OU baseball announced Monday that its freshman pitching trio of Cord Rager, Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski will return to the Sooners following the 2026 national championship.
OU became the second team (Texas Tech, 2016) since 1999 to start three freshman pitchers in Omaha and the first to win the national championship while starting a freshman pitcher in every game during the College World Series. Rager started Game 1 of the College World Series finals, while Mercurius and Wesloski started Games 2 and 3, respectively. They pitched a combined 31.1 innings while striking out 37 batters and allowing just 12 earned runs during the College World Series.
As OU switched between the freshman pitchers throughout the postseason, Wesloski felt that they drove one another to perform better.
“Cord and Xander, I think those two have been the most inspirational, influential (people) for me going throughout the season, …” Wesloski said after the College World Series semifinals. “Seeing the way that they dominate and the way they carry themselves, … those guys are just elite in everything that they do. Being able to watch them go throughout their process on the mound has honestly made me a better pitcher.”
The news of the trio's return comes after Rager was named to Baseball America's freshman all-American first-team.
