HOOVER, Ala. – With the shadows creeping into the early evening at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and the lights beaming onto the diamond, No. 12 seed Oklahoma edged No. 5 seed Georgia 3-2 on Wednesday night in the second round of the 2025 Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Oklahoma advanced to 35-19 overall and 15-16 in SEC play under head coach Skip Johnson. Georgia fell to 42-15 and 18-13 in the conference under head coach Wes Johnson.
Sooners starter Kyson Witherspoon, the No. 8 overall ranked prospect on MLBPipeline.com’s Top 150 Draft list, dominated on five full days’ rest. The right-hander creased 107 pitches across 7.2 innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs, no walks, and striking out eight while facing 27 batters to improve to 10-3.
Kyson Witherspoon (Jr. @OU_Baseball) folding a LHH w/ nasty CT here (90 2592). Jabbing w/ 97-98 21” vert FB. Flashed CH @ 90 2376. Sharp depth to two plane SL 84 and downer shape (-16”) to CB (76 2643). Pot. T5-10 pick w/ a full complement of + weapons. ‘25 Elig. @PG_Draft pic.twitter.com/GuZEr9yWcC
— PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) May 21, 2025
“Kyson went out there just like he always does and takes the mound and takes the ball. I asked him yesterday, and he said, ‘I want the ball.’ That’s just hats off to him and what he’s about,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson.
Witherspoon entered the week seventh in the nation with 112 strikeouts. Jason Bodin and Dylan Crooks combined to finish the final 1.1 innings, allowing no hits, no walks, and shutting the door on the Bulldogs.
Georgia got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Slate Alford lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Ryland Zaborowski for a 1-0 lead.
Oklahoma responded in the fourth. Brayden Horton delivered a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring catcher Easton Carmichael to tie the game at 1-1.
And the Dawgs are on the board!
A sacrifice fly from @SlateAlford scores @ryzabo to plate the first run of the evening. #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/vOd0TX0j8k
— Georgia Baseball (@BaseballUGA) May 21, 2025
In the sixth, Trey Gambill led off with a single and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jaxon Willits. After Dylan Tockey grounded out to shortstop Kolby Branch, bringing in Gambill for a 2-1 lead, Horton came through again with a single up the middle, scoring Carmichael to make it 3-1.
“Whatever percentage it was, they didn’t hit it, so…” said Witherspoon when asked about Georgia estimating 70 percent of his pitches were off-speed.
Georgia catcher Henry Hunter cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, launching a solo home run over the right field wall—his 10th of the season.
HOME RUN HENRY HUNTER!!!#GoDawgs | @HenryPHunter pic.twitter.com/tX19ql5oQh
— Georgia Baseball (@BaseballUGA) May 22, 2025
Crooks entered for the ninth and got right fielder Nolan McCarthy to ground out to second baseman Kyle Branch, who made the throw to first for the final out.
“We’re playing behind the best pitcher in the country and we get to do that every week. It’s a blessing, and it’s fun,” said Oklahoma infielder Jaxon Willits.
The Sooners will face No. 4 seed Vanderbilt on May 22 at 7 p.m. EDT on SEC Network.
Georgia starter JT Quinn and relievers Matthew Hoskins, DJ Radtke, Brian Zeldin, and Zach Harris combined for nine innings, giving up eight hits, three earned runs, three walks, and 10 strikeouts.
Earlier in the day, Georgia announced it had extended Wes Johnson’s contract through the 2031 season.
𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 🤝
The University of Georgia and head coach Wes Johnson have agreed to a contract extension through 2031.
📰 https://t.co/5yDdeQBo1V#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/IXXTnB3CO4
— Georgia Baseball (@BaseballUGA) May 21, 2025
Georgia, ranked No. 10th in the country in the Top 25 rankings from D1Baseball.com, will now await its postseason fate on Selection Monday, May 26, at 12 p.m. EDT on ESPNU to see where they will play in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
2025 SEC Baseball Tournament Schedule
All Game Start Times Are Eastern Daylight Time
*Second Game Of Each Session Will Begin Approximately 30 Minutes After The Conclusion Of First Game
Tuesday-Sunday, May 20-25
Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Ala.
Tuesday, May 20 – First Round
Game 1: No. 9 Alabama 4, No. 16 Missouri 1 – Final
*Game 2: No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 13 Kentucky 1 – Final
Game 3: No. 10 Florida 11, No. 15 South Carolina 3 – Final
Wednesday, May 21 – Second Round
Game 4: No. 14 Texas A&M 9, No. 11 Mississippi State 0 – Final
Game 5: No. 8 Tennessee 15, No. 9 Alabama 10 – Final
*Game 6: No. 12 Oklahoma 3, No. 5 Georgia 2 – 4:30 p.m. – Final
Game 7: No. 10 Florida vs. No. 7 Ole Miss – TBD – SECN
Thursday, May 22 – Quarterfinals
Game 8: No. 14 Texas A&M vs. No. 6 Auburn – 12 p.m. – SECN
*Game 9: No. 8 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Texas – 4 p.m. – SECN
*Game 10: No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt – 7 p.m. – SECN
Friday, May 23 – Quarterfinals
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. No. 2 Arkansas – 4 p.m. – SECN
*Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. No. 3 LSU – 7 p.m. – SECN
Saturday, May 24 – Semifinals
Game 13: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 – 1 p.m. – SECN
*Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 – 4 p.m.- SECN
Sunday, May 25 – Championship Game
Game 15: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14 – 3 p.m. – ESPN2
SEC MLBPipeline.com Top 150 Draft Prospects
No. 7 – OF – Jace LaViolette – Texas A&M
No. 8 – RHP – Kyson Witherspoon – Oklahoma
No. 9 – LHP – Kade Anderson – Louisiana State
No. 10 – LHP – Liam Doyle – Tennessee
No. 16 – 2B – Gavin Kilen – Tennessee
No. 20 – OF/C – Ike Irish – Auburn
No. 24 – SS – Wehiwa Aloy – Arkansas
No. 28 – OF – Max Belyeu – Texas
No. 33 – RHP – Riley Quick – Alabama
No. 35 – 1B/3B – Andrew Fischer – Tennessee
No. 36 – OF/3B – Ethan Petry – South Carolina
No. 44 – LHP – Zach Root – Arkansas
No. 54 – SS/3B – Dean Curley – Tennessee
No. 55 – RHP – A.J. Russell – Tennessee
No. 60 – OF – Charles Davalan – Arkansas
No. 66 – 2B – Daniel Dickinson – Louisiana State
No. 69 – RHP – Marcus Phillips – Tennessee
No. 72 – LHP – J.D. Thompson – Vanderbilt
No. 78 – RHP – Chase Shores – Louisiana State
No. 79 – LHP- Jared Spencer – Texas
No. 90 – 1B – Jared Jones – Louisiana State
No. 99 – LHP – Justin Lamkin – Texas A&M
No. 100 – OF – RJ Austin – Vanderbilt
No. 101 – C – Easton Carmichael – Oklahoma
No. 102 – LHP – Pico Kohn – Mississippi State
No. 113 – RHP – Nate Snead – Tennessee
No. 116 – RHP – Mason Morris – Mississippi
No. 117 – SS – Jalin Morris – Texas
No. 123 – OF/1B – Tre Phelps – Georgia
No. 131 – SS – Colby Shelton – Florida
No. 133 – RHP – Malachi Witherspoon – Oklahoma
No. 141 – 3B – Brent Iredale – Arkansas
