Sooners top Tar Heels in Game 1 of CWS Finals

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By soonersports.com

Junior catcher Deiten Lachance homered twice to lead the Oklahoma baseball team to a 9-3 win over No. 5 North Carolina in the first game of the 2026 NCAA Men’s College World Series finals Saturday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field.

Oklahoma (42-22) won its ninth straight game and is now one win away from the program’s third national championship.

Freshman Cord Rager and juniors Gavyn Jones and LJ Mercurius combined to allow no runs over the final eight innings after North Carolina scored three in the first inning. Rager (7-3) struck out five and allowed three runs on five hits and two walks to earn the win. Four of those hits and one walk came as part of UNC’s three-run first inning.

The Sooners took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-run home run by Lachance. The Tar Heels (53-13-1) went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the first on a two-run single by second baseman Gavin Gallaher and a sacrifice fly by catcher Colin Hynek.

From there, OU pitching allowed only two hits and no runners past second base for the remainder of the game.

Oklahoma tied the game in the third inning on a solo homer by Lachance, then took the lead for good with a four-run fourth. Sophomore second baseman Kyle Branch hit a two-run single and scored on an infield single by junior center fielder Jason Walk. Junior third baseman Camden Johnson brought Walk home with a base hit to right center.

The Sooners added a run in the sixth inning on a base hit by Walk and capped the scoring in the ninth inning when Johnson scored on a double play.

Jones pitched 2.1 frames and tied his career high with four strikeouts. Mercurius threw the final 1.2 innings, ending the game with a strikeout. UNC starter Jason DeCaro (11-3) took the loss.

Pitchers of Record

Win: Cord Rager (7-3)

Loss: Jason DeCaro (11-3)

Statistical Snapshot

• Deiten Lachance | 3-for-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI
• Dasan Harris | 3-for-4, 2 2B
• Jason Walk | 2-for-5, 2 RBI
• Camden Johnson | 2-for-4, BB, RBI
• Jaxon Willits | 2-for-5, 2B
• Kyle Branch | 1-for-3, 2 RBI
• Cord Rager | 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• Gavyn Jones | 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
• LJ Mercurius | 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Notes

• Oklahoma is making its fourth appearance in the College World Series finals and second in the era of three-game series. OU is now 3-2 in CWS finals games. The Sooners won single games in 1951 (3-2 over Tennessee) and 1994 (13-5 over Georgia Tech) and lost both games of the 2022 finals (10-3 and 4-2 to Ole Miss).
• OU won its ninth game in a row and moved to 42-22 on the year. 
• During its nine-game winning streak, OU has won eight games against top-20 teams and six against top-10 teams.
• This was Oklahoma’s eighth win this postseason against a nationally seeded team, matching the record established by Fresno State (2008) and tied by Coastal Carolina (2016) for most wins against national seeds in a single NCAA Tournament.
• This was the sixth all-time meeting between Oklahoma and North Carolina. The Sooners lead the series 4-2. All six meetings have come in the postseason (OU won twice in the 2010 Norman Regional and UNC won two of three games in the 2025 Chapel Hill Regional).
• Oklahoma hit two home runs today, increasing its CWS total to 10 home runs. It is the most home runs through four CWS games at Charles Schwab Field (stadium opened in 2011).
• Oklahoma has homered in 11 straight games, its longest streak of the season.
• Five of OU’s nine runs scored today came with two outs.
• This was Oklahoma’s 30th game this season with 10-plus hits. The Sooners have registered double-digit hits in nine of their last 11 games (all in the NCAA Tournament).
• Oklahoma stole three bases in the top of the fourth inning, becoming just the second team to notch three stolen bases in a single half-inning of a CWS finals game (Michigan in 2019 was the other).
• True freshman Cord Rager pitched 5.0 innings in the start, his second at the College World Series. He threw 7.0 shutout innings in OU’s CWS opener vs. Alabama.
  • In the CWS, he has pitched 12.0 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits with 13 strikeouts and just two walks.
  • In four NCAA Tournament starts, Rager has pitched 24.0 innings and allowed six runs on 16 hits and just three walks and has notched 27 strikeouts.
• Rager’s three NCAA Tournament starts of 6-plus innings ranks third in the last four seasons, only to LSU’s Paul Skenes and Kade Anderson, who had four such outings in 2023 and 2025, respectively. Rager is the only freshman among that group.
• Rager has totaled 94 strikeouts over his 76.0 innings this season. He ranks second among OU freshman in strikeouts (Austin Mix had 95 in 2000) and third in innings pitched (behind Austin Mix, who pitched 106.0 innings in 2000 and Steve Connelly, who pitched 81.1 innings in 1993).
• Oklahoma has started a true freshman on the mound in each of its four CWS games. Cord Rager (two starts), Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski have combined for 25.0 innings over four starts, allowing only five earned runs.
• Junior Gavyn Jones made his College World Series debut on the mound and struck out four over 2.1 scoreless innings. His four strikeouts were a season high and tied his career high (also had four strikeouts at South Carolina on March 15, 2025).
• Junior LJ Mercurius made his third CWS relief appearance and struck out two over 1.2 hitless frames to close the game.
• Junior Deiten Lachance registered his second multi-home run game of the season. His other was against Tennessee on May 16 (three home runs).
  • Six Sooners have games this season with multiple home runs (Lachance has two, Dasan Harris has two, Jason Walk has one, Camden Johnson has one, Brendan Brock has one and Drew Dickerson has one).
  • Lachance, Walk and Harris each have multiple home run games in the College World Series, all in the last two games (Walk and Harris on June 17 vs. Georgia and Lachance today).
• Lachance is just the fifth player to hit two home runs in a CWS Finals game, joining Florida’s Ty Evans and Jac Caglianone (2023), Texas’ Russell Modlenhauer (2009) and Fresno State’s Steve Detwiler (2008).
• Lachance leads the team with his 18 home runs and 68 RBI this season. All 18 of his home runs have come in the last 32 games since April 9, and 14 have come in 20 games since May 2. He has hit six home runs in 11 NCAA Tournament games and three in the CWS.
• Lachance and right fielder Dasan Harris lead the Sooners with 17 RBI in the NCAA Tournament.
• Kyle Branch’s two-run single that gave OU the lead in the fourth inning represented his first hit in the CWS. He did not have a hit in his first 11 CWS at bats.
• Dayton Tockey has registered three hits in the CWS (3 for 15) and all three have been doubles.
• Since May 9 at Arkansas (17 games), Oklahoma has hit 45 home runs. 
• OU has scored 103 runs on 138 hits in its 11 NCAA Tournament games.
• Walk extended his team-leading hitting streak to 13 games. Walk has reached base in 21 straight games and Jaxon Willits has a 17-game reached base streak.

Up Next

Oklahoma and No. 5-seed North Carolina will meet in the second game of the 2026 NCAA Men’s College World Series finals at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The game will be televised on ABC.

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