2023 Oklahoma Sooners baseball team
College Baseball Season
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The 2023 Oklahoma Sooners baseball team represented the University of Oklahoma during the 2023 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Sooners played their home games at L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They were led by head coach Skip Johnson, in his 6th season at Oklahoma.
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
Record32–28 (11–13 Big 12)
Headcoach
- Skip Johnson (6th season)
Associate headcoachReggie Willits (2nd season)
| 2023 Oklahoma Sooners baseball | |
|---|---|
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| Conference | Big 12 Conference |
| Record | 32–28 (11–13 Big 12) |
| Head coach |
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| Associate head coach | Reggie Willits (2nd season) |
| Assistant coaches |
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| Home stadium | L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 14 Texas †y | 15 | – | 9 | .625 | 42 | – | 22 | .656 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma State †y | 15 | – | 9 | .625 | 41 | – | 20 | .672 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Virginia †y | 15 | – | 9 | .625 | 40 | – | 20 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 TCU ‡y | 13 | – | 11 | .542 | 44 | – | 24 | .647 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas State | 13 | – | 11 | .542 | 35 | – | 24 | .593 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Tech y | 12 | – | 12 | .500 | 41 | – | 23 | .641 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma y | 11 | – | 13 | .458 | 32 | – | 28 | .533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas | 8 | – | 16 | .333 | 25 | – | 32 | .439 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baylor | 6 | – | 18 | .250 | 20 | – | 35 | .364 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 25, 2023[1] Rankings from D1baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous season
The Sooners finished the 2022–23 season with a 45–24 overall record and a 15–9 record in Big 12 play. Coming in as the third-seed in the 2022 Big 12 Conference baseball tournament, the Sooners defeated their longtime rivals fifth-seeded Texas to win their third Big 12 conference tournament championship. Receiving an automatic bid for the 2022 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, the Sooners defeated Liberty, Florida, and Virginia Tech in the Blacksburg Super Regional. In the 2022 College World Series, the Sooners defeated Texas A&M in the first round and the semifinals, Notre Dame in the second round, before falling to Ole Miss in the finals, losing both games.[2]
Offseason
Departures
| Player | Position | Height | Year | New team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Abram | RHP | 6'7" |  Redshirt junior |
Oklahoma State | [3] |
| Keegan Allen | RHP/OF | 6'0" | Freshman | West Virginia | [4] |
| Cade Brown | RHP | 6'4" | Redshirt junior |
Murray State | [5] |
| Luke Carrell | LHP | 6'2" | Freshman | Northwest Florida State | [6] |
| Brock Daniels | INF | 6'1" | Freshman | Missouri | [7] |
| Luc Fladda | LHP | 6'1" | Freshman | Johnson County | [8] |
| Mason Lowe | INF | 5'11" | Redshirt junior |
Central Missouri | [9] |
| Brayden Luikart | LHP/OF | 6'0" | Freshman | Johnson County | [10] |
| Max McGwire | INF | 6'2" | Freshman | San Diego | [11] |
| Hudson Polk | C | 6'1" | Sophomore | Arkansas | [12] |
| Creed Watkins | RHP | 6'5" | Redshirt sophomore |
NC State | [13] |
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Height | Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Cade Horton | IF/RHP | 6'1" | Chicago Cubs | [14] |
| 2 | 45 | Jake Bennett | LHP | 6'6" | Washington Nationals | |
| 2 | 51 | Peyton Graham | INF | 6'4" | Detroit Tigers | |
| 4 | 127 | Jimmy Crooks | C | 6'0" | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 7 | 224 | Blake Robertson | INF | 6'5" | Tampa Bay Rays | |
| 10 | 290 | Tanner Tredaway | OF | 6'0" | Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| 10 | 297 | Trevin Michael | RHP | 6'2" | Detroit Tigers | |
| 11 | 325 | David Sandlin | RHP | 6'4" | Kansas City Royals | |
| 17 | 505 | Chazz Martinez | LHP/OF | 6'3" | Kansas City Royals | |
| 18 | 536 | Javier Ramos | RHP | 6'6" | Colorado Rockies | |
| 19 | 579 | Jaret Godman | RHP | 6'1" | Boston Red Sox | |
| Undrafted | ||||||
| Brett Squires | IF/OF | 6'3" | Kansas City Royals | [15] | ||
Cade Horton, Jake Bennett, and Peyton Graham's draft selections marked the first time the Sooners ever had three players selected in the first two rounds of the MLB draft. Under head coach Skip Johnson, the Sooners have produced three first-round draft picks in five years with Horton being selected seventh overall. Horton became the Sooner's highest draft pick since Jon Gray in 2013.[16]
Additions
| Player | Position | Height | Year | Former team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blake Bales | RHP | 6'5" | Graduate student | Virginia | [17] |
| Will Carsten | RHP | 6'7" | Junior | McLennan | [18] |
| Kale Davis | RHP | 6'3" | Redshirt junior |
Oklahoma State | [19] |
| Braxton Douthit | RHP | 5'10" | Graduate student | Lamar | [20] |
| Dakota Harris | IF | 6'0" | Junior | Polk State | [21] |
| Gray Harrison | RHP | 6'1" | Junior | McLennan | [22] |
| James Hitt | LHP | 6'0" | Redshirt sophomore |
Texas Tech | [23] |
| Anthony Mackenzie | IF | 5'11" | Junior | Sam Houston | [24] |
| Bryce Madron | OF | 5'8" | Junior | Cowley | [25] |
| Peyton Olejnik | RHP | 6'9" | Sophomore | Triton | [26] |
| Carson Pierce | RHP | 6'3" | Junior | Cowley | [27] |
| Mason Strong | C | 5'11" | Sophomore | BYU | [28] |
| Gray Thomas | RHP | 6'3" | Sophomore | TCU | [29] |
| Adam Walker | RHP | 6'2" | Junior | Dodge City | [30] |
| Aaron Weber | RHP | 6'4" | Sophomore | Cowley | [31] |
| Player | Position | Height | Hometown | High school | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easton Carmichael | C | 6'1" | Prosper, Texas | Prosper High School | [32] |
| Camden Chalfant | RHP | 6'1" | Edmond, Oklahoma | Edmond Memorial High School | [33] |
| Patrick Engskov | IF | 6'0" | Little Rock, Arkansas | Pulaski Academy | [34] |
| Rocco Garza-Gongora | OF/1B | 6'2" | Laredo, Texas | John B. Alexander High School | [35] |
| Julien Hachem | LHP | 6'7" | Oak Park, Illinois | Mount Carmel High School | [36] |
| Gabe Murrell | RHP | 6'1" | Edmond, Oklahoma | Edmond North High School | [37] |
| Caden Powell | IF | 6'2" | Clinton, Oklahoma | Clinton High School | [38] |
| Carson Turnquist | RHP | 6'5" | Paso Robles, California | Paso Robles High School | [39] |
| Eric Van Valkenburg | RHP | 6'2" | Solana Beach, California | Torrey Pines High School | [40] |
| Tavion Vaughns | OF | 6'1" | Grand Prairie, Texas | Cedar Hill High School | [41] |
Preseason
Big 12 media poll
Source: 2023 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll
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Preseason Big 12 Awards
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Roster and personnel
Roster
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Personnel
Reggie Willits was promoted to associate head coach after joining the Sooners staff as a volunteer assistant during the 2022 season.[44] After five seasons as an assistant coach for the Sooners, Clay Van Hook was named head coach of the UT Arlington baseball program.[45] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Schedule
| 2023 Oklahoma baseball game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Legend: = Win = Loss = Canceled Bold = Oklahoma team member | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regular season (30–24) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Postseason (1–2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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* indicates a non-conference game. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Statistics
| Legend | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | AB | At-bats | |||||||||
| H | Hits | Avg. | Batting average | 2B | Doubles | |||||||||
| 3B | Triples | HR | Home runs | RBI | Runs batted in | |||||||||
| IP | Innings pitched | W | Wins | L | Losses | |||||||||
| ERA | Earned run average | SO | Strikeouts | BB | Base on balls | |||||||||
| SV | Saves | SB | Stolen bases | High | Team high | |||||||||
Individual batting
A darker background denotes not meeting the minimum requirement of 2 PA/G and 75% of games played
| Player | GP | AB | Avg. | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota Harris | 46 | 186 | .328 | 61 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 48 | 19 | 37 | 5 |
| Bryce Madron | 60 | 219 | .320 | 70 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 51 | 61 | 36 | 15 |
| Kendall Pettis | 54 | 178 | .309 | 55 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 36 | 35 | 17 |
| Anthony Mackenzie | 60 | 242 | .306 | 74 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 41 | 39 | 53 | 21 |
| Easton Carmichael | 51 | 193 | .306 | 59 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 48 | 13 | 44 | 4 |
| Rocco Garza-Gongora | 51 | 164 | .293 | 48 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 15 | 44 | 4 |
| John Spikerman | 60 | 222 | .270 | 60 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 33 | 49 | 53 | 27 |
| Wallace Clark | 47 | 139 | .237 | 33 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 31 | 31 | 4 |
| Jackson Nicklaus | 59 | 197 | .234 | 46 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 39 | 51 | 78 | 9 |
| Diego Muniz | 37 | 111 | .270 | 30 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 15 | 24 | 4 |
| Caden Powell | 16 | 35 | .257 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 |
| Sebastian Orduno | 38 | 93 | .226 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 20 | 3 |
| Patrick Engskov | 11 | 10 | .200 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Mason Strong | 8 | 8 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Kade Fletcher | 3 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |