A pair of longtime conference foes get together this weekend when No. 18 Oklahoma travels to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the Missouri Tigers, who are still looking for their first SEC win this season.
Oklahoma (26-10, 7-8) and Missouri (13-23, 0-15), longtime rivals out of the Big 12 and several other league iterations before that, have played each other 249 times on the baseball diamond. The Sooners have dominated the series with a record of 148-101.
Sooners take on Mizzou in matchup of old Big 12 teams
The last time the two teams met was in 2016 as part of the Frisco Classic in Texas. Oklahoma won that game, 16-6.
So far this season, Oklahoma has two top-10 nonconference wins in its body of work and three SEC series wins. The series with Missouri is the Sooners' sixth SEC series. They are 3-2 in the five previous conference series.
Probable pitching matchups
OU LHP Cade Crossland (2-2, 6.17 ERA) vs. LHP Brady Kehenbrink (0-3, 11.12 ERA) on Thursday
OU RHP Kyson Witherspoon (6-2, 2.08 ERA) vs. RHP Kaden Jacobi (2-5, 9.17 ERA) on Friday
OU RHP Malachi Witherspoon (2-4, 5.74 ERA) vs. TBD on Saturday
Schedule, how to watch
7 p.m. CT Thursday on SEC Network+
6 p.m. CT Friday on SECN+
2 p.m. CT Saturday on SECN+
What fans need to know
Oklahoma
- Oklahoma and Missouri are statistically comparable in most offensive categories. Where the two teams differ significantly is in pitching. OU's staff ERA is 4,28 while Missouri's is double that at 8.81.
- Probable Friday starter Kyson Witherspoon leads the SEC and ranks 17th in the country with a 2.08 ERA, and is third in the SEC and ninth nationally with 74 strikeouts.
- The Sooners play small ball as well or better than any SEC team. When they get on base, which they do at a 39% rate, they are huge threats to steal. Oklahoma leads the SEC with 89 stolen bases, 16 clear of the next closest team.
- JUCO transfer Trey Gambill leads the Sooners in hitting (.337 batting average) and on-base percentage (.512) and is one of three Sooners hitting .300 or better. OU's top run producers are sophomore Jaxon Willits, with a team-best nine home runs and 32 runs batted in, and junior catcher Easton Carmichael with seven home runs and a team-high 35 runs batted in.
Missouri
- Infielder Jackson Lovich leads Missouri with a .356 batting average, eight home runs, 38 runs batted in and is hitting .450 (18-for-40) with runners in scoring position. He also leads the team with 13 multi-hit games this season and 10 multi-RBI games.
- Outfielder Pierre Seals has wielded a hot bat over the past couple of weeks. During an 11-game stretch, he is batting a team-best .441 with three home runs and a slugging percentage of .735.
- Right-handed starter Kaden Jacobi has 36 punchouts in 34.1 innings. He is the probable Friday night starter in this series.
- Twenty-one of Missouri's 39 home runs this season have come at home at Taylor Stadium, where the Tigers are 8-10 in 2025.