Oklahoma baseball: Sooner freshman Cade Horton earns national honors
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma baseball freshman star Cade Horton is still collectiing national honors several weeks after the Sooners finished as national runners-up to Ole Miss in the Men’s College World Series.
The redshirt-freshman Sooner pitcher/infielder has been named a Freshman All-American by both Baseball America and D1Baseball. Interstingly, Baseball America selected Horton as a Freshman First-Team All-American pitcher, while D1Baseball recognized him as a first-team utility selection.
Horton, a hometown product from Norman, Oklahoma, mase 14 appearances on the mound for the Sooners this season, compiling a 5-2 record with a 4.86 earned run average, 64 strikeouts and only 15 walks. He was dominant in the postseason, however, and rapidly drew national attention with two outstanding performances in the College World Series.
He started OU’s games against Notre Dame, a 6-2 OU win, and Game 2 of the championship series against Ole Miss. In those two games combined, the right-hander pitched 13 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits with 24 strikeouts (11 in one game and 13 in the other, both career highs) and just one base on balls.
In five postseason starts. Horton went 3-0 over 31.0 innings with a 2.61 ERA and 49 strikeouts.
In addition to 14 appearances as a pitcher (11 starts), Horton appeared in 25 games at third base and 11 as a designated hitter. For the season, he hit .234 with six doubles, two triples, one home run, 17 RBI and 28 runs scored.
Horton’s MLB Draft stock went up considerably with his two exceptional starts in the College World Series. We’ll have that answer in just a few days as the 2022 MLB Draft begins on July 17. Several mock drafts have the young OU pitcher going as high as the first or second round.