The Sooners finished the season with a 38-22 overall record but just 14-16 in their first season in the SEC, a conference that boasts seven of the last 10 national champions and, top to bottom, is widely considered the strongest in college baseball.
Oklahoma's 38 wins this season were only two fewer than a year ago, when the Sooners went 40-21 and exited the Big 12 after winning the 2024 Big 12 regular-season title. Twenty-three of OU's 40 wins a year ago, or 57 percent, were against Big 12 opponents.
Against a much stronger group of conference opponents this season in the SEC, the Sooners managed just 14 wins, or 37 percent, of their total wins.
Oklahoma's 12th-place finish in the SEC standings, not surprisingly, was in relatively close alignment with where the Sooners ranked in most every major statistical category: OU was 12th in the conference in hitting (.278 team batting average), 11th in runs scored (6.7 per game), 12th in home runs (70), 8th in earned run average (4.47), 9th in opponents' batting average (.247) and 13th in fielding percentage (.971).
It wasn't all doom and gloom, though, for Sooner baseball in its inaugural SEC season. Oklahoma did qualify for its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament, won five of 10 conference series and defeated 13-seed Kentucky and 5-seed Georgia in the SEC Baseball Tournament before losing in the quarterfinal round to tournament champion Vanderbilt.
Accolades from OU baseball in 2025, hope for future
Player of the Year
Junior catcher Easton Carmichael gets my vote as the Sooners' Player of the Year. The Prosper, Texas, native led the team in hitting (.329 average), hits (80), runs batted in (62), home runs (17) and slugging percentage (.613). He also was exceptional behind the plate, committing just one error the entire season and only five passed balls.
Carmichael is one of several Sooners expected to be taken in next month's 2025 MLB Draft. He will likely be drafted in one of the early rounds. He is one of two OU players to be named a 2025 First-Team All-American by Perfect Game. It is the second season the Oklahoma catcher has earned All-America honors.
Pitcher of the Year
There shouldn't be much debate about this. Kyson Witherspoon, the team's Friday night starter, was outstanding all season. The junior right-hander not only was the ace of the Oklahoma pitching staff, but was one of the best pitcher's in the SEC during the 2025 season.
Witherspoon had a 10-4 record this season and a 2.65 ERA in 16 starts. His 10 wins led the SEC and ranked 9th nationally. Additionally, he struck out 124 batters, 5th-most in NCAA Division I baseball, averaging over 11 punch outs per game.
The Sooner First-Team All-American is a probable first-round selection in the MLB Draft.
Roster turnover is a net positive for next season
Oklahoma will lose catcher Scott Mulder, relief pitcher Jamie Hitt and closer Dylan Crooks to graduation and will likely also lose pitching brothers Kyson and Malachi Witherspoon, as well as Easton Carmichael, to the MLB Draft.
Seven of the nine players in the Sooners' starting lineup for the final game of the 2025 season are expected back for next season. The team will need pitching help after losing two weekend starters and its closer.
First basemen Dayton Tockery, second baseman Kyle Branch, shortstop Jaxon Willits and third baseman Dawson Willis, along with outfielders Jason Walk, Trey Gambill and Dasan Harris, should all be back for the 2026 season. Six members of that group were underclassmen this season with two freshmen and four sophomores.
Redshirt sophomore first baseman Sam Christianson was the only starting position player to enter the transfer portal so far. Reserve freshman catcher Cole Hansen, brother of four-time softball national champion catcher Kinzie Hansen, also elected to transfer.
Transfer portal additions
Since the season ended, Oklahoma has added five players from the transfer portal:
RHP Joey McManiss had a 1-2 record in 10 starts and 18 appearances for Maryland in 2025 with a 6.25 ERA.
INF Camden Johnson hit .356 in 56 games for Wichita this past season.
Nolan Stevens (INF/OF/P) joined Oklahoma from Mississippi State, where he hit .325 with four home runs and 21 RBI this season.
RHP LJ Mercurius was an All-Mountain West Second-Team selection in 2025. He made 11 starts for UNLV with a 4-3 record, a 3.57 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 53 innings.
UTIL Cayden Brumbaugh, from Edmond, Oklahoma, spent one season at Oklahoma State before transferring to Nebraska. As a redshirt junior this season, he hit .309 with five home runs and 33 RBI.
As far as incoming freshmen, the Sooners' 2025 baseball recruiting class is headlined by infielder Eli Willits, a national top-10 recruit. If that name sounds familiar, it is because Eli is the younger brother of Oklahoma starting shortstop Jaxon Willits and the son of former Sooner player and current associate head coach Reggie Willits, who played at OU in 2002-03. However, Eli will likely never get to OU as a projected top-10 MLB Draft pick.
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