No. 21 Oklahoma (32-14, 13-11 SEC) lost to No. 23 Mississippi (33-15, 13-11) 7-3 in the series finale Sunday in Norman.
After taking the first two games in the series, Mississippi’s offense broke out on Sunday, and the Sooners were unable to respond. Sophomore infielder/outfielder Jason Walk’s two triples were the only extra-base hits OU had on Sunday, and the offense was outhit 11-7.
For the second straight day, Oklahoma jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. However, Mississippi scored in the next four innings, and the Sooners committed two errors in the field.
In his 12th start of the season, junior right-hander Malachi Witherspoon threw 4.2 innings and allowed seven hits, five earned runs, one walk and struck out seven. He has a 5.28 earned run average this season in 58 innings pitched but has struck out 70 batters.
scoreless first with a K 💨 @MalachiW215 pic.twitter.com/f8tl2c0hj9
— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) May 4, 2025
“When you don’t play catch and you give extra outs away, you lose the momentum in the game,” head coach Skip Johnson said. “We had a chance in the first inning, and we had a chance later on.
“And we just didn’t separate the game.”
Despite the loss, Johnson used most of his non-high leverage relievers. The results turned out mostly favorable, as the combination of sophomore left-hander Gavyn Jones, freshman right-hander Michael Catalano, sophomore left-hander Beau Sampson, senior right-hander Reid Hensley, freshman left-hander Jaden Barfield and freshman right-hander Jackson Kircher only gave up one run in 4.1 innings of work.
As the regular season wraps up in the next two weeks, the series win over Mississippi helps OU’s chances in potentially hosting a regional for the second consecutive season. Heading into Sunday, Oklahoma ranked 20th in RPI, while Mississippi ranked 17th. The Sooners are 19-8 at home, 9-6 on the road and 4-0 in neutral site games.
Next, the Sooners will face Kentucky (25-20, 10-14 SEC) in a three-game series, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Lexington on SEC Network+. The Wildcats are 12th in the SEC and are coming off being swept against Mississippi State.
This story was edited by Josh McDaniel.
