Coming Home: Jackson Cleveland’s Odyssey to Oklahoma and the College World Series

As the pop-up began its descent in the foreground of a cloudy, Kansas sky, Oklahoma closer Jackson Cleveland’s eyes never left the ball as he ambled towards home plate. 

Catcher Deiten Lachance settled and waited underneath the ball’s trajectory, and Oklahoma fans waited with barely contained glee. The traveling crowd roared as the catch was made, and teammates surged from the dugout to mob Cleveland in the middle of the diamond.

Boomer Sooner was going back to Omaha for the first time since 2022.

Back then, Cleveland was just beginning his inauspicious collegiate journey at North Central Texas College in Gainesville, Texas. The Lions were far from the postseason that year, going 10-21-1 in conference and 19-32-1 overall.

While 2022 was Cleveland’s first year of college, it was his last year as a hitter. The two-way Texan slashed .336/.383/.430 with eight extra-base hits in 107 at-bats. On the mound, he was primarily a starter, going 5-3 with a 5.05 ERA and 81 strikeouts over 67.2 innings.

Gainesville is a small town just northwest of Dallas, and in 2023, Cleveland returned closer to his hometown by committing to play at Lamar in Beaumont, Texas, near the Houston area. It was at Lamar where Cleveland transitioned to a high-leverage relief role.

As a sophomore and junior, Cleveland emerged as one of the best relievers in the Southland Conference, posting a 3.32 ERA over 78.2 innings and amassing 11 saves. After Lamar missed the tournament in 2024 despite a 44-15 record, the rising senior entered the transfer portal.

His reputation as a big-game reliever caught the eye of a number of Power 4 programs. After doing his due diligence, Cleveland committed to play at the University of Miami for the 2025 season. 

While his ERA suffered a bit, the Texan arguably enjoyed a career year while pitching in the ACC. He only pitched 24.1 innings over 19 appearances, but batters hit just .174 off of him while he posted an impressive 1.04 WHIP. 

Of the Canes’ primary relievers, Cleveland was among the most reliable and consistent. Of the bullpen arms that pitched more than 15 innings on the year, none had a better ERA than the senior journeyman.

As a three-seed in the Hattiesburg Regional, Miami got hot, upsetting both Alabama and Southern Miss to reach a Super Regional. Cleveland and his teammates suffered heartbreak in Louisville, however, when the Canes finished just one win short of the promised land.

After a career low in innings serving as a set-up man, where he didn’t have any save opportunities, Cleveland once again entered the transfer portal. With just one year of eligibility remaining, it was crucial to make the right choice in his next program.

Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson first heard about Cleveland from the pitcher’s girlfriend’s dad, who once played against Johnson back when the OU skipper was at Navarro. That connection was enough to have the Sooner staff take a look at the veteran right-hander. 

“And so we get him in,” Johnson said. “You could tell he was really mature. He goes about his business the right way. He goes about his work the right way. It’s four schools in [five] years, but he landed at the right one at the right time.”

After stints at North Central Texas, Lamar, and Miami, Cleveland’s odyssey was over. He was finally home. He became the Sooners’ closer and delivered a career high in appearances, saves, innings, and strikeouts– despite pitching in the nation’s most difficult conference.

When asked about finding success in the SEC, Jackson smiled and shrugged. “Success is more of just me doing my thing, Skip [Johnson] doing his thing, and things working out for the best.

“Because baseball is a game of failure. I can throw the greatest pitch ever and still get hit over the yard.” 

Despite carrying a 5.68 ERA heading into Omaha, the graduate student has remained one of Oklahoma’s most reliable big-game arms. He’s been at his best in the postseason, winning their Regional, closing out their Super Regional, and saving the game against #3 Georgia in the College World Series.

Nobody gave Oklahoma a shot when they were selected to be the two-seed in the Atlanta Regional. When they lost the 1-0 game to #2 Georgia Tech, fans and media alike wrote them off completely. 

After eliminating The Citadel, the Sooners earned a rematch against the Jackets, and Cleveland made his first postseason appearance. It did not go well.

Teammate Cam Johnson started and was able to throw just 12 pitches, and didn’t record an out. Cleveland entered the game with Oklahoma trailing the best offense in the country 2-0. He did his best to eat innings, but the Jackets had his number, scoring six runs in three innings to build an 8-2 lead.

Oklahoma’s season was hanging by a thread, and Cleveland had just been lit up. And yet the fifth year remained unrattled and unwavering in his belief. Despite a rough outing, he had a message for his teammates when he got back to the dugout.

“I told them whenever I got pulled in my first outing there at Georgia Tech,” Cleveland recalled. “I was like, ‘We still got six innings left. So let’s take it.’”

Oklahoma responded by scoring eight runs the next inning to claim the lead, and never looked back as Gavyn Jones and LJ Mercurius combined to pitch six shutout innings behind Cleveland. Oklahoma had forced an improbable game seven, but who did they have left to pitch?

“Two weeks ago, he threw 40 pitches in one day,” Skip Johnson said of that outing. “And he comes to me that next morning at breakfast, he goes, ‘Hey, I’m good. I want the ball.’”

As Gene Hackman’s character told Keanu Reeves’ character in The Replacements, “Winners always want the ball when the game’s on the line.” 

And over five seasons of baseball, Jackson Cleveland is a winner. He wants the ball. In the do-or-die final game of the Atlanta Regional, he got his wish.

Georgia Tech had his number the day before, but Oklahoma went back to their big-game reliever in the seventh inning, trailing 7-3. He took the ball and dazzled over 3.2 shutout innings, holding off one of the best lineups in recent years as the OU offense rallied.

“What Cleveland did at the regional, I mean, that guy went through the lineup like three times in two different nights back-to-back,” said his head coach. “Those guys are pretty good. He’s like the unsung hero when you go back and look at it.”

Cleveland then stood on the mound in the Lawrence Super Regional, closing the door on the Kansas Jayhawks’ incredible season. There would be no heartbreak short of Omaha this year for Cleveland. 

For the first time in his career, he was going to pitch in the Mecca of college baseball.

“It’s a dream come true,” Cleveland said. “You grow up watching this. You watch all the teams play, like Coastal in 2016 and Fresno State. The lights a fire in you, that underdog kind of thing.” 

While teams like Troy have eschewed the underdog moniker, Cleveland appears to have embraced it, responding to a question about their belief following that Atlanta Regional victory.

“It’s just the underdog and grind it out kind of mentality,” he said, “that ‘why not us’ feeling every time we go out there.”

Cleveland wasn’t needed in Oklahoma’s first win of the College World Series, as teammate Cord Rager dominated fellow SEC program #7 Alabama over seven shutout innings. LJ Mercurius pitched the final two innings to complete the 9-0 win and take their streak to six straight since losing that first Georgia Tech matchup.

Despite being a storied SEC program with plenty of previous trips to Omaha, Oklahoma found themselves in familiar territory as a 1-0 match-up against #3 Georgia beckoned. Once again, most of the media and fans penciled the Sooners into the loser’s bracket before the game even started.

This time, it was LJ’s younger brother Xander Mercurius who shone on the mound. The freshman held the historically good Georgia offense to just three runs over a career-high 7.1 innings, exiting the game with a 4-3 lead.

Throughout the latter part of the outing, it was LJ Mercurius up and warming in the bullpen, but after Golden Spikes frontrunner blasted a 446-foot home run to cut the deficit in half, Skip Johnson went to big-game Cleve.

“It’s my turn to do my job and my part for the whole team,” Cleveland said of getting the nod over LJ. “God’s got a plan today if I win or lose that game, and no matter what, I have faith in it. I have faith in what he has for me.”

That faith gave Cleveland the strength to avoid nerves. He would stare the possibility of failure right in the face and not flinch, because he knew that God had a plan for him, no matter what happened.

After getting ahead of Rylan Lujo 0-2, the Georgia sophomore lined a single to left. The tying run was on with just one out. Momentum had shifted heavily in Georgia’s favor, and the outcome started to feel inevitable, despite OU leading.

Someone forgot to tell Cleveland and the Sooners, however. The right-hander was able to get pinch-hitter Jack Arcamone to pop up for the second out, but then Cleveland walked Kenny Ishikawa after starting the count 0-2. 

The tying run was now in scoring position. A wild pitch then put the runners on second and third, meaning the go-ahead run was now also in scoring position.

Ball one to Georgia infielder Ryan Wynn, who entered the game with a .342 batting average and 22 extra-base hits.

Jackson Cleveland checked the runners, took a deep breath, and went into his motion, hurling a 91 mph fastball towards the strike zone.

Ping.

Oklahoma fans held their breath, and hearts plummeted to their bellies as the ball was launched towards right field. The ball was jumping more than normal, and a three-run blast would effectively win the game.

Dasan Harris drifted back, drifted back, and camped at the midway mark of the warning track as the ball dropped safely into the webbing of his glove for the final out. 

Jackson Cleveland had done his job. Oklahoma was three outs away. Surely it would be LJ in the ninth, right?

As the Sooner offense desperately attempted to add insurance, the bullpen remained inactive. It was going to be Cleveland to start the ninth. Was four runs really going to be enough to beat this incredible Georgia offense?

Once again, Cleveland got a batter to two strikes, but Brennan Hudson singled sharply to right to lead off the ninth. 

The tying run was on base.

The crafty veteran remained stoic and calm. He came back to strike out Kolby Branch for the first out, then was up 1-2 against pinch hitter Cole Johnson. An inside fastball then came too far inside and took a glancing blow off the arm of Johnson.

The tying run in scoring position. The go-ahead run was on base. One out. 

The next two batters were Tre Phelps and Daniel Jackson– two All-Americans who each boasted a batting average over .350 and had a combined 50 home runs on the season.

The Georgia fans started getting loud. They could feel the moment about to go their way. Skip Johnson made the walk to the mound, and the infield gathered around Cleveland. LJ Mercurius was up and appeared to be ready in the bullpen.

No signal to the pen was made. After a brief conversation about strategy regarding Phelps and Daniel Jackson, Johnson added a little more advice to his pitcher before ambling back to the dugout. OU was going to stick with their closer. 

“This guy’s hit balls on the pull side, and he’s going to maybe hit into a double play,” Johnson said he told Cleveland. “I’m trying to paint a picture so he can visualize in his mind what could happen, an outcome.”

Cleveland waited calmly as Georgia took an offensive meeting. Finally, the lengthy delay, which included a challenge and timeouts from both teams, concluded.

 “[It was] just a picture of what pitch I wanted to do and what outcome I wanted,” Cleveland confirmed of Johnson’s mound visit. “It worked out for the better at the end of it.”  

Oklahoma’s dugout and infield were doing their best to provide their closer with the confidence and belief he needed as he prepared to face Phelps.

“I was top step, just watching Cleveland do his work,” said starting pitcher Xander Mercurius. “I kept talking to him — just helping him out, giving him some synergy and just watching him pitch.” 

Cleveland quickly got ahead of the first Georgia star with a called strike and a foul ball. The big-game arm came up huge again as a 94 mph fastball just below the knees got Phelps to chase and swing over it. 

Strike three. Two outs. But Daniel Jackson was looming. The Buster Posey winner. The Dick Howser winner. The likely Golden Spikes winner.

The Bulldogs’ best player swaggered slowly to the plate, confident as anyone who hits .388 with 31 home runs should be. Especially after rocketing a ball nearly 450 feet during his last plate appearance the inning before.

“Jackson is a really good player,” Skip Johnson said. “You can tell, he’s the player of the year. There’s no doubt about that.”

Breaking ball in the dirt. Ball one.

Breaking ball at the knees, check swing– but it was a strike. 1-1 count.

Inside fastball, check swing. Ball two. 2-1 count. Cleveland took a deep breath and toed the rubber. He went into his motion and hurled his best breaking ball.

“I don’t remember anything besides that last fastball, that’s it,” Cleveland said of the pitch sequence to Jackson. “That’s all I remember.”  

It was an 80 mph breaker at the top of the zone– it didn’t hang, and Jackson didn’t bang it. He swung, hitting the ball straight up into the air off the bat. A dejected Jackson shook his head and moved towards first. 

In right field, center fielder Jason Walk called off Harris in right and made the routine catch to end the game. Oklahoma had stunned Georgia in Omaha.

“That’s why it’s called baseball,” Skip Johnson said. “[Jackson] missed a pitch and popped it straight up. He just ust missed it. He could have hit it nine miles like he hit the other one. I’m glad that it happened. And I’m really proud of our guy for having the courage to execute the pitch.”

Overall, Cleveland went the final 1.2 innings to close out the game, closing out Oklahoma’s biggest win since 2022. He gave up two hits, walked a batter, and had a hit by pitch. And yet he grinded and gritted his way through one of the best offenses in the country.

It was Cleveland’s ninth save of the season, but his first since May 16 in the regular season finale. He’s not allowed a run in any of his last three appearances, which covers 6.1 innings of work. 

5.1 of those innings were against Georgia and Georgia Tech. The Jackets led the nation in average, OBP, slugging, and OPS. They were first in runs per game and third in home runs. Georgia was top five nationally in average and OBP, and second only to Tech in slugging and OPS. They entered the game leading the world with 175 home runs.

Cleveland believed in himself and was steadfast in his faith in God’s plan. In what may have been the biggest moment of his life, he showed no fear and no nerves. 

“It’s the guy that’s willing to fail in the moment to have the courage to fail that ends up succeeding in a game,” Skip Johnson said. “I don’t know what it is about the spirit of baseball, but that’s what happens.”

From Gainesville, Texas, to Beaumont, Texas; from Beaumont to Miami, Florida; from Miami to Norman, Oklahoma. From Norman to Omaha. 

The fifth year has finally found a home with Skip Johnson and the 2026 Oklahoma Sooners. And they are one win from playing in an improbable National Championship. 

“He’s selfless, and he wants to pitch for his teammates,” Johnson said of Cleveland post-game. “That’s what we’re in coaching for. That’s what we’re playing for. We’re trying to teach these young men to be selfless people.”

Oklahoma will play either Texas or Oklahoma on Wednesday night. A win would mean Oklahoma would advance to the National Championship Series.