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Oklahoma baseball: Sooners set to open 2019 season

By Chip Rouse

Omaha, NE - JUNE 27: Outfielder Heston Kjerstad #18 of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs in to make a catch in the second inning against the Oregon State Beavers during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 27, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 27: Outfielder Heston Kjerstad #18 of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs in to make a catch in the second inning against the Oregon State Beavers during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 27, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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The Oklahoma baseball team, picked to finish seventh in the 2019 preseason poll by the Big 12 coaches, opens up the 2019 campaign this weekend with a three-game homestand against Cal Poly.

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This will be the first meeting ever between the Sooners and Cal Poly. The Mustangs got off to a slow start a year ago, but won 24 of their last 41 games, including their last seven, and finished second in the Big West Conference for a second straight season.

Oklahoma finished the 2018 season with a 38-25 overall record and fourth place in the Big 12 with a 14-10 record. The Sooners were eliminated in the NCAA Regionals last season, their 38th NCAA Tournament appearance.

Cal Poly returns five position players who started at least 25 games last season and eight pitchers. The offense is led by junior center fielder Bradlee Beesley, a second team All-Big West selection, who hit .277 last season along with 12 doubles and 33 runs batted in. Also back is sophomore first baseman Tate Samuelson, who batted .280 with five home runs and 38 RBI.

The Mustangs led the Big West in 2018 in team batting, on-base-percentage, hits, walks and in turning double plays.

The Sooners return five position players and eight pitchers from last season, although it was announced this week that left-handed relief pitcher Braidyn Fink is lost for the season with a torn ACL. Fink was slotted to be OU’s closer this season.

Senior third baseman Brylie Ware is Oklahoma’s best returning hitter. Ware hit .331 a year ago, with 20 doubles and 41 RBI. Junior shortstop Brandon Zaragoza batted .279, with eight doubles and 28 RBI. The Oklahoma pitching staff is led by starters Levi Prater and Nathan Wiles.  Prater, a left-hander, was 3-4 last season with a 4.09 earned run average in 50.2 innings. Wiles, a junior right-hander, had a 7-3 record in 2018 and a 3.54 ERA in 86.1 innings.

OU loses half of its home-run production from last season in the departure of Steele Walker and Kyler Murray. The pair accounted for 23 of the Sooners’ 47 round-trippers.

Ware and Prater are the only two Sooners named to the 2019 Preseason All-Big 12 Baseball Team.

This will Skip Johnson’s second season as head coach of the Sooners and his third season with the team. He was the OU pitching coach in 2017.

Oklahoma’s average conference finish over the past four seasons was fourth.

The first pitch of OU’s 2019 season, the Sooners’ 118th in collegiate baseball, will take place Friday at 3 p.m. CT at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

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