Oklahoma opened its College World Series run with a statement, blanking No. 7 Alabama 9–0 behind freshman left‑hander Cord Rager and an offense that never cooled in Omaha. Rager dominated from his first pitch, despite starting the game with a pitch‑clock violation, piling up eight strikeouts across 7 shutout innings. He carried a no‑hitter into the fifth, worked out of his only real jam with a double-play, and handed the ball off after allowing just three hits and no walks in one of the most efficient outings of the tournament so far.
The Sooners backed him early with run support. Trey Gambill opened the scoring with a two‑run double in the first, and OU kept applying pressure as Deiten Lachance, hobbling after rolling his ankle, grounded into a run‑scoring double play in the third before crushing a two‑run homer in the sixth to extend the lead to 5–0.
The knockout came in the eighth, when OU batted around and plated four more on a two‑run double from Brendan Brock and a two‑run single from Dasan Harris. Reliever LJ Mercurius closed out the final two innings, facing the minimum.
With the win, Oklahoma advanced to Monday night’s winner’s bracket game against the Georgia–Texas winner, while Alabama dropped into an elimination matchup. From the first to the last inning, the Sooners looked every bit like a team capable of sticking around in Omaha.
