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No. 15 Oklahoma Routs Coppin State in Home Opener

The Sooners improved to 5-0 on the season with a relatively easy home opener at Kimrey Family Stadium.
John Hoover|
Oklahoma shortstop Jaxon Willits
Oklahoma shortstop Jaxon Willits | John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

Oklahoma opened the doors to newly christened (and still under construction) Kimrey Family Stadium on Friday, welcoming Sooner Nation with an effortless 22-1 run-rule victory over Coppin State.

It wasn’t just OU’s 2026 home opener. It also marked the first of a 17-game home stand for the Sooners.

Coppin State (0-1) issued 14 walks as No. 15-ranked OU (5-0) has now reached double figure scoring in all five games this season. The Sooners scored five in the first, three in the second, two in the third, four in the fourth, five in the fifth and three in the sixth for their fifth consecutive stress-free victory.

Ace left-hander Cameron Johnson got to finish five innings and allowed just one run on three hits and no walks. Johnson (2-0) struck out seven, bringing his two-game total to 18 Ks against just three walks. Johnson needed just 85 pitches and faced 19 batters.

With all the walks by Eagle pitchers, OU still managed 16 hits. Drew Dickerson, Alec Blair and Deiten LeChance each finished with three RBIs, while Nolan Stevens, Brendan Brock, Trey Gambill, Cayden Brumbaugh and Uriah Walters each drove in two. Dickerson, Blair, LeChance, Brumbaugh and Walters led the way with two hits apiece.

After Coppin State took a 1-0 lead off Johnson in the top of the first, the OU bats quickly regained control by batting around in the bottom of the inning.

Jason Walk was plunked on Dillon Kirksey’s first pitch, and after Camden Johnson drew a walk, LeChance made it 1-1 when he delivered an RBI single to left. 

After Johnson and LeChance moved up on a passed ball and Jaxon Willits walked, Stevens singled up the middle to bring home two runs for a 3-1 lead. Brock’s single to left scored Willits for a 4-1 lead, and Gambill (hitting a team-high .444 coming into the weekend) continued his hot start with an RBI single to left that plated Stevens.

In the second inning, the Sooners extended their lead thanks to more free passes from the Coppin State pitchers.

LeChance, Willits, Stevens, Brock and Gambill each walked to start the inning, putting OU up 7-1. Dayton Tockey then grounded into a double play with the bases loaded, scoring Stevens for an 8-1 lead.

The Sooners made it 13-1 when they batted around again in the fourth.

Dasan Harris led off with a walk, Connor Larkin singled to left, and both advanced on a passed ball. Dickerson followed with his first home run of the season, a towering, three-run shot over the right-center field wall. 

Walters, a Junior college transfer, made his OU debut a memorable one when he drove an RBI double into the right-center gap, scoring LeChance to make it 14-1. 

In the fifth, Larkin walked and Myles Davis made his OU debut with a single through the left side. Dickerson loaded the bases with a bloop single, and Brumbaugh drove in Larkin when he was hit by pitch, putting the Sooners up 15-1. LeChance was also hit by pitch with the bases full to score Davis and make it 16-1.

Blair then pushed the Sooners to a 19-1 lead with a bases-clearing double to the wall in left center field.

The Sooners extended it to 22-1 in the sixth. Harris led off with a single and Larkin reached on an error. Then with two out, Brumbaugh delivered an RBI double, LeChance smacked an RBI single, and Walters added an RBI single.

Two relievers were nearly perfect in relief of Johnson as Jaden Barfield and Kadyn Leon combined for four strikeouts in two innings while giving up no hits and no walks. Barfield hit one batter in the sixth, while Leon struck out four in the seventh to end it. 

Playing for the first time in school history, the Sooners and Eagles resume their series on Saturday with a 2 p.m. start. Sunday’s first pitch is set for 11 a.m.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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