This article is part of our College Baseball Picks series.
Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss: Witherspoon Leads Sooners in High-Stakes SEC Duel
The college season has been good to Johnny V Gang this season, cashing over 32 units thus far with right around a 57% hit rate. It's officially the start of May, which means this is the second most important month of the season. A lot of teams are showing their true colors and contenders or pretenders. And in a lot of cases, we have programs vying for hosting bids and seeding. It's going to be a wild May.
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Ole Miss Rebels (+140) @ Oklahoma Sooners (-180) | Total: N/A
We have a good old-fashioned SEC duel between two teams who are not just more than likely to be playing baseball in June, but looking for that coveted top 16 hosting seed. The rematch of the 2022 College World Series finals - where Oklahoma broke my heart - isn't exactly giving us the same quality of teams it did three years ago, but it's still a good matchup.
The Sooner ace, Kyson Witherspoon, has been nothing short of sensational in 2025. After a strong 2024 season that produced a 3.71 ERA and 90 K/40 BB ratio in 80 innings, Witherspoon had a potential first-round grade coming into this year. That, of course, was projecting he would make the Junior year leap. And he's done more than that. You can make a legit case he's been the best pitcher in the country.
Pitching to a 2.35 ERA and 92 K/14 BB ratio in 65 innings, Kyson has soared past expectations. He's left no doubt of his first-round status, so now he's pitching like somebody who will be a top 10 pick this summer, and the second arm off the board behind Jamie Arnold. Additionally, it's not even close that he's the best RHP in the country this year. The massive third year leap isn't just boosting his draft stock like Microsoft in the '80's, but it's given Oklahoma hope for the June run.
The next Dylan Cease has been even better at home in conference play, allowing only three earned runs in three starts (19.2 innings). He'll face a revamped Hotty Toddy lineup that's bludgeoned 86 homers and swiped 62 bags (79 attempts). The three main hammers in this offense are Luke Hill (.349 avg, 1.033 OPS, 8 HR), Mitchell Sanford (.312 avg, 1.037 OPS, 12 HR), and Isaac Humphrey (.301 avg, 1.002 OPS, 9 HR). They also have Judd Utermark having a nice year with 13 bangers.
The only arm they've seen of Witherspoon's caliber was Tennessee's Liam Doyle, who went 8.1, 2 ER against them. The Rebs have a solid team this year, but Kyson is a different animal. The swing and miss in this offense is where a stud like Witherspoon can take advantage, as they have five bats that have punched out 40+ times.
Hunter Elliott was so pivotal in that 2022 title run for Ole Miss, but after missing basically the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons with Tommy John, he's been a mixed bag this year. His 3.83 ERA and 64 K/27 BB ratio in 54 innings will play, especially in the SEC. However, he's been a bit rough as of late, surrendering 11 ER in his last four starts (19.1 IP). The bigger issue is Elliott on the road.
His 6.00 road ERA compared to 3.44 at home is glaring. Not to mention he's yet to go six innings in any SEC outing this season. The OU offense isn't the best we've seen from their program, but it's still solid. As always, they are chaos in a bottle, especially on the bases (97 bags in 118 attempts). Led by stud C/OF Easton Carmichael (.311 avg,.944 OPS, 10 HR), it's an offense that is better than what you see on paper. More speed and contact over power.
At the end of the day, we're getting a premier arm at home with a favorable price. The line should be more like Oklahoma -220, which is a number we could see before first pitch. It's standard operating procedure to take Kyson Witherspoon, especially at home.
Pick: Oklahoma ML -180 (DK)
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