College baseball is an arms race, and the Oklahoma Sooners have some pretty good weapons.
The Sooners on Thursday announced their starting rotation for their opening series of the 2025 season against Lehigh this weekend. Taking the mound at L. Dale Mitchell Park will be a set of twin brothers in Kyson and Malachi Witherspoon, followed by Cam Johnson.
the rotation ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/yfNUIAd91G
— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) February 13, 2025
Kyson Witherspoon will get the ball first in the Sooners' season opener on Friday. There are high expectations for Kyson this season as a consensus preseason All-American and one of 55 players on the 2025 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, along with teammate and catcher Easton Carmichael.
Kyson, a right-handed junior, led OU with a 3.71 ERA in 80 innings and 11 starts last season. He had 90 strikeouts and an 8-3 record.
Malachi, Kyson's twin brother, was used primarily as a closer last season before cracking the starting rotation this year. He had a 5.64 ERA with five saves and 2-2 record.
Both Kyson and Malachi transferred from Northwest Florida State College before their sophomore seasons in 2024.
Johnson will finish things in the series finale from the other side of the mound as the lefty of the group.
Johnson, a sophomore, just got to Norman after transferring from LSU. In his freshman season with the Tigers, Johnson made 13 relief appearances, pitching only nine innings while still striking out 13.
He was highly coveted out of IMG Academy, ranked as the No. 2 left-handed pitcher and No. 11 overall player nationally in the 2023 class by Perfect Game. Johnson was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 20th round of the 2023 MLB Draft before heading to LSU.
The Sooners will start their opening series against Lehigh with a doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m. CT Friday. The entire series will be streamed on SEC Network+.