Oklahoma's late-season slide drops Sooners 11 deep in SEC Tournament bracket

Oklahoma completed 2026 regular-season play on Saturday, splitting a pair of games with the Tennessee Volunteers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

By splitting the two games on Saturday, the Sooners avoided a series sweep and ended the regular season with a 14-16 conference record, earning them a No. 11 seed in this week's SEC Tournament to be held Tuesday through Sunday in Hoover, Alabama.

Oklahoma splits Saturday with Tennessee, but loses another series

Oklahoma will face 14-seed LSU (29-27, 9-21) in the opening round of the SEC Tournament in the last of four games scheduled on Tuesday. Oklahoma took two of three games from the Tigers this season, one of four SEC series (out of 10) won by the Sooners.

The first game on Saturday was the completion of a suspended game on Friday night due to lightning in the area. The game was resumed with Tennessee leading 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Volunteers went on to win that game 9-4.

Junior catcher Deiten Lachance led the way in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader with a three-home-run day in a 12-9 Oklahoma win. The Sooners scored six times in the first inning and never trailed after that. All three of Lachance's fence-clearing blasts were solo shots, becoming the first OU player to hit three in a game since the 2000 season.

The series loss to Tennessee was Oklahoma's fourth consecutive series loss, and sixth in the last eight conference series, as the Sooners finished the regular season losing eight of their final 12 games. OU's struggles in the second half of the season cost the Sooners a potential top-eight seed in the SEC Tournament, which would have given them a first-round bye.

Oklahoma won its first two games last season in the SEC Tournament, its first as a member of the SEC. The Sooners defeated No. 13 Kentucky and No. 5 Georgia and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to No. 4 Vanderbilt.

Oklahoma enters this year's SEC Tournament with the sixth best team batting average (.273) against SEC opponents, but a second from the worst (15 of 16) pitching staff ERA in conference play (6.92).

The Sooners have outscored their opponents 349 to 291 through 52 games, scoring an average of 6.7 per game. Unfortunately, Oklahoma's struggles on the mound have allowed an average of 7. 4 runs per game to SEC opponents, while the Sooner bats have been able to generate just 5.7 runs per contest.

The Sooners' path to the SEC Championship

Oklahoma's pathway through the SEC Tournament bracket has the Sooners facing LSU and, should they advance from the opening round, potential matchups against 6-seed Auburn and after that No. 3 Texas A&M.

What to know about the LSU Tigers

• LSU is the defending national champion and has eight national titles to its credit.
• The last time LSU won fewer than 30 games in a season was 2007, when the Tigers finished 29-26-1.
• The Tigers rank 8th in the SEC in hitting with a team average of .284, but dead last in the conference in pitching with a staff ERA of 5.86. Cade Arrambide and Jake Brown are the only two Tigers with double-digit home runs, both with 16 along with 47 and 49 runs batted in, respectively.
• Sophomore Derek Curiel leads LSU with a .344 batting average.
• LSU leads the overall series with OU 13-6. The Sooners, however won two of the three games between the two teams this season (1-7, 4-2, 4-3).
  

What to know about the Auburn Tigers

• Auburn (36-18, 17-13) would be the Sooners' second-round opponent. The two teams played a three-game series at Auburn in late April. The Tigers won the series, taking two of three. Oklahoma owns a 7-3-1 record overall in games vs. Auburn. The last time the two teams met was in 2022, when the Sooners were members of the Big 12, with OU winning 3-1.
• The Tigers were ranked No. 5 in the country entering last week, according to D1 Baseball, but ended the regular season having to face No. 4 Georgia and lost that series two games to one.
• The Tigers won seven of their 10 conference series this season and were 8-6 over their final 14 games.
• Auburn is one of the best hitting teams in the SEC, ranked 4th with a .299 batting average, and the Tigers' pitching staff owns an SEC-best 3.60 ERA. Brandon McCraine leads the team in hitting with a 3.52 average. Chase Fralick and Bub Terrell wield the power bats in the lineup with 13 and 15 home runs, respectively.
• Auburn has three SEC Tournament championships to its credit (1978, 1989, 1998), but has finished higher than 7th in the tournament just twice since 2000.

What to know about the Texas A&M Aggies

• Texas A&M enters the SEC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, finishing the regular season with a 39-13 record, 18-11 in the conference and ranked 10th in the country in the D1 Baseball poll.
• The Aggies won six of 10 SEC series this season. One of the four they lost, however, was their SEC opener to Oklahoma. The Sooners won two of three at home, and all three were close games.
• Texas A&M ranks 3rd in the SEC in hitting with a .305 team batting average and 114 home runs, second only to Georgia's 147. Junior third baseman Gavin Grahovac leads the Aggies with a .351 average. Junior outfielder Caden Sorrell has 23 home runs and 71 RBI.
• If the Aggies have a weakness its pitching. The staff ERA is 5.09. Sophomore right-hander has been the most consistent Aggie starter with an 8-1 record and 3.84 ERA in 13 starts.

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