2024 Las Vegas Ballpark College Baseball Classic Preview

By Kaden Boyd

Sooners are in Las Vegas this weekend to play in the inaugural Las Vegas College Baseball Classic at Las Vegas Ballpark, where it looks as if we get to see the Sooners go against some pretty good competition yet again!  The Sooners come into this weekend with a record of 5-3, having not lost a weekend yet.  Sooners are looking to bounce back after an ugly loss in game 4 of their series against Wright State, and this tournament is a great place to turn things back on track.  

FRIDAY NIGHT AGAINST PITTSBURGH UNIVERSITY

The Sooners first matchup will be against the Pitt who comes into this game with a record of 6-1 getting some big wins against Texas Corpus Chrisi, and Washington University as well.  Pitt has a decent pen from what we have got the chance to see this season, with the ability to have the bats extremely active.  The Sooners will likely face Ryan Andrade in Game one who coming into this season was ranked in the top 150 for pitchers according to D1 Baseball.  Andrade would come in at No. 132 to be exact.

I believe that the Sooners lead by Skip Johnson will be able to have an explosive game against Pitt due to the ChaOUs offense that we run.  Pitt has not had to face an offense like us just yet, and I feel like it will be a test for them as well.  To be honest, when it comes to a battle of test, I feel as if we are more prepared to fight for the win seeing the teams that we have had to face so far compared to who Pitt has had to face.  That being said, I do not expect Pitt to be any pushover and will be able to give us a run for our money.  

As we have seen the previous two weeks, it is looking like Braden Davis will be getting the ball in Game 1 of the Vegas tournament.  Davis this season has been spectacular for the Sooners coming into the game pitching a total of 11 innings while getting himself 15 strikeouts.  He has also only allowed 6 hits in a total of 2 games.  I fully expect Davis to have yet another lockdown game, keeping the Sooners in control for as long as he wants to.  Davis really has the chance to lock down his spot of being the Friday night guy before we head into conference play next weekend.  

Fun fact for you going into this game against Pitt.  The Sooners have yet to play Pitt at any time in program history, making this the first time we have ever seen them on the diamond.  There is not a better place to have their first met up either if you ask me (well maybe L. Dale, but Vegas is cool too).  

SATURDAY AGAINST CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY 

California is coming into this weekend with an impressive record of 7-1 with a pretty big win along the way.  They would start their season off with a very solid win against the No. 24 ranked Kansas State and Georgetown before losing their last game in the MLB Desert Invitaional.  That would be the only loss that the Bears would have so far this season.  California has shown that their offense is what is going to win them ballgames, with their pitching on paper being kinda mediocre.  I can confidently say that if we can stop their offense, or even just hold them to 3 runs, that the Sooners will be able to come out of this game with a win.  

It is looking like we will get to see Luke Short get the ball just by looking at who they go with for the Saturday spot, however, I would also not be surprised at all if we are going to see somebody new from them.  It feels as if they have not found their identity on the bump just yet this season, and this is something I think can benefit us going into this game.  Find their weakness, go attack it, go win.  That is what I think the mindset should be going into this game against a very shallow depth Pitt pitching staff.  

Brendan Girton will be getting the ball for the Sooners as he has almost solidified his spot as the Saturday role where he has been lights out back to back weekends now for the Sooners.  Girton last week against Wright State was unbelievable and seemed to not let off the gas from the week before against Tennesee.  Girton has had to face elite offenses already this season with Tennesee being his main one, and boy is that a BIG offense.  I think that Girton is going to have himself a great day yet again and will be able to give the Sooners a chance to win it at all times throughout the game.  

Going into this game the Sooners lead the all-time series 4-1.  The last time we saw the Cal Bears was actually in 2011 in San Diego where we were able to pull out a 5-3 victory over the Bears.  

SUNDAY AGAINST OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY 

This game is the game I am personally looking forward too.  Being married into a Ohio State family, I have had this one circled on my calendar for a while!  

Ohio State is coming into this weekend with a record of 4-4 with honestly, no outstanding victories other than USC.  On paper, it would be easy to say that it looks like Ohio State struggles in the same way as Cal where the pitching is not their strong suit.  It is looking like Ohio State will be going with Colin Purcell who is a lefty with a 1-1 record coming into this weekend.  Colin also comes into this weekend with an ERA of 4.32 allowing 11 hits in 8.1 innings pitched.

When it comes to the Buckeyes offense, there is nothing that really stands out to me that makes me think that they will just dominate us in any way.  The Sooners will be going with James Hitt on the bump, who is dying to get back on the mound to bounce back from his less than impressive performance against Wright State last Sunday.  Hitt has been someone that Skip could always fall back on and trust last season, and I fully believe that we will be able to trust in Hitt again this season.  No better team to make a bounceback on than Ohio State who battled all game long with us last season in Frisco, Texas in a close 12-9 victory.  I expect Hitt to have an incredible performance and get Sooner nation back on his side yet again.  

The history of these two programs playing eachother dates back all the way to 1951 where the Sooners would defeat the Buckeyes on their way to their first ever national championship!  Since then there has been a total of 5 matchups with last years being the most recent matchup.  The Sooners lead the all-time series 3-2 and are looking to add on to that record.  Heck, maybe we plant a flag after the game just for good times who knows.  

All games this weekend can be streamed on D1baseball with a subscription.  This is a weekend that is full of can not miss baseball.  I will have a thread posted at the end of the tournament on how each and every Sooner that touched the field did this weekend.  Sooner fans traveling to the game, be safe, be loud, and have some fun!!!

Lets go have ourselves a weekend in Vegas.  Viva Las Vegas, let the games begin!