to be Clayton Kershaw at all – but there are some similarities between what Clayton does and what Jake does. He’s stuck in his routines and he’s going to make sure he does those things diligently. Making sure he does his arm exercises the right way, making sure he does his running, making sure he does his lifting. He’s going to be really on top of all of those little things as a professional.”

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Oklahoma RHP Cade Horton drafted 7th overall by Chicago Cubs

With the seventh pick in the MLB Draft, the Chicago Cubs selected Oklahoma Sooners RHP Cade Horton

Cade Horton didn’t have to wait long to hear his name get called on Sunday night in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft going No. 7 overall to the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs selected the Oklahoma pitcher just four picks after the Texas Rangers took former Vanderbilt standout Kumar Rocker.

The 20-year-old Horton really got going in the second half of 2022 and was an instrumental piece in OU’s run to the national championship series vs. Ole Miss. For Cubs fans looking at his stats, don’t look at his numbers for the whole season. You won’t see the whole story.

Here are Horton’s game-by-game stats.

Essentially, if you take away Horton’s games against West Virginia and Texas Tech, he’d have much better numbers. Keep an eye out for that. Look at his performances in the Big 12 tournament and in the College World Series.

On a somewhat inconsistent pitching staff, Horton was a stabilizing force.

Horton being drafted this high will surely bring attention to an Oklahoma program on the upswing. With the move to the SEC on the horizon, this is a huge boost for the Crimson and Cream.

Horton will probably sign for under-slot value, allowing the Cubs to draft higher-caliber players in the later rounds of the draft.

Horton could be pitching at one of the most hallowed stadiums in all of baseball very soon. It shouldn’t be long before Sooners fans see one of their own at Wrigley Field.

Oklahoma’s Cade Horton ranks No. 2 among college RHP draft prospects according to D1 Baseball

After a strong second half of the 2022 season, redshirt freshman Cade Horton has been ranked as the No. 2 college RHP prospect for the 2022 MLB Draft.

While not as much of an event as the NFL Draft, the MLB Draft is still a momentous occasion for high school and college baseball players alike. The MLB Draft begins on July 17 at 6 p.m. C.S.T.

After missing the 2021 season due to injury, redshirt freshman Cade Horton has been ranked as the No. 2 college right handed pitching prospect for the 2022 draft by D1Baseball.

Oklahoma State’s Justin Campbell is right behind Horton at No. 3.

While Horton had a 4.86 ERA for the season, he was phenomenal in the NCAA Tournament, winning three of his final five starts, including the Big 12 Championship against the Longhorns. Two bad games against West Virginia and Texas Tech make his ERA look much worse than how he performed down the stretch.

𝘿𝙍𝘼𝙁𝙏 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙋𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙎

TOP 50 RIGHTHANDED PITCHERS.

1 Gabe Hughes, @ZagBaseball
2 Cade Horton, @OU_Baseball
3 Justin Campbell, @OSUBaseball
4 Jacob Miorowski, Crowder JC
5 Jonathan Cannon, @BaseballUGA

THE REST: https://t.co/4vHkAMNx58 pic.twitter.com/NO1kV72iZk

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) July 13, 2022

Horton started the season coming out of the bullpen for the Sooners and finished the season as one of their most reliable starting pitchers. If he stays in Norman next season after being drafted, he will be a valuable part of the rotation as OU tries to make it back to Omaha.

The MLB Draft is much longer than other drafts in North American Sports. It will go for 20 rounds and have compensatory selections. While not nearly as long as it used to be, the MLB Draft has recovered from the five-round draft in 2020.

If Horton gets drafted this weekend, which seems likely, he will have until August 1 to sign.

Photos from Oklahoma’s 4-2 loss to Ole Miss in the CWS championship

Take a look back at some of the best photos from Oklahoma’s final game of the season in the College World Series championship.

The dream run for the Oklahoma Sooners became the nightmare scenario on Sunday as Ole Miss won 4-2 to complete the sweep and capture their first College World Series national championship.

Oklahoma played much better on Sunday than they did on Saturday, but a couple of passed balls did them in in the eighth inning and the Ole Miss pitching staff kept the Sooners’ bats at bay the rest of the way to pull off the championship win.

Though there are no moral victories in sports, the Sooners’ magical run should still be appreciated for their effort and their play, which got them to the championship series to begin with. They were arguably the best team in the country heading into the final, combining their excellent offense with some great pitching from their starters Jake Bennett and Cade Horton and reliever Trevin Michael.

It wasn’t the outcome that we expected as the Sooners played fairly clean ball throughout the NCAA tournament and had been great with runners in scoring position and with two outs. It wasn’t to be this weekend as Ole Miss took home their first national championship, but Oklahoma should be proud of the season they had. Could they have played better in the final, absolutely, but that shouldn’t take away from their tremendous run through the postseason.

Cade Horton was electric though. Striking out 13 and allowing just four hits and a hit by pitch. He provided a thrilling performance that had the sports world talking. Though he didn’t end up with the win, he was fantastic and has an incredibly bright future ahead of him.

With the baseball season coming to a close, let’s take a look at some of the best photos from the Sooners final game of 2022.

Sooners Nation reacts to Oklahoma Baseball’s loss in the CWS and their fantastic 2022 season

It didn’t end the way many thought it would, but the Oklahoma Sooners made a remarkable run to the CWS final and Sooner Nation reacted with thanks.

It was a rough way to end the season for a team that had been one of the best in the country over the last two months. Oklahoma rolled off five straight series wins to close the Big 12 regular season, won the Big 12 tournament title, and played great in the NCAA tournament, losing just two games before running into Ole Miss.

Against Ole Miss, the Sooners couldn’t get the bats going and got in their own way at times with costly wild pitches and errors. Their inability to take advantage of runners in scoring position is what was ultimately their downfall as they only earned one run with a bases-loaded one-out situation in the deciding game after getting nothing with the bases loaded and nobody out on Saturday.

While it was an unfortunate end to the season, that shouldn’t take away from the tremendous year that Oklahoma had on the diamond. Sooners Nation was hoping for one more game, but despite the loss, offered their support for the way the ball club fought to get to the championship series.

Let’s take a look at some of the best reactions. There were some thoughts about the interference call, but mostly this is a time to appreciate the moments the Oklahoma Sooners baseball team provided in 2022.

Oklahoma falls 4-2, Ole Miss secures first baseball national championship

The Oklahoma Sooners got a great performance from Cade Horton but it wasn’t enough as the Sooners fell 4-2 to Ole Miss, who secured their first national championship.

It was a pitchers duel through five innings as Oklahoma’s Cade Horton and Ole Miss’ Hunter Elliott dazzled in game two of the College World Series final.

The Sooners looked to take a 1-0 lead in the sixth, but umpires ruled John Spikerman out after interfering with first baseman Tim Elko. The run that scored was returned to third base and Ole Miss was able to get out of the first and third situation unscathed.

The Rebels struck first off of Horton when Jacob Gonzalez homered to right field. The Sooners answered back in the top of the seventh after a double by Jackson Nicklaus scored Jimmy Crooks from second. After loading the bases, Kendall Pettis drew a four-pitch walk to take a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

Cade Horton, who pitched well again this postseason, provided a shutdown inning, retiring the Rebels in order to preserve the one-run lead.

Oklahoma was unable to add to their lead in the top of the eighth and after Cade Horton retired the first batter of the inning with his 13th strikeout of the game, the Sooners turned to closer Trevin Michael. Michael had been fantastic in the postseason, but in this appearance, things didn’t go his way.

Entering the game with runners on first and third and just one out, Michael threw two wild pitches, leading to two Ole Miss runs. That was ultimately the ball game as the Sooners struck out in order in the top of the ninth to end the ball game and their season.

Horton was fantastic in this outing, allowing just four hits, striking out 13 and surrendering a hit by pitch.

It was a fantastic run by the Oklahoma Sooners who were playing inconsistent ball two months ago before they began their stretch of five straight series wins to close out the regular season. They added to that a Big 12 tournament title and were great through the NCAA tournament before running into Ole Miss, who secured their first College World Series national championship.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Photos from Oklahoma’s 10-3 game 1 loss to Ole Miss in the College World Series final

Some of the best photos from Oklahoma’s game one loss to the Ole Miss Rebels in the College World Series final.

Little went right for the Oklahoma Sooners in game one of the College World Series finals against Ole Miss. The Rebels jumped ahead early with the aide of some Sooners’ miscues and a home run by Tim Elko that pushed the lead to 4-0 in the early going.

Oklahoma would cut the lead in half in the sixth inning but squandered an opportunity to do more damage when they came away with just one run with the bases loaded and nobody out.

But credit is due to Ole Miss reliever Mason Nichols who entered with the bases loaded and nobody out and surrendered only the one run on a bases-loaded walk.

Going into game two, the Oklahoma Sooners will turn to Cade Horton to help them pull the series even with Ole Miss and force a deciding game three on Monday.