Oklahoma Sooners News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

OU Baseball: Meet Oklahoma’s Opponents in the 2025 Chapel Hill Regional

Originally posted on Oklahoma Sooners on SI
By John Hoover | Last updated May 28, 2025 11:00 AM ET

Oklahoma playing back east is no big deal. The Sooners are used to it.

No. 2 seeded OU (35-20, 14-16 SEC) opens the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon in the Chapel Hill Regional at North Carolina's Boshamer Stadium against 3-seed Nebraska. It’s the Sooners’ fourth straight NCAA Regional, and their fifth time playing at an ACC school in their last seven postseason appearance.

They’ve fought out of those road challenges and into a Super Regional twice before.

“It is a great opportunity,” said OU head coach Skip Johnson. “You don’t take it for granted. It’s something you cherish and remember forever because it’s the investment you make in the kids that matter. It’s about winning and losing, but it’s the investment that they can move on and say they accomplished a goal that we set out at the beginning of the season. We’re extremely excited and grateful for the opportunity to be one of the teams in the NCAA tournament.”

The host and No. 5 overall seed Tar Heels open against Holy Cross on Friday at 11 a.m. on ACC Network. Oklahoma and Nebraska square off at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.

The winner of the Chapel Hill Regional will face the winner of the Eugene Regional, which features No. 12 national seed Oregon, Arizona, Utah Valley and Cal Poly.

The regional round runs May 30 through June 2. Super Regionals are scheduled for June 6-9 with the College World Series June 13-22/23 in Omaha.

Oklahoma is making its 42nd appearance in an NCAA Regional, fourth straight and fifth under Johnson. The Sooners are 98-84 all-time in NCAA tournament games, have appeared in 11 College World Series (most recently in 2022) and won national championships in 1951 and 1994.

Here’s a look at the rest of the Chapel Hill Regional:

Meet the North Carolina Tar Heels

Record: 42-12 (18-11 ACC)

Head Coach: Scott Forbes (195-101, 5th season)

Notable Wins: Texas Tech (5-1, 8-3 on Feb. 14, 4-2 on Feb. 15), Kansas State (12-9 on Feb. 18), East Carolina (2-0 on Feb. 22, 11-6 on Feb. 23, 6-3 on Feb. 24), No. 24 Coastal Carolina (5-4 on March 4, Stanford (11-1 on March 8), Louisville (6-4 on March 14), South Carolina (13-8 on March 25), Miami (2-0 on March 28, 4-2 on March 29), Duke (4-2 on April 3, 8-7 on April 5), Wake Forest (11-1 on April 11, 17-1 on April 12, 3-2 on April 13), No. 16 NC State (8-1 on May 8), No. 2 Florida State (8-3 on May 15, 11-1 on May 16), No. 6 Florida State (7-5 on May 24), No. 14 Clemson (14-4 on May 25).

Ace on the Mound: RHP Jake Knapp

UNC has an extremely well-defined weekend rotation of three right-handed starters (Jake Knapp, Jason DeCaro and Aidan Haugh) who have equally split 40 starts this season. Knapp, a senior right hander, leads the club with 87.0 innings pitched, a 2.17 ERA, 87 strikeouts (only 13 walks) and two complete games. Freshman righty Walker McDuffie has six of UNC’s 11 saves.

Standout Slugger: 1B Hunter Stokely

Hunter Stokely, a fifth-year senior and a Tar Heel lifer, is second on the squad with a .327 batting average this season but leads the team in at-bats (214), hits (70), RBIs (55) and total basses (121). The Heels also have two other bombers with double-digit homers in Gavin Gallagher (14) and Luke Stevenson (18), while Jackson Van De Brake leads the team with 15 doubles.

Meet the Nebraska Cornhuskers

Record: 32-27 (15-15 ACC)

Head Coach: Will Bolt (169–124, 6th season)

Notable Wins: Vanderbilt (6-4 on Feb. 15), USC (6-5 on March 26), No. 5 Oregon State (7-3 on March 28, 16-7 on March 30), No. 22 Kansas (7-5 on April 8), Kansas State (7-6 on April 29), No. 4 Oregon (7-3 on May 24), No. 13 UCLA (5-0 on May 25).

Ace on the Mound: Ty Horn

Ty Horn leads the Huskers with 70 strikeouts and 78 1/3 innings pitched, but he’s just 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA. Left hander Jackson Brockett (4-3, 3.41) leads the Huskers in wins and ERA and has thrown 60 2/3 innings with 41 Ks, and lefty Will Walsh (4-7, 5.17) has 57 strikeouts in 69 2/3 innings with just 21 walks. That trio has combined for 42 of Nebraska’s 59 starts. The bullpen has been good, however, and Luke Broderick (4-2, 3.41) leads the Huskers and is tied for eighth nationally with 12 saves.

Standout Slugger: Dylan Carey

Shortstop Dylan Carey leads Nebraska with 107 total bases, is tied for the team lead with eight home runs (with Tyler Stone, who hasn’t played since May 10 after being hit by a pitch) and is second with 40 RBIs (outfielder Gabe Swansen has 44). Carey is also fourth on the squad with a .296 batting average and second with a .502 slugging percentage, but also leads the team with 52 strikeouts.

Meet the Holy Cross Crusaders

Record: 31-25 (17-8 Patriot League)

Head Coach: Ed Kahovec (105-154, 6th season)

Notable Wins: No. 22 Auburn (4-2 on Feb. 15).

Ace on the Mound: RHP Danny Macchiarola, RHP Jaden Wywoda

The Crusaders’ pitching staff has been a two-headed monster all season, with Danny Macchiarola and Jaden Wywoda splitting ace duties among their 15 starts each. Macchiarola (9-4, 3.02 ERA) leads the team with 89 1/3 innings pitched and 91 strikeouts, while Wywoda (9-2, 3.65) has thrown 79 innings with 78 strikeouts.

Standout Slugger: Chris Baillargeon

John LaFleur leads Holy Cross with seven home runs and is second with 48 RBIs, but Chris Baillargeon paces the team with a .386 batting average, a .523 slugging percentage, 103 total bases, 76 hits and 52 RBIs. He’s one of five players with double-digit doubles (he and Gianni Royer have 18, just behind Jimmy King’s 19) and also has three home runs.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Sooners on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: