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Oklahoma Gets Huge Boost to National Title Defense

The Sooner trio of freshmen pitchers will be returning to Norman to defend their crown.
Brady Trantham|
Oklahoma pitcher Cord Rager celebrates after winning the national championship.
Oklahoma pitcher Cord Rager celebrates after winning the national championship. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

It's hard to top winning a national championship, but the young offseason has been kind to the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners.

The program announced that the trio of freshmen pitchers — Cord Rager, Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski — will remain with the team and prepare for next year's national title defense.

Each pitcher started in the three games of the Men's College World Series championship series against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Rager earned a win in game one against UNC while Mercurius started hot in game two but tailed off before the Tar Heels forced a decisive third game. Wesloski got the start in the rubber match, but LJ Mercurius was credited with the win after dominating 5.2 innings in 79 pitches.

Oklahoma Sooners, Xander Mercurius
Oklahoma pitcher Xander Mercurius pitches against North Carolina in Game 2 of the CWS Finals. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

Considering that Skip Johnson was forced to replace his entire starting rotation coming into 2026, having his superstar freshmen all committed to returning will set Oklahoma up for a serious run at defending their crown.

OU has already earned transfer portal commitments from Tennessee UTL Jay Abernathy, Edmond native and former Arkansas short stop Carson Brumbaugh, Cal State Northridge outfielder Vaughn Coleman, Pittsburgh catcher Sebastian Pisacreta, Texas A&M second baseman Sawyer Farr, a pair of RHPs from UT-Arlington in Caylon Dygert and Hayes Melville.

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In addition, OU has also lost Alec Blair and Drew Dickerson to the transfer portal.

Oklahoma also lost recruiting coordinator and assistant coach Todd Butler to Florida for what has been reported as a "large salary increase." Butler played at OU under Enos Semore.

With Oklahoma retaining their pitchers, the loss of Cameron Johnson — who didn't see the mound once during the Sooners' postseason run — will be easier to navigate. While Johnson dealt with inconsistency and injuries during his time in Norman, his high-end performances were some of the best OU saw from the mound all season.

The elder Mercurius brother's future is not yet known.

Oklahoma Sooners Skip Johnson
Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson raises the NCAA Championship Trophy after the Sooners won the College World Series. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

Rager went 7-3 on the year with a 4.74 ERA. He missed two weeks with an injury to his lat but returned to form quickly after for OU's final few weeks of the regular season. Mercurius went 1-3 — his first win coming against Georgia which propelled the Sooners to the championship series — and a 5.76 ERA. Wesloski posted a 2-1 record with a 3.65 ERA.

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Brady Trantham
BRADY TRANTHAM

Brady Trantham covered the Oklahoma City Thunder as the lead Thunder Insider from 2018 until 2021 for 107.7 The Franchise. During that time, Trantham also helped the station as a fill-in guest personality and co-hosted Oklahoma Sooner postgame shows. Trantham also covered the Thunder for the Norman Transcript and The Oklahoman on a freelance basis. He received his BA in history from the University of Oklahoma in 2014 and a BS in Sports Casting from Full Sail University in 2023. Trantham also founded and hosts the “Through the Keyhole” podcast, covering Oklahoma Sooners football. He was born in Oklahoma and raised as an Air Force brat all over the world before returning to Norman and setting down roots there.

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