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Malachi Witherspoon dialed in, Oklahoma baseball wins 7-4

Eddie On3by:Eddie Radosevich•05/31/25
Syndication: Tuscaloosa News
May 21, 2025; Hoover, AL, USA; Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson leaves the mound after a visit during the game with Georgia in the second round of the SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met.

Of course it was a bit of a gamble. But it sure did pay off. 

Oklahoma opened its NCAA Tournament with a 7-4 victory Friday night at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill. Malachi Witherspoon was superb throwing six scoreless innings and the Sooners offense collected 11 hits, including a pair of home runs from Drew Dickerson and Easton Carmichael. 

As for the gamble you ask? It wasn’t so much the fact Skip Johnson gave the ball to Malachi Witherspoon. But more so opting to ‘save’ Sooners Golden Spikes Award semifinalist Kyson Witherspoon for an expected showdown versus top seed and host North Carolina. 

Now Skip Johnson and the Sooners have exactly just that, advancing into the winner’s bracket in the Chapel Hill Regional. It’s the third time in four seasons Oklahoma has won its opening round game of a regional, two of those wins coming on the road. 

Witherspoon has been building to this

We’ve been saying it for weeks on the Crimson Corner. Malachi Witherspoon has been throwing much better than his final stat line would lead you to believe. The numbers don’t always tell the whole story. 

There’s been errors. Like a lot of errors. Almost a mindblowing amount of errors when Witherspoon found himself on the bump on Sunday throughout conference play. In fact, heading into this weekend Oklahoma had committed 22 of its 56 errors with Malachi on the mound. 

Friday night’s six scoreless, three hit, nine strikeout performance in the Sooners opener is something of a vindication to those that believed he was headed in the right direction. Even more important to Witherspoon and his Sooners teammates who hope their season extends past this weekend. 

Yet five batters into the top of the first on Friday night, you were beginning to wonder if the gamble was worth it. After hitting a batter and walking the next on four pitches, Witherspoon found himself in a bases-loaded jam. 

Two pitches later, he fielded a ground ball back to the mound and tossed to first to extinguish the flames. It’d be the only pressure Nebraska would produce all night. 

Over his last two starts (Texas, Nebraska), Witherspoon has thrown 12.1 innings, 7 hits, three runs, five walks and 19 strikeouts. 

Sooners bats come alive 

Oklahoma’s offensive struggles have been well documented heading into this weekend’s Chapel Hill Regional.

Perhaps Friday night 11 hit explosion is a step in the right direction. It was just the third time Oklahoma had collected double-digit hits in the month of May. Better late than never, eh? And how about the lead actors of this motion picture. 

Drew Dickerson opened the scoring in the second with a two run home run to left field. It was just his third home run of the year, making his first start in right field since May 11. He finished the night going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. 

One inning later Easton Carmichael led off the home half with his 15th home run of the season, extending the Sooners lead to 3-0. Trey Gamble added an RBI single in the fifth. 

Kyle Branch two run single capped a Sooners three run seventh, pushing the lead to 7-0. The three insurance runs would go on to be much needed. 

Nebraska rally falls short 

After pitching through the seventh, Jason Bodin climbed back onto the mound in the eighth with a seven run lead. 

Oh how quickly a comfortable lead can evaporate in college baseball. 

Following the Sooners second error of the night, Bodin plunked Dylan Carey to load the bases with no outs. Max Buettenback cleared the bases with a three run triple. A 7-0 lead had evaporated to a three run lead in a matter of four batters. 

Reid Hensley closed the book in the eighth with a pair of strikeouts and a sac fly to center. 

Dylan Crooks worked the final frame, collecting his 15th save of the season. With the save, Crooks passed Bucky Buckles for third most in a single season in program history. He’s now one shy of Ryan Duke who collected 16 saves in 2009.  

Mudler plays through shoulder injury 

Scott Mudler’s toughness shouldn’t be questioned anytime soon. After re-injurying his right shoulder attempting to dive back to first base on a pickoff attempt in the second inning, Mudler promptly exited the field and had his shoulder popped back into place. 

In a matter of about three minutes, Mudler went from exiting the game to returning to the field to a hero’s return from the Sooners dugout. Three pitches later Dickerson’s two run home run gave Oklahoma a 2-0 lead. 

It was the same shoulder that he hurt while sliding into second base during a game in mid-April against Mississippi State, ultimately costing him about a month on the field. 

Mudler exited the game in the seventh after being pinch hit for. But the production was tremendous given the circumstances, finishing the night 2-for-4 with an RBI.

It will be something to keep an eye on as the weekend goes on. 

Next up

Oklahoma gets its ‘dream gameplan’ as referred to by Kyson Witherspoon on Monday at the Sooners NCAA Tournament Selection Show watch party. 

“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.

Now the Sooners first team All-SEC selection gets his wish. A showdown with No.5 overall seed North Carolina on Saturday night. The Tar Heels opened the regional Friday afternoon with a 4-0 win over Holy Cross. 

First pitch is set for 5p. 

Chapel Hill Regional Schedule

Saturday, May 31:

Game 3 – Holy Cross vs. Nebraska (11 a.m.) Elimination game

Game 4 – North Carolina vs. Oklahoma (5 p.m.) 

Sunday, June 1:

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

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

Monday, June 3: 

Game 7 – If Necessary

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