Kyson Witherspoon won’t wait long to hear his name called in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft.
Just by watching how effortless the baseball comes out of his hand, it’s clear why he’s been so dominant during his time at Oklahoma. An elite fastball that regularly sits between 95-98 MPH to some nasty offspeed pitches, Witherspoon has the makings of being a big league pitcher at some point in the future.
However, Saturday night was a rarity for the right-hander, as the UNC baseball program had their way against one of the country’s best pitchers, especially in the first inning of the game.
After Kane Kepley started the inning by reaching on an error, Witherspoon bounced back by forcing Jackson Van De Brake into a fielder’s choice and following that by enducing a flyout off the bat of Luke Stevenson.
With two outs in the inning, the Diamond Heels’ offense simply exploded.
Hunter Stokley got the Tar Heels on the board with an RBI single to right field, starting a string of three consecutive two out RBI knocks. Alex Madera and Tyson Bass were responsible for the following RBI hits, but the streak of run producing singles would end when Sam Angelo stepped to the plate.
Angelo started a career night by taking a Witherspoon fastball the other way for a three-run homer, capping off a six run frame for the guys in Carolina Blue.
While the runs are considered “unearned” due to the error at the beginning of the inning, it doesn’t take away the fact that North Carolina was able to get to Oklahoma’s ace, especially in two-out situations that featured runners on the base paths.
North Carolina had a smart approach out of the gate. They weren’t going to allow Witherspoon to get ahead in the count- instead, they challenged him early in at-bats, putting some great swings on some quality pitches. The results were essentially immediate, as the six run outburst set the tone for the rest of the night at Boshamer Stadium.
When taking a closer look at Witherspoon’s worst start of the season (and arguably of his time at Oklahoma), think about how insane some of these stats are, courtesy of R.L. Bynum:
In Witherspoon’s previous two outings, the right-hander gave up five combined hits. Over one inning of work against North Carolina, the Tar Heels matched that number.
This tied Witherspoon’s shortest outing of the season, as he gave up season-highs in hits (10- previous high was 6), runs (9, previous high was 4) and tied his season-high in walks (3) while also only striking out four hitters, the lowest he struck out all season long.
Before Saturday night, Witherspoon didn’t allow more than one home run in a single game, allowing just six all season. In his meeting with the Tar Heels, he allowed three (two of which came off the bat of Sam Angelo).
A big deal was made that Oklahoma elected to save their ace for this potential matchup. North Carolina proved that they aren’t intimidated by anyone, as they are up for the challenge of scoring runs against whoever the opposing team puts on the mound.
On Saturday night, it just happened to be one of the country’s best, one that the UNC baseball program simply had their way against.
