Oklahoma Baseball Coach Skip Johnson: 'Nobody Remembers You Got Second Place'
NORMAN – Unlike a year ago when the University of Oklahoma’s baseball team lost several key players from its 2022 College World Series run, this year’s team will open the season with a generous, healthy returning crew.
“The nucleus of our whole outfield is back. Up the middle of our field is back, except for our short stop,” OU head baseball coach Skip Johnson told media Wednesday afternoon inside Lloyd Noble Center.
Two years after leading the Sooners to their 11th World Series appearance in school history, Johnson has no appetite for almost winning.
"Nobody remembers you got second place. They only remember you got first place," Johnson said. "The world's different for winners and losers, believe me. Going into what we accomplished, my goal is to really build relationships. Do I want to win national championships? Absolutely. I came here to win national championships, but it's really to build relationships. They last forever.
"Oklahoma baseball has been here a long time, and it'll be here a long time after I'm gone," the seventh-year head coach said.
The Sooners open their 2024 campaign — and final season in the Big 12 Conference — at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16 against Oregon in the Shriner’s College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.
The three-day showcase will pit Johnson’s eager squad against future conference foe and preseason No. 9 Tennessee on Saturday and Nebraska on Sunday.
Easton Carmichael
STEVE SISNEY / USA TODAY NETWORK
Easton Carmichael, the team’s only returning All-Big 12 freshman selection from 2023, will reprise his role at catcher. Four other returners, outfielders Bryce Madron, Kendall Pettis and John Spikerman, and lefty pitcher James Hitt, were named all-conference honorable mentions a year ago.
Johnson likes Jaxon Willits, a freshman from Fort Cobb-Broxton, OK, to fill the vacancy at shortstop left by Braden Carmichael, Easton’s brother.
“[Willits] played really good in the fall. He’s really mature, and I think that you throw him out there, and he’ll get after it,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s pitching staff will feature a mix of new and old faces. Returners Braden Davis, Will Carsten and Hitt are in competition for play. As for newcomers, Johnson and his staff targeted velocity this offseason.
“[Missouri State transfer] Ryan Lambert’s got a big arm,” Johnson said. “The Witherspoon twins, we got those guys from [Northwest Florida State College]... Myles Meyer has a really good arm. We’ve got a transfer, Brendan Girton, from Texas Tech. He’s an Oklahoma kid that wanted to come home.”
The local faithful get their first glimpse of the Sooners at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, against Wright State inside L. Dale Mitchell Park, followed by a Saturday double-header against the Raiders at 1:30 and 4:30. They’ll close the four-game series 2 p.m. Sunday in Norman.
Nine OU players were named top 45 Big 12 Major League Baseball draft prospects for the 2024 cycle by D1Baseball.com: Davis, Nicklaus, outfielder Carter Frederick, pitcher Austin Henry, Lambert, Hitt, Carsten, Girton and Spikerman.
Four Big 12 teams on OU’s table were named preseason top 25 selections by D1 Baseball. TCU checked in at No. 5, followed by No. 16 Texas, No. 21 Texas Tech and No. 24 Kansas State.
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