Oklahoma Baseball: Chapel Hill Regional Preview

Every year there’s a handful of teams that get hot at the right time, and Oklahoma is hoping it can be one of them.

It’s the name of the game in college baseball. Get hot at the right time and surprise the folks that spend hours each week analyzing every inning, every midweek outcome and weekend conference series. 

And, yet, every year there’s a couple teams that slip through the cracks, showing up unannounced and ready to cause havoc. 

Oklahoma’s Chapel Hill Regional opening opponent Nebraska fits the mold. Will Bolt’s club wasn’t supposed to be here. 

Surprise Guests: the Cornhuskers

It’s been win or go home for Will Bolt’s club for awhile now. 

Just over a month ago, Nebraska found themselves four games under .500 (19-23). Since? The Cornhuskers have won 11 of its last 14 games, including its last five conference series.

Last week Bolt’s club arrived in Omaha at the Big Ten Tournament as the No.8 seed and rolled off four consecutive wins en route to its second consecutive conference tournament championship. 

New life to a season brings with it fresh perspective and a great opportunity. The opportunity to continue playing might be just more than enough. 

“It speaks to the veteran presence in the clubhouse, and they’ve been through the ups and downs, particularly the guys that have been here for four years, just staying the course and just really refusing to give in,” said Bolt of his team’s end-of-season turnaround. 

Veteran clubhouse is putting it lightly

The Cornhuskers returned 22 players from last season’s team that saw its season end in the Stillwater Regional. 

They were down to their final out at the Big Ten Tournament before Michigan State dropped a fly ball in right field allowing the tying run to score in the ninth. A game the Cornhuskers would walk-off in extras. 

It’s an added spice to Oklahoma’s opener. Don’t be fooled by the record. Nebraska has been – and currently is — playing good baseball. 

“They’re going to be well coached. They went from getting eliminated on a fly ball to winning the Big Ten Conference Tournament. That’s what usually happens. They kind of got rolling and started believing. It’ll be a great opportunity. We’ve just got to go out and play good catch and score more runs than they do,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson. 

Malachi Witherspoon vs. Jackson Brockett 

It wasn’t a surprise when Friday evening’s pitching match-up was announced. Malachi Witherspoon will get the ball for Oklahoma. His brother Kyson, the Sooners would-be expected Saturday starter, predicted it on Monday when speaking to the media. 

“Malachi didn’t get a chance to throw at the SEC Tournament. I’m guessing he’ll be one of the first out. Hopefully I can get the ball against North Carolina. That’s kind of my dream plan right now,” said Witherspoon. 

You could say that again. That’s everyone’s dream plan in the Crimson and Cream heading into this weekend’s regional. 

But in order for that dream scenario to happen, Oklahoma will need to get through left-handed pitcher Jackson Brockett. 

The senior lefty is one of the many veterans Will Bolt’s program has leaned on during the Cornhuskers surge over the last month. He’s 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA in his last six starts, holding Oregon to just one run over six innings in Nebraska’s upset of the Ducks last week. 

Which is problematic for Oklahoma. Or is it? The Sooners are 9-8 this season against left-handed pitchers. 

Did Sooners build any momentum last week? 

That seems to be the question Oklahoma carries with them into Friday’s opener. 

Skip Johnson feels as if that’s the case. 

“I believe that with all my heart. We just didn’t play defense on Thursday. If we play defense (against Vanderbilt), we will probably play in the championship. It’s one of those deals. You go from one extreme to the next extreme in the game of baseball. And especially this time of the year, one detail can get exploited. That’s what’s awesome about it,” said Johnson. “You either fight or flight this time of the year.” 

But for Oklahoma to get through the Chapel Hill Regional they’ll need to play incredibly clean baseball. Errors have been the Sooners achilles’ heel in 2025. Ultimately if Oklahoma’s season ends at Boshamer Stadium you will likely be looking at defense or hitting. 

Willits returning to form 

If nothing else Oklahoma left its first SEC Tournament with starting shortstop Jaxon Willits putting his best foot forward offensively, earning All-SEC Tournament honors after going 4-for-7 with a run and an RBI. 

Undoubtedly a positive after a frustrating start to May in which he collected just four hits over a 14-game stretch to end the season. 

“I thought he was huge. He worked extremely hard. When (Dayton) Tockey went down, he kind of went down, he fought it for a little bit. But he works extremely hard at it. Sometimes in this game you can work so hard at it and never get anything out of it,” said Johnson. 

“But he kept fighting and plowing at it and broke through. I’m just excited for him. He’s in a lot better place mentally and physically to move forward.” 

News & Notes

6 runs –  Nebraska is 129-28 under head coach Will Bolt when scoring at least six runs. The Cornhuskers have scored six-plus runs in 25 of its 32 victories this season. 

Cornhusker bullpen – If Oklahoma can get through starter Jackson Brockett, they’ll have to navigate a hot bullpen who have posted a 1.88 ERA in its last 43 innings of work, with 47 strikeouts and 17 walks. Nebraska allowed just two earned runs in 17.2 innings of work last weekend at the Big Ten Tournament 

Take your free passes – Oklahoma ranked second with 151 walks drawn in conference play. When the Sooners walked five or more times this eason, they were 25-8. 

Chapel Hill Regional Schedule

Friday, May 30: 

Game 1 – 11 a.m. – (1) North Carolina (42-12) vs. (4) Holy Cross (31-25) 

Game 2 – 4p – (2) Oklahoma (35-20) vs. (3) Nebraska (32-27)

Saturday, May 31:

Game 3 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (11 a.m.) 

Game 4 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (5 p.m.) 

Sunday, June 1:

Game 5 – Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3 (11 a.m.) 

Game 6 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (5 p.m.) 

Monday, June 3: 

Game 7 – If Necessary