Overton, a left-hander with control of four pitches, finished 6-3 with a 3.15 earned run average and 126 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings. Gray, a power right-hander, went 8-4 record with a 3.16 ERA a year ago.
Together, they represent two of the Big 12's four players on the Preseason Golden Spikes Watch List.
“We are two different kinds of guys,” Gray said, “left-handed, right-handed, two different bodies, two different kinds of pitchers. It works really well. It will throw off teams.”
Golloway believes he has another ace-quality arm in lefty Billy Waltrip, a junior college transfer who will round out the weekend rotation. Along with a set rotation, the Sooners return key parts in outfielders Max White and Matt Oberste and infielder Jack Mayfield to a lineup bolstered by several highly rated additions.
So expectations, as have become the norm, are Omaha or bust.
“I think we definitely have the pitching and defense,” Golloway said. “Scoring with these new bats is still a challenge, will always be a challenge. Our guys are doing a good job, they're working hard on the bunting game and they're working hard on getting it out of the air and to hit-and-run, keeping it simple — moving the guys up, scoring one run an inning.
“That'll be our goal, with our pitching and defense and maturity, I think we have a chance.”
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