2018: 38-25 (NCAA Tournament; Regional Final)
2019: 33-23 (No NCAA Tournament)
Sooners in the Preseason Polls:
No. 16 - Perfect Game
No. 19 - Baseball America
No. 24 - D1 Baseball
No. 24 - NCBWA
No. 30 - Collegiate Baseball
* Oklahoma returns eight of nine position starters, three pitchers who made at least 12 starts and six relievers that made at least 19 appearances last season.
* Senior catcher Brady Lindsly and junior left-handed starter Levi Prater join Cavalli and Ruffcorn as All-Big 12 Preseason selections.
Weekend Pitching Match-Ups:
Friday:
OU-Cade Cavalli (5-3, 3.28 ERA, 60.1 IP, 59 SO)
UVA-Griff McGarry
Saturday:
OU-Levi Prater (7-4, 3.26 ERA, 80 IP, 97 SO -- Team high)
UVA-Chesdin Harrington
Sunday:
OU-Dane Acker
UVA-Mike Vasil
Projected Starting Line-Up:
Catcher: Brady Lindlsy (.291/.364/.480), Justin Mitchell (.274/.325/.367)
1B: Tyler Hardman (.306/.394/.457)
2B: Conor McKenna (.255/.355/.361)
3B: Peyton Graham (Freshman)
SS: Brandon Zaragoza (.257/.372/.296)
OF: Kendall Pettis (Freshman), Tanner Tredaway (.260/.363/.308), Jordan Vujovich (.246/.338/.444), Brady Harlan (.255/.377/.328), Diego Muniz (.220/.380/.366)
* Very good chance you'll see Lindsly, Mitchell and Muniz fill the designated hitter role when not in the field.
* As we've previously discussed the strength of this club will bet found on the mound. Cade Cavalli, Levi Prater and Dane Acker is one of the better weekend starting rotations in the country. That's not hyperbole. They have the chance to be elite. They have the chance to carry this team deep into the NCAA Tournament.
Cavalli is the Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year and was just named to the 55 member Golden Spikes Award Watch List, while Ruffcorn is on the Stopper of the Year Watch List, presented by the NCBWA.
Under Skip Johnson, Oklahoma's pitching staff has improved dramatically in each of the last three seasons. The Sooners 3.92 team ERA in 2019 was on ly the seventh team ERA under 4.00 since 1980, and the first time since 2015.
"We've got a staff that I think is in the top one or two in the country," Cavalli said. "I mean, it's ridiculous just being around it every single day. We don't put a whole bunch of expectations on, 'Hey, you're going to (allow) this many hits this year and have this many strikeouts.' That's not really a worry to us. … That's why we talk about the process and that's really all it's about. The whole expectations thing, we don't really worry about it too much."
And don't forget about Levi Prater. As OU's primary Sunday starter last year he went 7-4 with a 3.26 ERA and a team-high 97 strikeouts in 80.0 innings.
“It should be the strength of the club.” said Johnson at the team's media day last week. “Last year those guys were sophomores, we always look at them as growing a year older with Cavalli starting and Levi (Prater) starting and Ben (Abram) having a year under his belt after his freshman year, they should be a year better and more experienced.”
The new name to the rotation is JUCO transfer Dane Acker. He posted a 10-0 record and a 2.36 ERA with 97 strikeouts in 76.1 innings last year at San Jacinto College.
He arrives in Norman after being selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 23rd round of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
* Oklahoma's bullpen returns a number of arms with plenty of innings. Ruffcorn can be seen as leader of the group but the order in how they get to him on the back end will play a role in how the season plays out.
How many times was Oklahoma unable to hold onto leads in the late innings a season ago? You would hope there's growth there. Skip certainly thinks there will be.
Wyatt Olds (31 appearances), Ledgend Smith (28 appearances), Zack Matthews (24 appearances, 1 save), Aaron Brooks (22 appearances) and Jaret Godman (19 appearances, 2 starts, 3-0 record) all all return this season. New names to know: Christian Ruebeck, Carson Carter and Brad Demco.
The big news in recent weeks has been the official addition of Sam Houston State transfer Brad Demco.
His best season with Sam Houston State came two years ago, not surrendering a run in 14 of his final 18 appearances on the way to sporting a career-high 3.09 ERA.
The arm that enters the season with really high expectations? I'd have to go with Zack Matthews here. They think the hard throwing right hander could be the next big thing.
He appeared in 24 games a season ago striking out 28 and walking just six, earned a save but his record was 0-3 with a 5.18 ERA.
* Here's a note from D1Baseball.com on Reubeck and Carter from Fall Ball.
"Ruebeck is a guy Johnson feels like will be a starter at some point, perhaps sooner rather than later. He sits 89-92 and up to 93 mph with his fastball, along with a quality changeup. Meanwhile, Carter is more of the long relief mold and will sit low-90s and up to 94 mph with his fastball. Johnson said the big key with Carter is always making sure he’s harnessing his command."
* Oklahoma led the Big 12 in fielding percentage (.984) last season, ranking No.15 nationally. Your starting infield should look like: Peyton Graham (3B), Brandon Zaragoza (SS), Conor McKenna (2B) and Tyler Hardman (1B). Brady Lindsly and Justin Mitchell will split duties behind the plate.
* Cavalli will be working with Lindsly and Mitchell to call his own game this year. That's something Skip Johnson says he hasn't allowed in 29 years of coaching. Pretty incredible amount of trust to allow that to happen.
* Where Oklahoma gets offensive production is going to be interesting. So many times over the last year it was up to Brylie Ware to be that guy. Tyler Hardman is expected to take a step in terms of power production, but ultimately is going to come down to manufacturing runs. Getting base hits with runners in scoring position. Taking advantage of what is given to them. Baseball, ya know?
* Skip did note at media day last week Clay Van Hook has taken over the offensive instruction on a day-to-day basis. Simply put Oklahoma had plenty of run scoring opportunities last season. You just have to get base hits at the right time. Good news I think this team is a little more athletic than they've been in a long time. I'd imagine you see this team run a lot more than they have in Skip's first two seaons, perhaps that will help alleviate some concerns.
* Here's some preseason player rankings (D1Baseball.com):
Top 350 Player Rankings:
16. Cade Cavalli
91. Zack Matthews
97. Levi Prater
322. Dane Acker
344. Jason Ruffcorn
Freshman Impact Players:
23. Kendall Pettis
Relief Pitchers:
30. Jason Ruffcorn
31. Zack Matthews
* D1Baseball has Oklahoma projected as a No.2 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional in their way too early Preseason NCAA Tournament. To be completely honest I'm not sure how you project that. hahaha.
* This weekend's games will be broadcast on Cox Sports TV (CST) and Yurview. A Cox cable subscription is required. Friday's game will be live on Yurview, available in markets in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, Virginia and Nebraska. It will air tape delayed on CST, including in Oklahoma markets, at 9 p.m.. Saturday's game will be live streamed on Yurview.com, available only in Louisiana and Florida. It will air tape delayed on CST, including in Oklahoma markets, at 8 p.m.. Sunday's game will air live on CST at 11 a.m.
* No question about it. This team has enough pitching to be a player in the postseason. Things break right and you have ability to throw Cavalli, Prater, Acker and even Abrams in a regional type setting and you could be a player with anyone in the country. Expectations are high and rightfully so.
* Oklahoma returns to Norman next opening the season with a six game homestand to be played in four days. Home opener on Tuesday vs. Texas Southern.
