Freshman Pitching Trio Returning to the Oklahoma Sooners Baseball Team

The 2026 national champs just keep winning. Oklahoma has officially re-signed the top three freshman pitchers from the 2026 roster. This includes Cord Rager, who started and got the win in Game 1 of the championship series, Xander Mercurius, and Nick Wesloski.

Wesloski made the start in Game 3 against North Carolina as the Sooners clinched the national championship with a commanding 13-2 victory. This is huge for Oklahoma considering how chaotic the transfer portal is in this era of college athletics. 

In 20 of Xander's appearances, he made just five starts but made a major impact in Oklahoma's championship run. His two most notable performances came in the 13-2 win over Kansas in the super regional and the 4-3 thriller over Georgia to advance to the world series semis. In the Georgia game, he pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing just six hits and three runs. 

Besides the championship finale against North Carolina, Wesloski made just two starts during the season. But just like Xander, Nick was part of the special freshman pitching trio in the postseason run towards the national championship. He finished his first collegiate season with a 3.65 ERA. His record as a starter was 2-1 with one of the wins being against Georgia in the semifinals. In 5 2/3 innings during the 11-4 blowout win, he allowed four hits, three runs, and struck out four batters. 

Cord Rager had a master class of his own. The 6'6 lefty not only showed off his arm strength at the mound, but also his athleticism. In 2026, he made 16 starts in all 16 of his appearances, recording a 4.74 ERA. He ended up with a 7-3 record this season with four of those wins being in the postseason. In those four games, Rager lasted at least five innings. Arguably the biggest game of his freshman season came in the opening world series matchup against Alabama. In the 9-0 win against the Crimson Tide, he pitched seven innings, striking out eight batters and allowing only three hits. 

With the Sooners likely having to battle other teams for batters in the transfer portal, getting this pitching trio back is a massive break for Skip Johnson. Sooner fans could be seeing an even better pitching staff than the national championship run.