Tag: Skip Johnson

Skip Johnson wins Big 12 Coach of the Year, 12 Sooners earn conference accolades

After a fantastic season, Skip Johnson was named Big 12 Coach of the Year and 12 Sooners received Big 12 honors.

The Oklahoma Sooners baseball team has had a remarkable season in 2024. They were picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 in the preseason poll and went on to win the conference’s regular season title.

Oklahoma finished the year 34-18 and 23-7 in Big 12 play and 2.5 games up on Oklahoma State in the regular season race. The Sooners clinched the conference title with a three-game sweep of the Baylor Bears on the second to last weekend of the season.

After their incredible season, Oklahoma Sooners manager Skip Johnson was named Big 12 Coach of the Year on Monday. It was the Sooners first Big 12 regular season title in school history.

Michael Snyder, who led the league in batting average during conference play earned first-team All-Big 12 honors. So did DH Easton Carmichael and sophomore pitcher Braden Davis. Carmichael led the Sooners in batting average on the year, hitting .363 with four triples, six home runs, and 59 RBIs. Davis was 8-3 on the season, but 7-1 in Big 12 play and earned two Big 12 Pitcher of the Week awards during the season.

Earning second-team honors were outfielder Bryce Madron and pitcher Kyson Witherspoon.

Madron led the league with 65 runs scored and finished in the top 10 in conference play in runs scored, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage, and stolen bases. On the season, he paced Oklahoma with 11 home runs.

Witherspoon was 6-1 in Big 12 play and 7-3 on the season. He leads the team with a 4.24 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 70 innings.

Jaxon Willits earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year after hitting .341 in conference play.

Reliever Carter Campbell, utility player Anthony Mackenzie, catcher Scott Mudler, infielder Jackson Nicklaus, outfielder John Spikerman, and Willits earned Big 12 honorable mention honors.

The Sooners now get ready for the Big 12 tournament, which begins on Tuesday in Arlington. Oklahoma’s first game comes Wednesday.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

Huge weekend coming for Sooners as Big 12 Baseball Tournament Bracket Revealed

Oklahoma will be the top seed in the Big 12 Championship Tournament, and will play on Tuesday.

The Oklahoma Sooners baseball team won the Big 12 regular season conference title outright last week. Now, they know how the rest of the conference tournament bracket will look.

Oklahoma will be the No. 1 seed in the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] Conference Championship Tournament, another achievement in a historic season for OU Baseball. It’s the final Big 12 Tournament for the Sooners before they join the [autotag]SEC[/autotag] next season.

[autotag]Skip Johnson[/autotag]’s club beat the Cincinnati Bearcats two games to one in a three-game series on Thursday and Friday. Oklahoma won the first two games in the Queen City, before dropping a 10-6 decision in Game 3. The Sooners finished the regular season with a record of 34-18.

Oklahoma will now head to Arlington, Texas for the [autotag]2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship[/autotag] at Globe Life Field.

The tournament begins on Monday, but the Sooners will be getting a bye and won’t play until Tuesday afternoon.

Oklahoma will play the lower-seeded winner of Games 1 and 2 of the tournament. Their opponent will be the lower-ranked winner of the games between No. 7 Kansas and No. 6 Kansas State (Game 1) and No. 9 TCU vs. No. 4 West Virginia (Game 2). This means OU will play either TCU, Kansas or Kansas State first, as a West Virginia win would have the Mountaineers play on Thursday against the winner of Oklahoma’s first game (Game 6). The Oklahoma State Cowboys are the other team with a bye in the tournament, as the No. 2 seed.

Oklahoma’s first game of the week will begin at 12:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.

Skip Johnson, Sooners earn first Big 12 championship

OU baseball has won the regular season Big 12 championship, after the Sooners defeated the Baylor Bears, and Oklahoma State’s game against Texas Tech was cancelled.

The Oklahoma Sooners baseball team has captured the regular season title in the Big 12 Conference for the first time in school history.

OU took down the Baylor Bears in seven innings on Saturday night, winning by a score of 19-7. It was the final game of a three game series between the two teams.

The No. 17 Sooners swept the Bears, with the second and third wins coming on Senior Day at L Dale Mitchell Park.

[autotag]Skip Johnson[/autotag]’s team won the first conference title for the program since the Sooners won the Big Eight in 1995. It’s the school’s 23rd baseball conference championship overall.

“The accomplishment belongs to the players,” said Sooners head coach Skip Johnson. “You play one pitch at a time, that’s our mantra. We play one pitch at a time and one game at a time and that’s what we have to continue to do. That’s what we will continue to talk about, continue to work on and continue to practice.”

 

Oklahoma originally clinched a share of the Big 12 title with the sweep of Baylor. Then, Oklahoma State’s third game against Texas Tech was canceled due to weather on Sunday. This gave Sooners the conference crown outright.

OU will face Xavier on the road on Tuesday afternoon before the final series of the regular season against Cincinnati. That series against the Bearcats is scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Queen City.

The Big 12 Championship Tournament will take place from May 21-25 in Arlington, Texas.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @AaronGelvin.

Oklahoma falls to No. 22 in latest D1Baseball poll

Oklahoma lost a tough series to Texas but still remain a top 25 team with a chance to earn the number one seed in the Big 12.

After a 2-2 week, the Oklahoma Sooners slid a few spots in the latest D1Baseball poll.

Oklahoma had a monumental matchup with their Red River rivals, the Texas Longhorns, but the Sooners couldn’t secure a series victory. Oklahoma remains the top team in the Big 12 with a 15-6 conference record, but that lead is down to just one game in the loss column. Oklahoma State and West Virginia are right behind the Sooners at 14-7.

Oklahoma comes in at No. 22 in the latest poll and will get a chance to bounce back this week with games against Oral Roberts and a road series against Texas Tech.

The top three schools in this poll are future SEC foes, Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The ACC’s best team, Clemson, is No. 4 in the country, while East Carolina rounds out the top five. Oregon State comes in at six, while Florida State, Kentucky, UC Irvine, and Duke round out the top 10.

Oklahoma State is No. 14 in the poll and the only other Big 12 team to earn a spot in this week’s ranking.

Elsewhere, Baseball America ranks the Sooners 19th, while Perfect Game USA doesn’t have OU in its top 25.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on X @thatmanbryant.

Oklahoma Sooners to be without star outfielder for 4-6 weeks

The Sooners will be down one of their best players for about a month due to an injury.

Just before the Oklahoma Sooners took on Dallas Baptist they found out some devastating news. The Sooners would be without their star outfielder, [autotag]John Spikerman[/autotag].

Spikerman, now a junior, has been a mainstay in the lineup since his freshman season in 2022. But the voice of the Sooners, Toby Rowland, announced he will be having hamate surgery and will be out 4-6 weeks to recover. This surgery is to fix an injury in his hand but he could be able to pinch run while the injury heals.

Spikerman currently leads the Sooners in batting average at .394. He also has one of the better on-base percentages on the team at .446. The Sooners are definitely going to miss his presence on the field and in the lineup but they are also going to miss his leadership.

He was someone who had been to a College World Series. He had won the Big 12 tournament. This year was shaping up to be a career year for him as well.

If there are any positives from this it’s that Oklahoma is very deep in the outfield so they’ll have plenty of people to try to replace him but it’s always hard to replace your top hitters and one of the leaders of the team.

The Sooners are back in action this weekend against the [autotag]West Virginia Mountaineers[/autotag].

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

After massive sweep of No. 18 TCU, OU baseball lands in D1Baseball’s top 25 at No. 17

Oklahoma lands in D1Baseball’s Top 25 for the first time this season after sweeping No.18 TCU.

This OU baseball team has been playing some inspired baseball recently. The Sooners have now reeled off back-to-back conference sweeps to start the 2024 conference schedule.

Despite a midweek loss to their Bedlam rivals Oklahoma State, the Sooners went 4-1 last week. Their conquest of the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth raised plenty of eyebrows and was more than enough for the Sooners to go from unranked to No. 17 in the latest D1Baseball Top 25.

TCU was No. 12 in the country when the Sooners played this weekend, and now they are 18th, directly behind the Sooners. With Oklahoma’s inclusion into the mix, the Big 12 has two teams in the top 25. Texas and Texas Tech both fell out in this latest update after each team lost two games last week.

At the top, Arkansas remains the nation’s number-one team. Oregon State is behind them, followed by perennial powerhouse Vanderbilt at three—Clemson, LSU, and Florida slot in at four, five, and six. Texas A&M, Tennessee, Duke, and ECU round out the top 10.

The Sooners also were ranked 14th by Baseball America and 18th by Perfect Game USA.

After four straight wins against teams from the state of Texas, Oklahoma will look to keep it going on Tuesday at L. Dale Mitchell Park for a midweek matchup vs. No. 15 Dallas Baptist on Tuesday night. Dallas Baptist beat Oklahoma earlier this season, 11-7, when the two met in Dallas for a midweek affair.

 

How to watch, key players for the Oklahoma Sooners in the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic

The Sooners baseball team are back in action in the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. Here is how you can watch.

The Oklahoma Sooners bounced back from an early week loss to Dallas Baptist last week with a 3-1 series win over Wright State. That brings their record to 5-3.

Now they head to Las Vegas for the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. This weekend they’ll take on three teams, Pittsburgh, California and Ohio State.

If the Sooners can go 2-1 this week that would be huge for early in the season but it won’t be easy. Pittsburgh is 6-1 on the year. Cal is 7-1 on the year and Ohio State is the worst one at 4-4. Both Pittsburgh and Cal are hoping big weeks will get them in the top 25 rankings.

But let’s take a look at how you can watch each game and the key players for each team.

How to watch, key players for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Wright State

The Sooners open their home play with a series vs. Wright State. Here is how you can watch the series.

The Oklahoma Sooners weren’t able to keep the winning momentum going as they fell to Dallas Baptist in their lone midweek game. Still, that shouldn’t take away from a stellar opening weekend to the season.

The Sooners have a quick chance to bounce back from their second loss of the season with a four-game series against Wright State. Wright State comes into the game losing two of three to Louisiana to start the season.

This was after they had a solid 2023 campaign, though they struggled on the road. The Sooners need to take advantage of that and win this series.

So, let’s take a look at how you can watch the Sooners baseball team’s first series at home.

How to watch, key players for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Dallas Baptist

After a 2-1 weekend the Sooners are back in action with a midweek game against Dallas Baptist. Here is how to watch.

What a start to the season it was for the Oklahoma Sooners. They started the year 2-1 with a win over top 10 Tennessee.

Now they are back in action on the road against Dallas Baptist who is 3-0 on the season. The Sooners have a chance to really impress people and continue to make statements if they are able to win this one.

The pitching matchup was announced on Monday, and it will be [autotag]Grant Stevens[/autotag] for OU, who is making his debut. For Dallas Baptist, it will be Nick Wilson who is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA on the year.

Let’s look at how you can watch the game as well as some more key players.

Oklahoma Sooners Baseball falls to Oregon 4-2 in 2024 season opener

Oklahoma Sooners drop their opening day game to the Oregon Ducks 4-2

Friday afternoon marked a wonderful time in the Oklahoma sports calendar as the Sooners baseball team embarked on its final journey as Big 12 members. Oklahoma is back and trying to work themselves into a return to Omaha for the College World Series.

Oklahoma opened their season in Arlington, Texas, against the Pac-12’s Oregon Ducks at Globe Life Field. Oklahoma dropped their opening day matchup with Oregon 4-2. The Ducks’ heralded bullpen locked things down, and their offense pushed across two late runs in the top of the eighth inning to seal the deal for last year’s Pac-12 tournament champions.

The first inning was pretty eventful for Oklahoma pitcher Braden Davis, who started by hitting the game’s first batter, Drew Smith. Smith advanced on a passed ball before a Dominic Hellman single drove him in for the first run of the game.

Oklahoma struggled to mount anything early against Oregon starter RJ Gordon, who tossed 4.1 innings of two-run ball. Braden Davis settled in the next few innings before a wild pitch with a runner on third cost the Sooners yet another run, giving the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, the top of the Sooner’s order woke up as a John Spikerman single, Bryce Madron double, and an Easton Carmichael sacrifice fly helped Oklahoma scratch their first run. Kendall Pettis followed up with a sacrifice fly of his own to tie the ball game.

From then on, the game became a pitching duel as the Sooners and Ducks held each other scoreless over the next five innings. Braden Davis’ day came to an end after five innings of two-run ball. He struck out seven batters and walked just two on 88 pitches.

One of Skip Johnson’s transfer adds, Malachi Witherspoon pitched two innings in relief. Witherspoon was solid primarily until the top of the 8th inning in his third inning in relief. Then things began to unravel for him.

A single, wild pitch and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with no outs.

Johnson made the call to the bullpen, bringing in senior right-hander Carson Atwood, who induced a double play, but the Ducks scored to make it 3-2. With a runner on third, another passed ball gave the Ducks an insurance run to make it 4-2.

Those two runs in the eighth proved to be enough as a terrific showing by the Oregon bullpen kept Oklahoma off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.

Grayson Ginsell and Michael Freund combined for 4.2 innings of relief, with Freund recording the save in the 9th to close the door. The duo allowed zero runs and gave up just one hit.

Offensively, the Sooners had six hits and left five runners on base.

The Sooners will be back at it tomorrow against one of the nation’s best teams as they take on No. 9 Tennessee in the second game of the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown. The game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday before closing the weekend with a 10:30 a.m. matchup against Nebraska.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.