Oklahoma State enters the NCAA Baseball Tournament with 18 victories in its past 23 games, so the selection committee made the Cowboys the No. 11 national seed, and they’re hosting the Stillwater Regional starting Friday at O’Brate Stadium.
Coach Josh Holliday’s team will play its first home game since May 14 against in-state foe Oral Roberts (46-11) at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. The winner faces the winner of Dallas Baptist (45-14) and Washington (34-18), which starts at noon on ESPN+.
The Cowboys, who are seeking their sixth Super Regional appearance, are coming off a 12-5 loss to TCU in the championship game of the Big 12 tournament. They battled to win four straight games after dropping the opener in Arlington to Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, the Sooners (31-26) slipped to the No. 3 seed in the Charlottesville Regional hosted by Virginia, and they’ll face No. 2 seed East Carolina (45-17) at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. The Cavaliers (45-12) start the regional against fourth-seeded Army (38-16) at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.
After starting the Big 12 tournament with a needed victory on its resume over Oklahoma State, OU lost back-to-back games to Texas Tech (10-9) and the Cowboys (8-3).
There is no legal Oklahoma sports betting for the NCAA college baseball tournament, or any other sport. Fans would need to drive to Arkansas or Kansas to place bets on games in the Stillwater Regional.
NCAA Championship Odds
OSU Needs Help to Host Super Regional
The eight national seeds are No. 1 Wake Forest (47-10), No. 2. Florida (44-14), No. 3 Arkansas (41-16), No. 4 Clemson (43-17), No. 5 LSU (43-15), No 6. Vanderbilt (41-18), No. 7 Virginia (45-12) and No. 8 Stanford (38-16).
The rest of the top 16 teams hosting regionals aside from No. 11 Oklahoma State (41-18) are No. 9 Miami (Florida) (40-19), No. 10 Coastal Carolina (39-19), No. 12 Kentucky (36-18), No. 13 Auburn (34-21-1), No. 14 Indiana St. (42-15), No. 15 South Carolina (39-19) and No. 16 Alabama (40-19).
Although there are no Oklahoma sports betting apps, national operators see Wake Forest as the national title favorite.
If the top eight seeds advance, they will earn the right to also host a Super Regional where the winner of a best-of-three series advances to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., from June 15-26.
Oklahoma State lines up with the winner of the Nashville Regional being hosted by Vanderbilt. The Commodores are hosting Oregon, Xavier and Eastern Illinois and if the SEC champions win they will host the winner of the Stilwater Regional.
For OSU, getting out of its own regional won’t be easy, as Oral Roberts and DBU have both tasted success against OSU this season.
ORU won both midweek meetings this season, 8-5 on April 11 at O’Brate Stadium and 9-7 on May 2 in Tulsa. The Cowboys, who are making their 48th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, pounded DBU 20-4 in their first meeting March 14 in Stillwater, but then the Patriots won 8-0 on March 28 in Dallas.
OSU is led by Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year Nolan Schubart (.343, 16 HRs, 73 RBIs), Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Tyler Wulfert (.335, 9 HRs, 34 RBIs) and All-Big 12 First Team Selections Roc Riggio (.344, 17 HRs, 60 RBIs) and Carsen Benge (.337, 7 HRs, 43 RBIs).
On the mound, the Cowboys rely on reliever Isaac Stebens (4-1, 2.24 ERA, six saves) and starters Juaron Watts-Brown (6-4, 4.50 ERA) and Ben Abram (8-3, 5.96 ERA).
Sooners Face Unfamiliar Foes
The Sooners are headed to a regional with three unfamiliar teams. They have never played East Carolina, and they have a 1-0 record against Army and 5-3 against Virginia.
A year after reaching the program’s 11th College World Series, OU had to struggle to make the tournament this season. But it’s a whole new start now, and the Sooners will be hoping to advance to play the winner of the Conway Regional being hosted by No. 10 national seed Coastal Carolina, which hosts Duke, UNC Wilmington and Rider.
“This regional is a tough regional,” OU coach Skip Johnson said after the selection was announced. “It’s going to be fun just to get out, and we play really good on the road as well so we’re extremely excited about getting out and getting after it.”
OU is led by Kendall Pettis (.323, 16 steals), Dakota Harris (.322, 46 RBIs), Bryce Madron (.308, 11 HRs, 45 RBIs) and Anthony Mackenzie (.304, 21 steals). Its best starters on the mound have been Braden Carmichael (7-0, 3.15 ERA) and James Hitt (6-1, 4.50 ERA).
