10 reasons why the Sooners baseball Natty was unbelievably and extraordinarily special

The best thing about winning a national championship in any sport is that you get to relish it for an entire year as reigning national champs.

The Oklahoma Sooners capped off a successful 2025-26 athletic year, which included two national titles, with an improbable Men's College World Series championship, the team's third overall in the sport of baseball and first in 32 years.

One thing that made this championship so extraordinary was that no one, with the possible exception of the OU players themselves, saw this coming. The Sooners limped to the end of the regular season, losing seven of their last 10 games, and yet managed to rise from the ashes in the postseason, rolling over five nationally seeded opponents -- quite decisively -- on the way to a national title.

For three consecutive weeks immediately following the regular season, Oklahoma took on a new life and an identity this group of Sooners and their head coach always knew it had, delivering an improbable11-2 postseason record and outscoring its 13 opponents by a combined score of 118-53.

Here are 10 other reasons that, in the words of Sooner radio voice Toby Rowland, made this the "most improbable, inconceivable, unbelievable championship run in Oklahoma history:

1. The Sooners freshmen pitching trio was a key

At no time in College World Series history had a team started freshman pitchers in every game on the way to capturing a national championship. Oklahoma started three freshman -- Cord Rager, Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski -- in every CWS game the Sooners played.

This was entirely different than the starting rotation head coach Skip Johnson used for most of the season. Entering the CWS, Mercurius and Wesloski had made just two career starts between them. They each made two starts in the CWS.

The pitching move paid off for the Sooners. The Oklahoma staff put up a 3.31 ERA in the NCAA Tournament, and the group was even better in the CWS, producing a staff ERA of 2.67. Those two numbers compare to a season-long OU pitching ERA of over 5.00.

2. Jaxon Willits brought the lumber

Jaxon Willits was on fire offensively during the College World Series, batting a team-best .500 with 13 hits in 26 official plate appearances. He also drove in seven runs and scored five. Five of his 13 hits were doubles, and he also unloaded a home run. The junior shortstop, son of OU assistant coach and former Sooner and major league star Reggie Willits, recorded three three-hit games in Oklahoma's six CWS games.

3. Power packed duo of Deiten Lachance and Dayton Tockey (the "D"-day brothers)

The "D"-day brothers, Deiten Lachance and Dayton Tockey, were the bash brothers who led Oklahoma late-season charge of fence-clearing four baggers. The Sooners hit 29 of their 95 home runs for the season during the NCAA Tournament and 12 in the College World Series. Lachance and Tockey alone were responsible for 12 of OU's 29 postseason home runs and a combined four in the CWS.

Tockey's game-winning, walk-off home run against No. 2 Georgia Tech to claim the Atlanta Regional championship was easily the most memorable of the Sooners' 29 postseason homers. That home run made the difference in Oklahoma being sent home or moving on and getting to the College World Series. And once that occurs, as we all know, anything can happen.

4. Overpowering five national seeds on the road to the championship

On the way to the promised land and the Holy Grail of NCAA college baseball, Oklahoma managed to beat No. 2 Georgia Tech twice, a team many thought would win the whole thing, No. 3 Georgia twice, the SEC champions and next most likely to win the national championship, No. 5 North Carolina twice in the CWS championship series, No. 7 Alabama (in the CWS) and No. 15 Kansas (in the Super Regional).

I'm not sure that any of the national champions since the College World Series was introduced in 1947 have had to face as many national seeds on the way to winning a national title.

5. JUCO jackpots

Five members of the Oklahoma starting lineup for all 13 of Oklahoma's 2026 NCAA postseason games were either junior-college transfers (C Deiten Lachance, OF/C Brendan Brock, OF/DH Trey Gambill and 1B Dayton Tockey) or from the transfer portal (3B Camden Johnson). And all were major contributors, both offensively and defensively, in the Sooners' remarkable postseason championship journey.

6. Coming in 11th in the SEC, No. 1 in the country at the finish

Oklahoma began the college baseball season winning 15 of its first 17 games and at one point was ranked as high as No. 8 in the national rankings. The Sooners faltered down the stretch, however, losing seven of its final 10 regular-season games, including four consecutive SEC series. OU was then lost to lower-seeded LSU in the SEC Tournament. The rest of the story makes for incredible history.

7. Skip Johnson was the skipper we needed

Skip Johnson just completed his ninth season as head coach of Oklahoma baseball, and after this unthinkable season, he probably has a job at OU for as long as he wants it. Johnson led the Sooners to their second College World Series appearance in the past five seasons.

OU was a runner-up to Ole Miss in 2022, but the Sooners finished the job this season and came away with the top prize. A couple of days following the conclusion of the CWS, the Sooner skipper was named National Coach of the Year.

It was the second time Johnson has received the honor. He also won the award after the Sooners' last CWS appearance in 2022. He is the only Oklahoma baseball coach to receive the award.

8. Sooner fans showed up and showed out in Omaha

The Oklahoma players and coaches will be the first to tell you that the fan support at the CWS in Omaha was a huge part of the Sooners' run to the national championship. Sooner fans, including former and current OU star athletes, showed up in huge numbers to cheer for Oklahoma, and it all paid off in a big way. This was in stark contrast to Sooner fan support in the stands when OU and Ole Miss met in the 2022 CWS championship series.

9. OU didn't have to worry about getting punched in the mouth; it was the Sooners that did the punching

After the Sooners had eliminated SEC champion Georgia to advance to the CWS championship series, Trey Gambill delivered one of the most memorable quotes of the series in a postgame interview. "You're going to get punched in the face," the OU senior said. You're going to bleed from the mouth. The question is, do you like the taste of blood? Are you going to be Okay with it? For us, we just keep fighting, keep going."

10. Xavier and LJ Mercurius saved their best performances of the season for the end

The brother tandem of Xander and LJ Mercurius combined to pitch 24 of the 54 innings by Oklahoma pitchers in this year's College World Series. Xander, a true freshman, started two of the games (Georgia and North Carolina) and gave up seven earned runs and 11 hits in 11.1 innings, striking out 17 with five walks.

Older brother LJ, who was the Friday or Saturday starter for most of the season, worked 12.2 innings during the CWS, all in relief, allowing just two earned runs and eight hits while striking out 11 and issuing three free passes.

Xander's ERA in his two CWS appearances was 3.27; LJ's was an impressive 1.38.

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