OU ranked in preseason baseball polls; OSU receiving votes

By Anthony Slater – Aslater@opubco.com - @anthonyVslater

The OU baseball team lost plenty from its Super Regional run of a season ago.

But the Sooners are also bringing a group of talented contributors back. And the preseason polls reflect that.

Sunny Golloway’s Sooners are slated 16th in the USA Today’s coaches poll and 19th in Baseball America, joining TCU (12th, 14th) and Baylor (23rd, unranked) as the only Big 12 teams to show up on either poll.

OU brings back two/thirds of its impressive 2012 rotation, losing Jordan John but retaining Jonathan Gray and hard-throwing lefty Dillon Overton. Gray and Overton went a combined 14-7 last season (both with sub 3.20-ERA’s) for the 44-25 Sooners, who lost in the Super Regionals to eventual national runner-up South Carolina.

Meanwhile, 80 miles upstate, the revamped Oklahoma State baseball program gears up for its first year under new coach Josh Holliday. The Cowboys received some respect in the coaches poll, with a few voters placing them in their initial rankings.

But with Holliday’s overhaul still in its initial stages, and a relatively unknown roster lacking big-name star power, the Cowboys will need a strong start to vault into the national rankings.