This article is part of our College Baseball Picks series.
How about those Horned Frogs delivering for us in the clutch last night?!?
It was a sensational game in the much talked-about Shriners Children's Classic at Globe Life Field. The JohnnyVTV Discord secured the first clean sweep of 2026.
It's a much slimmer card on this Sunday slate, but I know where I'm going to finish out the first weekend of the season.
TCU Horned Frogs (-154) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (-120) | 13.5
Let's highlight TCU for the third day in a row! 2-0 to start the year after gritty big-time wins against Vanderbilt and Arkansas. Facing former Big 12 squad, Oklahoma, we're set up for the 2-0 matchup to determine who wins this year's Shriner's Classic.
The Frogs will send out redshirt freshman Arkansas transfer, Lance Davis, to the bump. Because he didn't pitch last season, there's not much film on him, but the scouting report is a heater that touches 96 with mid-80s slider. In the Cape Cod league over the summer, Davis racked up 24 strikeouts to just four walks in 17.2 IP (seven appearances, two starts), along with a 4.08 ERA.
Davis is facing an Oklahoma offense that is off to a red-hot start, scoring 20 runs in the first two games. While it's impressive, it's worth taking that offensive output with a grain of salt since they faced Texas Tech and OK State. Thus far, it's been Trey Gambill (4-for-5, two HR, five RBI), Brendan Brock (5-for-8, one HR, four RBI), and Jaxon Willits (3-for-9, four RBI) that have done most of the damage for OU. One thing we know about this offense is the base running prowess. Under baserunning coach Reggie Willits, this Oklahoma team has been one of the top base running units this decade. If you're Davis making his first start, it obviously starts with limiting the traffic on the bases and letting your defense make plays for you.
Oklahoma will be throwing an absolute hoss in 6'6" lefty freshman Cord Rager. After getting stellar outings from Cam Johnson and LJ Mercurius in the first two games, I'm sure HC Skip Johnson is excited to see what this rookie can do. Seeing how OU has turned out some serious arms in the Johnson school of pitching, I'm sure this is somebody worth watching.
But like Davis, it's hard to know what to expect from somebody without much film. From what I've heard it's a big fastball that's getting up into the high-90s and a real name to watch in 2026. He'll see a star-powered TCU offense with Sawyer Strosnider, Chase Brunson, Lucas Franco and Noah Franco. The lefty/lefty matchups will be a big interest in this one.
TCU in my opinion is the better roster. And it seems like a sell-high spot on Oklahoma. We know the Frogs lineup has players that can really turn the game, but for the Sooners I don't know if that's so much the case. I'm going back to the well on the clean sweep for TCU.
The Pick: TCU ML (-154 DraftKings)
