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OU baseball debuts in Top 25, Kyson Witherspoon SEC Pitcher of the Week

Eddie On3by:Eddie Radosevich•about 10 hours
Kyson Witherspoon2
OU pitcher Kyson Witherspoon. (OU Athletics)

If OU baseball’s weekend trip to Round Rock was viewed as something of a barometer to see how they stacked up against two of the nation’s best? Whew. The statement was loud. 

Oklahoma rallied to knock off No. 7 Oregon State 8-4 on Saturday and backed that up with a marathon walk-off win over No. 2 Virginia 5-4 in 12 innings taking home the Round Rock Classic title. 

But it wasn’t just the fact Oklahoma improved to 6-0, marking the program’s best start since 2019. Or the fact they collected a pair of Top-10 wins, breaking into D1Baseball.com’s Top 25 checking in at No. 16 & No. 12 with Perfect Game. There was no fluke about it.

Let’s take a snapshot at the superlatives from the weekend: 

HELLO, KYLE BRANCH. NICE TO MEET YOU

You know the freshman infielder Kyle Branch must’ve done something pretty incredible if we’re going straight to the Lucas Lovejoy product, rather than highlighting SEC Pitcher of the Week Kyson Witherspoon. 

En route to being named Round Rock Classic Tournament MVP, Branch was sensational, hitting .462 (6-for-13) with four RBIs and scoring three times. When Oklahoma needed that ‘big hit’, he delivered. His weekend highlighted by the first three-hit game of his career on Saturday against the Beavers.

In the Classic opener vs. Minnesota. he robbed Drew Berkland not once but twice. The latter on a diving play in the eighth that saved a run, getting Oklahoma out of the inning unscathed. The former coming one inning prior on an over-the-shoulder grab in shallow right field. 

There have been early comparisons to middle infield mate Jaxon Willits when it comes to mental make-up and talent. His first two weeks in the Oklahoma line-up has been nothing short of remarkable. 

IS THE PITCHING STAFF ELITE? 

Boy. That was impressive. And oddly enough, it was Oklahoma’s bullpen that left me wow’d. 

First, let’s discuss Oklahoma’s starting rotation. Kyson Witherspoon was named SEC Pitcher of the Week for his services. Characterizing his Friday outing against Minnesota as dominant would be putting it lightly. After allowing a solo shot in the first inning, Witherspoon proceeded to retire the next 13 batters. He finished his second outing of the season striking out a career-high 12. 

Witherspoon is now 2-0 in 12 innings of work this season with a 2.25 ERA (3 earned runs), striking out 21 and two walks. 

Malachi Witherspoon and Cam Johnson combined to throw 7.1 innings, allowing eight hits, five runs, five walks and eight strikeouts. Witherspoon battled, throwing 4.1 innings. His final line was not indicative of how well he competed against Oregon State. Simply put, he bought Oklahoma’s line-up enough time to get going in the fourth inning.

With Cam Johnson, it was more up and down. And that’s going to happen as the young starter gains experience. If you want to go with the glass half full, look at his final inning of work on Sunday against Virginia, striking out the side with a handful of sliders. When Johnson is ‘good’ it’s borderline elite stuff from the left side.

As for the Oklahoma bullpen? Incredible. They combined to throw 15.2 innings in Round Rock, allowing a combined six hits, four runs, seven walks and 15 strikeouts. All of that adding up to combined 2.37 ERA. Ladies and gentlemen, that’ll do. That’ll do. 

Most impressive? Gavyn Jones, Jamie Hitt, Michael Catalano, Jason Bodin, Dylan Crooks and Jaden Barfield allowed one hit over the course of nine innings on Sunday. That won’t happen to Virginia often this season. 

CARMICHAEL, MUDLER & WITHERSPOON NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Easton Carmichael, Scott Mudler and Kyson Witherspoon joined teammate Kyle Branch on the All-Tournament team. 

Carmichael smacked his second home run of the season on Saturday. Scott Mudler delivered an RBI double on Sunday finishing the day 1-for-3 with a pair of walks. This after roping his first home run of the season one day prior to give Oklahoma a 4-2 lead they’d never look back on. 

Witherspoon’s heroics on Friday in the opener stood the course of the weekend as the best performance on the bump of any player all weekend at Dell Diamond. 

BREAKING INTO THE TOP 25 

Oklahoma breaks into the Top 25 this week, debuting No. 16 in D1Baseball.com’s Top 25 and as high as No. 12, according to Perfect Game. What I didn’t realize is the fact Baseball America decided to not cover college baseball this season, omitting Oklahoma from the ranks of their weekly Top 25. Laughable stuff from a once proud publication. They are now dismissed, much like Sports Illustrated. 

It’s going to be a busy week for the Sooners who return to Norman with the Round Round Classic championship belt. They play host to Texas Southern for a two-game series starting Tuesday. And Cal State Northridge over the weekend for a three game series. 

SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

Tuesday – vs. Texas Southern (4 p.m., SECN+)
Wednesday – vs. Texas Southern (4 p.m., SECN+)
Friday – vs. CSUN (4 p.m., SECN+)
Saturday – vs. CSUN (2 p.m., SECN+)
Sunday – vs. CSUN (1 p.m., SECN+)

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