Welcome to the SEC: Skip Johnson Has Oklahoma Riding a Wave of Momentum on the Diamond

Fresh off hosting an NCAA Regional, the Sooners are in position to compete in college baseball's toughest conference.

Jun 1, 2024; Norman, OK, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Jim Penders, left, and Oklahoma Sooners head coach Skip Johnson, right, meet before the start of an NCAA Division I Baseball Championship game between the UConn Huskies and the Oklahoma Sooners at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Skip Johnson’s Big 12 farewell could’t have gone much better for Oklahoma. 

On the verge of making the leap into baseball’s best league, the Southeastern Conference, the Sooners won the Big 12’s Regular Season crown. 

OU battled through five double-headers in conference play alone to finish 23-7 in league play, a program best. 

Johnson’s team finished one win shy of capturing the Big 12 Tournament title as well, earning the No. 9-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and returning postseason baseball to L. Dale Mitchell Park for the first time in over a decade. 

Oklahoma ultimately fell to UConn in the Norman Regional after forcing the “if-necessary” game after the Huskies put on an outstanding weekend-long defensive display. 

Though the Sooners fell short of a Super Regional berth, the 40-21 finish to the season cemented the track Johnson’s program has taken over the past five years. 

OU looked every bit a contender to return to Omaha in 2020, sprinting out to a 14-4 start with victories over future conference foes Arkansas and LSU before the season was cut short due to the pandemic. 

Retooling the roster was difficult in 2021, but Johnson’s team finished the year in the Championship Series in Omaha in 2022, losing out to Ole Miss’ magical run through the field. 

Oklahoma went on the road to knock out Regional hosts Florida and upset Virginia Tech in Super Regional action before mowing through its half of the bracket at the College World Series. 

Victims of their own success, the Sooners saw plenty of talent head to the MLB Draft after 2022, but still OU was able to make it back to a Regional in 2023 with a 32-28 finish. 

On the heels of Oklahoma’s 2022 postseason run, the fans appeared ready to hit new levels of support. 

Those hopes became a reality in 2024. 

Oklahoma set nine attendance records throughout this past season, which rolled into an outstanding atmosphere in Norman for Regional play. 

With the berms thriving, humming with more of a football tailgate-style atmosphere than that of a leisurely weekend at the ballpark, OU averaged 3,797 per game fans across the four-day Regional. 

Oklahoma fans flooded L. Dale Mitchell Park for this month's NCAA Regional. / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

“The fans were incredible,” Johnson said after the Sooners were eliminated by UConn. “That’s what it takes to be in the SEC. You’ve got to have that kind of fan support like we did the last half of the year. I’m so excited about that moving forward.”

The success on the field paired with the acknowledgment that L. Dale Mitchell Park will need some upgrades as the Sooners head to the SEC has sparked fundraising momentum for the stadium project, but nobody is hiding from the fact that OU’s home for baseball needs some love as the program changes conferences. 

L. Dale Mitchell Park’s listed capacity is 3,180, but the addition of the berms in the postseason helped the Sooners pack even more fans into the complex. 

The average home attendance amongst SEC schools for the 2024 regular season was 6,238 fans, a level the Sooners could not hit with current attendance constraints. 

Missouri has the smallest park in the conference with a listed capacity of 3,031 fans, and the league has 10 stadiums that can hold at least 5,000 fans including OU’s new classmate, Texas. 

While Oklahoma’s administration works on the facilities behind the scenes, Johnson and his coaching staff have been hard at work reloading for the 2025 campaign. 

Steady outfield hand Kendall Pettis graduated alongside impact transfer Michael Synder and key bats Anthony Mackenzie and Bryce Madron. 

The Sooners also lost postseason pitching heroes Carter Campbell and Jett Lodes who each chipped in extended outings to propel OU back through the Regional bracket to force a final contest against the Huskies earlier this month. 

Juniors John Spikerman, Braden Davis and Jackson Nicklaus could all face tough decisions with the upcoming MLB Draft, but the Sooners will return both Witherspoon brothers, pitchers Malachi and Kyson, as well as Easton Carmichael, Jaxon Willits and Jason Walk as foundational pieces in the field. 

Kyson Witherspoon figures to be a key piece of Oklahoma's rotation as the Sooners enter the SEC in 2025. / Olivia Raymond/For the Avalanche-Journal

Johnson and Co. have already landed a trio of transfer portal commitments ranked in the 64 Analytic’s Top 150 Transfer Portal Rankings in Sam Houston State pitcher Logan Hewitt, Cal State Northridge slugger Kevin Fitzer and LSU pitcher Cam Johnson to pair with a talented freshman class. 

Nobody in Norman is under any false pretenses of the challenge that SEC baseball poses. But Johnson’s work with the pitching staff and Reggie Willits’ brand of “Chaous” on the basepaths has the Sooners riding a wave of momentum with a clear identity as Oklahoma prepares to open a new era in the school’s history over the next year.