Oklahoma's Cade Horton Earns National Honors

The right-hander was named a freshman All-American by both Baseball America and D1Baseball on Monday.

An instrumental piece to Oklahoma’s run to the College World Series finals gets some well-earned recognition.

After an electrifying run through the postseason, OU freshman right-handed pitcher Cade Horton was selected first-team freshman All-America by both Baseball America and D1Baseball on Monday.

Congrats to @cadehorton14, who earned 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐥-𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 honors from Baseball America and D1Baseball!

📝 https://t.co/YJNGjKp0iB#Sooners | #COMPETE pic.twitter.com/GqlUzZ8cax

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) July 11, 2022

The Norman native appeared in 14 games on the mound making 11 starts this past season with a 5-2 record and 4.86 ERA, but was at his best in the postseason.

Through the Big 12 championship game, the Gainesville Regional, the Blacksburg Super Regional and the College World Series, Horton was absolutely tremendous on the hill and was a vital part to the Sooners’ historic run.

In two starts in Omaha, he worked 13 1/3 innings striking out an outrageous 24 batters allowing just four runs on nine hits. 

Offensively, Horton also made 40 starts in the lineup in 2022, 25 of which coming at third base, hitting .234 with six doubles, two triples, a home run, 17 RBIs and 28 runs scored.

After missing his entire true freshman season due to injury after having shoulder surgery, Horton becomes the first OU freshman All-American since Jake Bennett and Peyton Graham did so in 2020 and the first recognized by Baseball America since Sheldon Neuse in 2014.

A highly-interesting offseason decision still lies ahead for Horton as he is draft eligible despite having only spent two years with Oklahoma, with many mock drafts having him potentially sneaking into the first round of Sunday's MLB Draft. 

Should that happen, Horton would have to decide if he is content with his landing spot or elect to come back to the Sooners for another season to try and improve his stock before the 2023 draft.