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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Powered by home runs from Dayton Tockey, Camden Johnson and Trey Gambill and a gem by Cord Rager, the Oklahoma baseball team defeated No. 15-seed Kansas 8-1 Saturday evening in Game 1 of the Lawrence Super Regional at Hoglund Ballpark.
The Sooners (37-22) broke open a scoreless game with seven runs over the fourth and fifth innings, then added one more in the seventh to pick up their fourth straight victory. The Jayhawks (45-17) scored on a solo home run in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Rager (5-3) struck out six and allowed just one hit and one walk over his 6.0 frames. The only batter that touched second base against Rager was thrown out trying to reach third by left fielder Brendan Brock in the first inning.
OU took advantage of a one-out error in the top of the fourth to score four runs. Right fielder Dasan Harris drove in the first run on an RBI groundout that plated shortstop Jaxon Willits. The first baseman Tockey then launched a three-run home run 390 feet to left center field to make the score 4-0. It was Tockey’s seventh homer of the season and fifth since May 16.
Center fielder Jason Walk led off the fifth with a double and stole third base before third baseman Camden Johnson launched a two-run homer to right field. Trey Gambill then smashed a two-out homer 417 feet over the high center field wall, which is fully in play at Hoglund Ballpark, to extend OU’s lead to 7-0. Both Johnson and Gambill now have nine home runs this season.
Brock tacked on a run in the seventh inning with an RBI single to score Gambill and make it 8-0.
Kansas scored in the top of the eighth on a solo home run to right center by right fielder Jordan Bach.
LJ Mercurius tossed the final three frames to earn his third save of the season. He struck out three and allowed three hits. KU starter Dominic Voegele (6-4) struck out three and allowed seven runs (three earned) on seven hits over 4.2 innings.
Pitchers of Record
Win: Cord Rager (5-3)
Loss: Dominic Voegele (6-4)
Save: LJ Mercurius (3)
Statistical Snapshot
• Camden Johnson | 1-for-5, HR, 2 RBI
• Trey Gambill | 2-for-4, HR, BB
• Dayton Tockey | 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
• Brendan Brock | 2-for-4, RBI, BB
• Jason Walk | 2-for-5, 2B
• Cord Rager | 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
• LJ Mercurius | 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Notes
• OU won its fourth game in a row and moved to 37-22 on the year.
• Cord Rager notched his second straight start of 6.0 innings, his two longest outings of the season.
• In his two NCAA Tournament starts, Rager has pitched 12.0 innings and struck out 14 batters, while allowing eight hits, three runs and one walk. He has walked a total of two batters over his last four starts (comprising 21.2 innings).
• Dayton Tockey hit his seventh home run of the season and fifth in OU’s eight games since May 16. He has four home runs in six NCAA Tournament games.
• Tockey has 10 RBI in his last eight games after not recording an RBI over his previous 19 contests (dating back to Feb. 28).
• Camden Johnson hit his ninth home run of the season and first of this NCAA Tournament. He has 46 RBI this season.
• Trey Gambill hit his ninth home run of the season and third in the NCAA Tournament. He has 34 RBI this season and seven in six NCAA Tournament games.
• LJ Mercurius made his 18th appearance of the season and sixth in relief (fifth straight relief appearance). He has earned a save in each of his last three appearances.
• In his last five outings, Mercurius has pitched 13.0 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on 10 hits and five walks and totaled 15 strikeouts.
• Brendan Brock has a team-high eight RBI in the NCAA Tournament and 51 RBI this season.
• Dasan Harris has driven in seven runs in the NCAA Tournament and has 20 RBI this season.
• Since May 9 at Arkansas (12 games), Oklahoma has hit 31 home runs.
• OU has scored 57 runs on 77 hits in its six NCAA Tournament games.
• Gambill and Jason Walk extended their team-leading hitting streaks to eight games. Walk has reached base in 16 straight games, and Jaxon Willits has a 12-game reached base streak.
Up Next
The Sooners and Jayhawks meet in the second game of the Lawrence Super Regional at 5 p.m. CT Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPN and can be heard on The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM in Oklahoma or nationwide on The Varsity network app.
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