06/22/26 11:29:00
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06/22 23:28 CDT Oklahoma rolls past Tar Heels 13-2 for 1st national
championship since 1994 and SEC's 7th in a row
Oklahoma rolls past Tar Heels 13-2 for 1st national championship since 1994 and
SEC's 7th in a row
By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) --- The way its regular season unfolded, a national
championship for Oklahoma would have seemed impossible.
The way the postseason unfolded, well, there was no stopping the Sooners.
OU completed the improbable run to its first national championship since 1994
with a 13-2 victory over North Carolina in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the
College World Series finals Monday night, a performance that featured the
prodigious offensive production and clutch pitching the Sooners rode through
the NCAA Tournament.
"I think we knew the talent was always in the room," said Jaxon Willits, named
the CWS most outstanding player. "We got hot at the right time, and now we're
national champions."
The Sooners (43-23) won the Southeastern Conference's seventh straight title,
quite an accomplishment for a team picked 14th in the 16-team conference in the
preseason, finished 11th and entered the postseason off losses in seven of nine
games.
To get to Omaha, they beat No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech twice on the road
in regionals and swept upstart Kansas on the road in super regionals. To get to
the finals, they beat No. 3 Georgia twice in bracket play.
"They got really confident the last month," OU coach Skip Johnson said. "They
care about each other. They didn't want to give in. They were selfless."
North Carolina (54-14-1) was runner-up for the third time since 2006 and now
has 13 CWS appearances without a title. Only Florida State, with 24, has more
without winning it all.
The Sooners were back in top form offensively after managing only four singles
in a 6-2 loss in Game 2 and handed the Tar Heels their most lopsided loss of
the season.
"We ran out of gas when all is said and done," Carolina coach Scott Forbes said.
When Jackson Cleveland struck out Jake Schaffner to end the game, he and
catcher Deiten Lachance embraced and then headed to the dogpile that formed
near third base. Players waving national championship towels rushed back toward
their dugout to salute the celebrating Sooner faithful on the first-base line,
football greats Barry Switzer and Brian Bosworth among them.
Kyle Branch, the No. 9 batter who came into the game 1 of 16 (.063) in the CWS,
drove in six runs with a pair of singles and home run. His homer came on his
last at-bat, just as brother Kolby's did for Georgia last Wednesday.
"Pure joy. Pure joy for our team," Branch said. "I had a teammate tell me I was
going to do something special, and for him to tell me that with the way things
have been going, it has to be a God thing."
He joined Dayton Tockey as the seventh and eighth OU players to homer in Omaha.
Willits had three hits, reached base five times and finished the CWS 13 of 25
(.520).
The pitching matchup of Carolina's Jackson Rose (5-1) and Oklahoma's Nick
Wesloski was the first between freshmen in a CWS winner-take-all game since
1993. Neither got out of the third inning.
LJ Mercurius (7-7) turned in another strong performance out of the bullpen,
shutting down a threat when OU led 3-1 in the third and holding the Tar Heels
to one run in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed just two runs in 12 1/3 over four CWS
appearances.
The Tar Heels' pitching staff, which had the best ERA in the Atlantic Coast
Conference, had been good and occasionally great in the CWS. It was neither
Monday, with eight pitchers combining to allow 14 hits, issue eight walks,
throw three wild pitches and hit a batter.
ACC freshman of the year Caden Glauber, who had given up just one run in 10 1/3
innings in four CWS appearances, was called on for a fifth one day after he
threw 65 pitches in five shutout innings. It was apparent coach Forbes went to
the well one time too many.
Glauber was called for a clock violation before he even threw his first pitch.
He issued a four-pitch bases-loaded walk and Willits followed with a two-run
single to make it 6-1 in the fourth. That was all for Glauber, who threw seven
pitches, five of them balls. The Tar Heels had won all 29 games in which
Glauber had pitched before Monday.
"This group loved each other all season and took us on a ride and came up just
short," Forbes said. "I'd take that ride every day of the year. While we're
sad, the sadness will go away. We talk about joy. Joy doesn't go away. These
guys have given me, our coaching staff, our fans, administration, everybody, a
ton of joy and a ton to be proud of."
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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