Oklahoma won its third college baseball national title in program history by defeating North Carolina, 13-2 in the third game of the College World Series on Monday evening in Omaha, Neb. It was the first title for the Sooners since 1994.

The Sooners took the series 2-1 and finished the season with an overall record of 43-23. The No. 5-ranked Tarheels ended the season at 54-14-1.

Once again, the Sooners used great pitching and timely hitting to dominate the Tarheels. OU compiled 14 hits in the game, while North Carolina racked up 10 hits in the game but struggled to string together the hits to produce many runs.

Between the second and fourth innings, OU manufactured six runs while N.C. scored a single run in the bottom of the third.

Dayton Tockey hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning to contribute to the Sooners’ offense and give his team a 7-1 lead. OU scored two more runs in the top of the sixth inning.

Kyle Branch had six RBIs in the game including a three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning. OU scored a total of four runs in the eighth and led 13-2.

L.J. Mercurius earned the win pitching 5.2 innings, allowing 4 hits, one run, no walks and five strikeouts.

OU’s amazing run to the championship began on June 1, when the Sooners trailed 7-3 in the sixth inning against Georgia Tech in the regional final. The Sooners went on to beat Georgia Tech and advance to the Super Regional against Kansas where they swept the Jayhawks to move on to the College World Series.

The Sooners hit 30 home runs in the NCAA Tournament; second most out of all the teams in the tournament.

GAME 1

In game one on Saturday, the Sooners continued with the same formula that got them to the College Baseball World Series Championship; superb pitching and home runs. The Sooners beat the Tarheels, 9-3, in front of a sellout crowd of 24,707.

In was the ninth consecutive win for the Sooners, as they racked up 14 hits in the game.

The OU offense was led by Deiten Lachance who went 3-for-5, with 3 RBIs, including two home runs, giving him 18 for the season.

“He’s hitting balls as hard as anybody I’ve seen hit them in a long time,” said OU head coach Skip Johnson.

Also having a good day at the plate was Dasan Harris who went 3-for-4 on the day.

It was another stellar pitching performance by freshman lefthanded Cord Rager (7-3) who overcame a tough first inning and earned the victory. He left the game with a 7-3 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning. Rager finished with five strikeouts and two walks.

Gavyn Jones came on in relief and allowed two hits while striking out four in 2.1 scoreless innings. It was Jones’ first CWS appearance. L.J. Mercurius closed out the game with 1.2 innings of hitless relief with two strikeouts.

“Our offense exploded and took the momentum back and just never gave it back,” Johnson said. “Gavyn came in, did a great job. LJ finished it.”

GAME 2

North Carolina turned the table on the Sooners on Sunday afternoon, by holding OU to only two runs and four hits in the game. The Tarheels won 6-2.

OU scored both their runs in the first innings but then struggled to get the offense on track. It was the fewest number of runs scored by OU since its SEC Tournament loss to LSU (6-2) and the Sooners’ four hits were the fewest since March 19 at LSU.

Xander Mercurius took the loss for the Sooners, pitching 4.0 innings, giving up five hits, four earned runs, three walks and eight strikeouts.

In the bottom of the first inning, Jason Walk scored on a throwing error when he and Camden Johnson executed a double steal. Johnson then scored on an RBI double off the right center field wall by junior shortstop Jaxon Willits.