Oklahoma and Florida have a very short history on the baseball diamond. The Sooners and Gators have faced each other a total of three times, but never in the regular season and never in Norman.
The No. 25 Gators (29-16, 11-10) are making their first-ever trip to Norman this weekend for a three-game series against the No. 15 Sooners (29-14, 11-10) at Kimrey Family Stadium. Both teams are sitting just above .500, at 11-10, in conference play, tied with Arkansas, where the Sooners play next weekend, and Ole Miss in sixth place.
Sooners get Florida for a rare matchup with postseason stakes on the line
The next three weekends are critically important for Oklahoma, which would like to earn a first- or second-round bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament and also serve as a host site for an NCAA Regional. To earn a bye in the SEC Tournament, the Sooners must finish in the top four in conference standings in order to earn a first-round bye in the single-elimination tournament.
The Sooners are currently two games out of fourth place in the standings and three games out of second with nine regular-season game left to play. Heading into this weekend, Oklahoma would be in a position to be named one of the 16 regional host sites in this season's NCAA tournament. The Sooners currently rank No. 15 in the D1 Baseball Top 25 rankings and No. 12 in the Baseball America rankings.
All of this is in play as Oklahoma gets set to host Florida for three pivotal games this weekend.
Oklahoma and Florida are both coming off SEC series losses last weekend. The Gators dropped two of three at home to Texas A&M, while the Sooners suffered the same result at Auburn.
The last and only time OU and Florida met in baseball was in the 2022 NCAA Gainesville Regional, with Oklahoma taking two of three from the the No. 13 national seed Gators to win the regional championship in a title game that was delayed for 4 1/2 hours after two were out in the top of the seventh inning and the Sooners trailing 2-1. OU rallied for four runs in the eighth inning when the game was resumed and went on to win 5-4.
That 2022 Oklahoma team went on to defeat Virginia Tech in the Super Regional and advance to Omaha and the College World Series, where it lost to Ole Miss in the championship series.
Friday's game will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT and can be streamed on SEC Network+. Game times on Saturday and Sunday are 6 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively. Saturday's game will be televised on SEC Network. On Sunday, the game will be available on SEC Network+.
What fans should know about Florida baseball
Florida has defied logic this season, playing better on the road than it does at Condron Ballpark in Gainesville. The Gators are 9-4 away from home this season, including an impressive 8-1 in road contests against top-25 teams.
Florida's strength lies in the pitching staff, although the Gator lineup features four players hitting .300 of better. The pitching staff ranks fourth in the SEC with a combined ERA of 3.99 and an average of 10.4 strikeouts per game. Sophomore right-hander Aidan King is the ace of the staff with a 7-2 record in 11 starts and an SEC-leading 1.78 ERA, which ranks eighth nationally. He has struck out 61 in 60.2 innings and has a .182 opponents' batting average.
On offense, Florida is led by senior outfielder Blake Cyr and sophomore infielder Brendan Lawson. Cyr leads the team with a .347 batting average, 10 home runs, including six in his last seven games, and 43 runs batted in. Lawson is hitting .317 with a .525 on-base percentage, 11 home runs and 34 RBI.
Florida enters the weekend series against Oklahoma with a nation-best seven shutouts thrown by the Gator pitching staff this season. The Gators also have 11 come-from-behind wins this season.
What fans should know about Oklahoma baseball
The Sooners rank sixth in the SEC in hitting in conference play with a .267 team batting average. Four OU starters are hitting above .300, with junior outfielder Dasan Harris and junior outfielder Trey Gambill leading the group, batting .324 and .320, respectively. On the power side, junior outfielder/catcher Brendan Brock has hit nine home runs to lead the Sooners and has driven in 40, and junior third baseman Camden Johnson has hit seven out of the park and recorded 35 RBI.
Oklahoma pitching has battled inconsistency this season. Sooner pitchers are 11th in the SEC with a 4.63 staff ERA overall, but in SEC play, that number has ballooned to 6.12, which ranks 13th out of the 16 SEC teams that compete in baseball. Junior left-hander Cameron Johnson has performed the best among the starters in the rotation with a 6-1 record in 11 starts and a 3.02 ERA. He has struck out 62 in 47.2 innings, but he's also issued 34 bases on balls. Right-hander LJ Mercurius, a transfer from UNLV, is 6-5 in 11 starts with a 5.28 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 73 to 18.
OU ranks first in the SEC and 27th in the country with 13 triples this season. Camden Johnson leads the Sooners with three. The Sooners are second in the SEC and 36th in Division-I baseball with 93 stolen bases in 111 attempts this season, an 84% success rate.
The Sooners are 25-2 this season when leading after the sixth inning.
Key players to watch
Oklahoma
OF Trey Gambill: .320 batting average, 6 home runs, .491 on-base percentage
3B Camden Johnson: .301 batting average, 7 home runs, 35 RBI, .542 slugging percentage
C/OF Brock Brendan: 9 home runs, 40 RBI, .541 slugging percentage
P Cameron Johnson: 6-1 record, 3.02 ERA, 62 strikeouts in 47.2 innings
P Kadyn Leon: 1-0 record (probable Friday starter), 3.09 ERA, 25 strikeouts in 23.1 innings
Florida
OF Blake Cyr: .347 batting average, 10 home runs, 43 RBI, .626 slugging percentage
INF Brendan Lawson: .317 batting average, 11 home runs, 34 RBI, .675 slugging percentage
OF Kyle Jones: .306 batting average, 53 hits, 13 doubles,
INF Ethan Surowiec: :303 batting average, 53 hits, 7 home runs, 39 RBI, 4 home runs, 30 RBI
P Aidan King: 7-2 record, 1.78 ERA (best in SEC), .87 WHIP, 61 strikeouts in 62.1 innings
Prediction
This is a big series for Oklahoma. The Sooners have three SEC series remaining in the regular season, and two (vs. Florida this weekend and at Arkansas next weekend) are against ranked teams. To earn a top-8 seed in the SEC Tournament, which would give OU a first-round bye, and a top-16 national seed, Oklahoma is probably going to have to win at least six games, if not all three of its final regular-season series. It starts with Oklahoma taking two of three from Florida this weekend.
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