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After the first week of Southeastern Conference play, the Oklahoma baseball team may be wondering about all the hype the league has garnered as the long-considered best league in the country on the diamond.
The 10th-ranked Sooners took two of three from South Carolina in Oklahoma's first foray into SEC play last weekend. In Week 2 of the SEC slate, coach Skip Johnson's bunch will host league play for the first time as Mississippi State visits L. Dale Mitchell Park for a three-game set Friday through Sunday.
Mississippi State, the 2021 national champions, hasn't quite been the same since that year, suffering through two straight nine-win SEC seasons in the next two years. Last year was better, as the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament, though they fell in the regional round. So far, 2025 looks more like 2022-23, as MSU picked up zero votes in the latest USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll after being swept opening weekend by No. 11 Texas.
OU ace Kyson Witherspoon will likely get the call to start the opener. He has looked the part of the No. 9 prospect for this summer's MLB Draft. Witherspoon is 5-0 in five starts and carries a 1.91 earned-run average and WHIP of 0.810 to go with 47 strikeouts and six walks in 28 1/3 innings. Left-hander Cade Crossland (4.70 ERA) will pitch Game 2 on Saturday, and right-hander Malachi Witherspoon (5.73 ERA) is set to go in Sunday's series capper.
Mississippi State's statistical totals show a team better than its record. The Bulldogs are in the top half of the SEC in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging; they're also ahead of Oklahoma in all three categories. On the mound, MSU is fifth in the SEC in ERA, third in strikeouts, and second in opponent's batting average.
An Oklahoma series win would go a long way in bolstering their status as one of the best teams in a conference that looks to get anywhere between 10 and 12 teams into the NCAA Tournament. And with Mississippi State already in an 0-3 hole, the Bulldogs will be itching to prove they're one of those dozen.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma baseball set to host Mississippi State in SEC play
Continue reading...
The 10th-ranked Sooners took two of three from South Carolina in Oklahoma's first foray into SEC play last weekend. In Week 2 of the SEC slate, coach Skip Johnson's bunch will host league play for the first time as Mississippi State visits L. Dale Mitchell Park for a three-game set Friday through Sunday.
Mississippi State, the 2021 national champions, hasn't quite been the same since that year, suffering through two straight nine-win SEC seasons in the next two years. Last year was better, as the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament, though they fell in the regional round. So far, 2025 looks more like 2022-23, as MSU picked up zero votes in the latest USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll after being swept opening weekend by No. 11 Texas.
OU ace Kyson Witherspoon will likely get the call to start the opener. He has looked the part of the No. 9 prospect for this summer's MLB Draft. Witherspoon is 5-0 in five starts and carries a 1.91 earned-run average and WHIP of 0.810 to go with 47 strikeouts and six walks in 28 1/3 innings. Left-hander Cade Crossland (4.70 ERA) will pitch Game 2 on Saturday, and right-hander Malachi Witherspoon (5.73 ERA) is set to go in Sunday's series capper.
Mississippi State's statistical totals show a team better than its record. The Bulldogs are in the top half of the SEC in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging; they're also ahead of Oklahoma in all three categories. On the mound, MSU is fifth in the SEC in ERA, third in strikeouts, and second in opponent's batting average.
An Oklahoma series win would go a long way in bolstering their status as one of the best teams in a conference that looks to get anywhere between 10 and 12 teams into the NCAA Tournament. And with Mississippi State already in an 0-3 hole, the Bulldogs will be itching to prove they're one of those dozen.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma baseball set to host Mississippi State in SEC play
Continue reading...
