OU Baseball: NCAA Awards Oklahoma Baseball Regional

The Sooners are one of 16 regional hosts in next weekend's NCAA Tournament and will welcome four teams to Norman.

John E. Hoover | May 26, 2024

L. Dale Mitchell Park / OU Athletics

For the fourth time in school history, Oklahoma will host a baseball regional at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

OU was announced Sunday as one of 16 NCAA Tournament regional hosts for this year’s postseason event. The full tournament field will be announced Monday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.

OU has been widely projected as one of eight national seeds, meaning if the Sooners advance out of their own regional next weekend, they'll host a super regional the folloiwng week.

The Sooners previously hosted at L. Dale Mitchell in 2006, 2009 and 2010. The stadium has undergone multiple renovations since then. OU also hosted at Haskell Park in 1975 and ’77 and at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City in 2000 and ’04.

It’s OUs 41st NCAA regional appearance all-time, and the Sooners are seeking their 14th regional title.

Skip Johnson’s seventh Oklahoma ballclub is 37-19 on the season after winning the Big 12 Conference regular season championship for the first time and finishing runner-up to Oklahoma State on Sunday in the Big 12 Tournament.

Johnson was voted Big 12 coach of the year in 2024 as the Sooners set a program record with 23 Big 12 wins (23-7) and won the league race by more than two games.

Senior infielder Michael Snyder, sophomore DH/catcher Easton Carmichael and sophomore pitcher Braden Davis earned All-Big 12 First Team honors, while senior outfielder Bryce Madron and sophomore pitcher Kyson Witherspoon were named to the second team. Shortstop Jaxon Willits was selected to the All-Freshman Team and six Sooners — senior relief pitcher Carter Campbell, senior utility Anthony Mackenzie, junior catcher Scott Mudler, junior infielder Jackson Nicklaus, junior outfielder John Spikerman and Willits — earned honorable mention recognition.

Overall, OU is 95-82 in NCAA Tournament play, with five Super Regional trips and 11 College World Series appearances.

Since their last time hosting a regional in Norman, the Sooners have lost in regionals in Fort Worth in 2011, Louisville in 2017, Tallahassee in 2018 and Charlottesville in 2023, and they’ve won regionals in Charlottesville in 2012, Blacksburg in 2013, and Gainesville in 2022.

Published May 26, 2024|Modified May 26, 2024

JOHN E. 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.