Left-handed pitcher Austin Kerns of Owasso, signed a minor league contract with the Houston Astros on Tuesday evening after two seasons with
the University of Oklahoma baseball team. Kerns, who recently completed his redshirt-junior season, graduated from OU in May and had one season of collegiate eligibility remaining, but was eligible to be signed as an undrafted free agent.
Originally signed to pitch at Arkansas out of Owasso High School, where he and Sooner teammate Austin O’Brien helped the Rams win the 2013 6A State Championship, Kerns spent the 2015 season at Eastern Oklahoma State College and was named the Region II Player of the Year with a 7-1 record and 100 strikeouts in 64.2 innings. At Oklahoma, Kerns made his debut on opening weekend in 2016 as a member of the Sooners’ starting rotation. In his career, he amassed a 3-4 record and 6.10 earned run average with 35 strikeouts in 48.2 innings across 43 games, including three starts.
Kerns is the first Sooner to sign as an undrafted free agent since Jack Mayfield signed with the Astros in 2013. Mayfield is currently with Houston’s Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks, and has spent several short stints at the Triple-A level.
Former Sooners Anthony Hermelyn and Ralph Garza, both drafted in 2015, are also in the Astro’s farm system. Hermelyn and Garza are teammates with the Single-A Advanced affiliate Buies Creek Astros.
