OU Baseball: Sooners Top Tar Heels Saturday in Game 1 of CWS Finals

OMAHA, Neb. – Using a familiar recipe of superb pitching with some heavy-handed hitting, Oklahoma (42-22) is now one victory away from the program’s third national title thanks to a 9-3 win against No. 5 North Carolina (53-13-1) in game one of the best-of-three championship series at the College World Series on Saturday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field.

Game Two will start at 1:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC.

A sellout crowd of 24,707 watched the Sooners stretch their season-long winning streak to nine games while collecting 14 hits against a heralded Tar Heels staff.

Sooners junior catcher Deiten Lachance blasted two home runs, giving him 18 in the last 32, accounting for his entire total for the 2026 season.

Afterward, OU coach Skip Johnson said Lachance has been “hitting balls as hard as anybody I’ve seen hit them in a long time.”

Lachance (3-for-5, 3 RBIs) and junior centerfielder Dasan Harris (3-for-4) led the attack at the plate, while junior third baseman Camden Johnson (2-for-4), junior centerfielder Jason Walk (2-for-5, 2 RBI) and junior shortstop Jaxon Willits (2-for-5) added two hits each. Sophomore second baseman Kyle Branch (1-for-3) added a double for two RBIs.

OU has hit 28 home runs in 11 NCAA Tournament games. Harris has reached base in 21 straight games and Willits now has nine hits in four CWS games, tying Rick Gutierrez’ record for an OU player at the series that was set during the Sooners’ last national title season of 1994.

On the mound, OU freshman lefthanded starter Cord Rager (7-3) overcame a tough first inning, settling in and earning the victory before being relieved with a 7-3 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning.