Over the last couple of year's the Sooners have made their mark on college baseball with their bats. This season it will be the arms of the hurlers that get Oklahoma through as the young bats of the new guys develop to the major collegiate level. Oklahoma has a deep bullpen that's filled with power, youth and experience. The question is can this group of pitchers carry the team through the 2012 season?

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Senior short stop Caleb Bushyhead will have a mostly new supporting cast in the infield in 2012.

In 2011 Oklahoma had 11 players selected in the Major League Baseball draft. That was the second most in the nation and the most among Big XII schools. Its also the reason why the majority of fans were disappointed that the Sooners didn't make it back to Omaha for their second consecutive appearance in the College World Series.

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The dynamic of Oklahoma's baseball team will be extremely different from the past two year's and that may be a good thing. After making a trip to Omaha in 2010 the Sooners struggled for various reasons in 2011 and ended up getting bounced from the NCAA Tournament well short of the CWS. Now some fresh faces will appear in the lineup to try and send the Sooners back to the promised land.

The Sooners have three solid starters in the outfield with a load of experience (2 SRs, 1 JR) but experience and depth both become an issue once you get to the bench.

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Five million dollars in fact.  Alas, he will not be an Oklahoma Sooner (at least for now, hello class of 2017!).  As with most high round MLB draft picks, Bradley's negotiations with the Arizona Diamondbacks went pretty much right up to the midnight (eastern) deadline.  However he and the club were able to agree to terms, thus ending Sooner Nation's dreams of a MLB ace leading the OU baseball staff for the next three years.

Oh, well.  Many, many congrats to Archie and his family who now won't have to worry about money for a long, long time. Would have loved to have you Mr. Bradley, but just as happy to see a talented young man cash in on that talent.  Now go tear up the majors.  Boomer Sooner!

After a rising to the challenge and making it to the CWS in a season that no one expected them to, the Oklahoma Sooners quickly left fans in disappointment with the 2011 season. To add to the disappointment that was, 11 Sooners were taken off the board in the MLB draft, a number that no other school in the conference was capable of pulling. With the potentiality of losing players like Tyler Ogle, Garrett Buechele, and Cameron Seitzer, it would look like OU needs to start in with the overhaul but that is not the only shake up. Recently, the Florida State pitching coach, Jamey Shouppe, has been suspected as leaving thus creating an opening for someone like OU's pitching coach, Mike Bell. Bell is currently the leading candidate according to FSU media outlets. Shouppe has been with the Noles for 21-years and is expected to resign in the near future. Bell would step in and take over the pitching coach role assuming that all this happens. But what really appeals to Bell is that he is Florida native who graduated from FSU and eventually would start his coaching career in Florida at the high school level. While this is not a big move, it is one that is not very fortunate for OU. Bell has helped coach two teams into the CWS in Tennessee as well as OU and has been key in bringing in pitching talent over the years. However, Oklahoma has struggled with pitching and needs to improve drastically. Depending on who you ask, getting rid of Bell is a good or bad thing. I would hate to go through another coach search after seeing the Capel to Kruger change and how crazy that was (yes I know Baseball does not have the same circumstances as Basketball but, both will be looking to rebuild). My only question is, if Shouppe resigns and Bell takes over, who will Bell root for when Oklahoma travels to Tallahassee to take on the Noles on the gridiron?

OU's outstanding catcher, Tyler Ogle, has just been drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the #284 pick in the 9th round of the 2011 MLB draft.  If I'm not mistaken, he was the first Sooner drafted so far and will likely now have a fairly tough decision as to whether or not to return for his senior season.

Updates to come when any other Sooners are drafted, but for now congrats Tyler!

As the wheel continues to spin, no one is quite sure where Archie Bradley will land. Back in February, Bradley signed a letter of intent to come to the University of Oklahoma to play football but there is still a big decision to make. It is rumored that Bradley can throw the ball 73 yards in an interview he did. The Elite 11 Camp also extended an invite to Bradley where he had a great showing. Regardless of his capabilities, Bradley was heavily recruited for baseball and not so much for football. Ultimately Bradley was going to make his choice on a school offering him a dual sport opportunity. Outside of Bradley having the skills and arm to play QB at OU, he also possesses a 96 mph fastball. It is because of this he has been pegged as a first round draft pick in the MLB with some mock drafts placing him inside the top 10. Currently ESPN as well as Baseball America rank Bradley as one of the 10-best overall prospects. With Oklahoma sitting where they are in terms of number of football scholarships, Bradley might lean toward the MLB side. In an interview Bradley did with NewsOK's Jake Trotter, he said,

"...if I were in this position at any other school, I wouldn't feel so strongly. The coaches are giving me the chance to play two sports. Pro ball is great, but turning down the chance to play two sports in college and get an education is hard to do."

Recent events have almost paved the way for Bradley seeing Andrew Luck's decision to return to college. It is evident that Bradley is up to the challenge of what both the Majors and College will throw at him. It also appears that the Draft, along with the money that comes with it, will not make his mind up for him either. With the MLB Draft starting tonight at 6pm CDT, we will have a better idea of what decision Bradley is leaning toward as well as what this kid is giving up or falling into.

Outside of Bradley, there is a lot going on with the possibility of this Sooners Baseball team being revamped next year. Michael Rocha is a senior and will not be with the team next year but a few others might be snatched up in the draft as well.

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Both the baseball and softball teams were dropped from NCAA Tournament play on the same day. The high hopes of each came crashing down after the men dropped their Regional Opener and the women dropped their World Series match up. A season that was full of high hopes for the baseball team is now a season full of disappointment after disappointment. However, coming in to the season for the softball team, Kelani Ricketts promised to carry her team into the Women's College World Series. This was a feat that she cashed in on although the other star player, Jessica Shults, was unable to participate until today. It was the first time Shults made the lineup since May 8th due to an injury/illness that she was recovering from. So what went wrong?

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