Oklahoma will open the 2026 college baseball season this weekend against three former Big 12 foes in the Shriners Children's College Showdown in Arlington, Texas.
The Sooners begin the new season ranked No. 19 in the Baseball America preseason top 25. The three-day season-opening tournament features Texas Tech, longtime Bedlam rival Oklahoma State and No. 9 TCU. The action will take place at Globe Life Field, home of the MLB's Texas Rangers, Friday through Saturday.
Of the three former Big 12 opponents OU is matched up with on season-opening weekend, the longest history clearly is with in-state rival Oklahoma State. The Bedlam baseball series dates back to 1947, with the Sooners owning a 170-135 all-time advantage. Oklahoma is 70-42 all-time in games with TCU and 57-48-1 against Texas Tech.
Oklahoma was a participant in this same tournament to begin the 2024 season, winning two of three against Oregon, then-No. 9 Tennessee and Nebraska (losing to Oregon followed by back-to-back wins over Tennessee and Nebraska).
Oklahoma opens 2026 baseball season primed to improve on debut SEC campaign
The Sooners were picked to finish 14th out of 16 SEC teams in this year's preseason conference poll. Oklahoma finished 38-22 overall a year ago and 12th in the conference standings with a record of 14-16 in the Sooners' debut season as a member of the SEC.
Oklahoma returns five position starters and four of the top-five hitters and run producers from last year's team. Offensively and in the field, the Sooners should be in solid shape. First baseman Dayton Tockey, second baseman Kyle Branch and shortstop Jaxon Willits are back for another season. Willits was the team's second-leading hitter last season, batting .302 with 48 runs driven in.
The outfield also returns two starters with Trey Gambill and Jason Walk back in left and center, respectively. Sophomore Drew Dickerson, who was primarily used as a designated hitter in 2025, made five starts in right field his freshman season and is the projected starter there this season.
The big question mark regarding this year's team centers on the pitching staff. The Sooners lost all three of their weekend starters from last season, with the biggest loss being right-handed Friday starter Kyson Witherspoon. Also gone are his brother, Malachi, and Cade Crossland. All were selected in the 2025 MLB Draft. That starting threesome delivered half, or 19, of OU's 38 total wins last season.
While the brothers Witherspoon have moved on, head coach Skip Johnson turned to the Transfer Portal and brought in another brother pitching combination with LJ and Xander Mercurius. LJ is a junior right-hander who had a 4-3 record and a 3.47 ERA in 11 starts for UNLV in 2025. He recorded 58 strikeouts over 53.0 innings of work. Brother Xander was Nevada 4A Player of the Year and that state's Prep Baseball Player of the Year as a high school senior.
Cam Johnson, a 6-foot-6 hard-throwing junior, will be the starter for Oklahoma in the season opener on Friday against Texas Tech. Johnson made seven starts a year ago with modest success, but Johnson is very high on the left-hander. He has the talent (11th-ranked player in the country in the 2023 class) and the velocity, Johnson says, but command issues have been his bugaboo in the past.
Despite that, the OU head coach has been impressed with the way Johnson has attacked the offseason and preseason practice sessions and said he clearly has earned the opening-day start. The third weekend starter is still to be determined, but there are several candidates in the mix, including TCU transfer Mason Bixby, senior Reid Hensley and sophomore Jaden Barfield. The middle relief and closer roles will likely be filled by committee to start the season.
To fill in the gaps created by attrition, the Sooners have brought in several top-100 prospects and a few other additions from the Transfer Portal, some of whom are capable of contributing immediately.
Oklahoma's 59-game 2026 baseball schedule includes eight SEC opponents that participated in the 2025 NCAA Baseball Tournament, four Super Regional teams (Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU), as well as reigning national champion LSU. The Sooners begin SEC play March 13-15 against Texas A&M at Kimrey Family Stadium (formerly L. Dale Mitchell Park) in Norman.