Three questions the Sooners face heading in 2024

Feb. 15—Oklahoma begins its final baseball season in the Big 12 Conference this weekend in Arlington, Texas with three games over three days.

The Sooners will play four games on the road before hosting Wright State for the Feb. 23 home opener. Last season, they made their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance at the Charlottesville Regional as one of the final teams selected.

It was a season full of highs and lows with conference series wins over TCU, Texas (a 3-0 sweep) and Kansas. The Sooners also got swept by Kansas State and had series losses to Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia.

They finished the year 11-13 in conference play and were seventh in the regular season standings.

It was a step back from the Sooners' magical run to the College World Series Finals in 2022, but they needed to replace several key pieces from that roster last season. The 2024 squad features 17 returners including eight from last year's pitching staff.

They also added 26 newcomers — nine freshmen, nine JUCO transfers and eight Division I transfers.

It isn't a roster that has earned a lot of preseason recognition, only outfielder Bryce Madron made the All-Big 12 preseason team as an honorable mention, but there are several key returners that could be poised for a breakout year.

The Sooners begin the season on Friday at 3 p.m. against Oregon. The game will be streamed by FloBaseball.

Here are three questions the Sooners face heading into the 2024 season:

1. Can the newcomers give the pitching staff a boost?

Oklahoma will be starting transfer Braden Davis on the mound for Friday's season opener. The lefty pitcher joins the Sooners after two seasons at Sam Houston State and will be the second left-handed pitcher to start the season opener for the Sooners in the last 10 seasons.

Davis is one of several key newcomers that head coach Skip Johnson brought in during the offseason to add much-needed depth to the pitching staff.

One of the main focuses of their offseason scouting was finding pitchers with strong arms. Freshman Jacob Gholston, Wichita State transfers Jace Miner and Austin Henry and twins Kyson and Malchi Witherspoon all fit that description.

It's clear the Sooners' head coach feels confident in Friday's starter.

"Day in and day out he's got a routine, he's an organizational guy, he's a leader, the way he goes about his business day in and day out, he works really hard and he has a lot of talent to go along with it," Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Brendan Girton (from Texas Tech) will get the start on Saturday against Tennessee.

2. How quickly can Jaxon Willits transition to the college game?

Coming out of Fort Cobb, Willits is the son of OU assistant coach Reggie Willits and was the third-ranked player out of Oklahoma in last year's recruiting class.

The excitement surrounding Willits' signing has only grown after the freshman came up big for the Sooners during fall ball. Willits is a 6-1, 185-pound power hitter and is expected to start at short stop.

Outside of Willits the Sooners will have plenty of experience up the middle of the field, with returning starters at centerfield and second base. The Sooners are hoping Willits will be the missing piece for that area of the defense.

"He played really great in the fall," Johnson said about Willits. "You throw him out there and he'll get after it."

3. Are the Sooners ready for the SEC?

Oklahoma's head coach certainly thinks so.

Still, Johnson emphasized the importance of keeping his young team focused on one week at a time. After this season, the Sooners leave a Big 12 Conference that's loaded with talented teams and prepares to face an SEC schedule that's even tougher.

Last season the SEC had seven teams finish in the top eight in RPI.

"We're fired up to play in that league," Johnson said. "It's a really good league, a really physical league. Big stadiums, big fanbases, everything. We're going to be excited to play."

The Sooners have made three NCAA Tournament appearances in Johnson's seven seasons, but only one Big 12 title (2022). The move to the SEC may seem like a big step for the program from the outside, but Johnson disagrees that the program isn't ready.

"I'll put our development system up against anybody in the country," he said.

The Sooners have had 32 players selected to the MLB Draft that have played under Johnson. They've had 11 all-American selections and 17 all-conference selections.

Tarik Masri is the sports editor for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com