If you could describe the Oklahoma baseball season, I would describe it as a roller coaster. From the early season success in nonconference and SEC play, to losing four straight conference series to end the regular season, Sooner fans have had the ultimate highs and lows throughout the season. But as it is often said, if you can get hot at the right time anything can happen, and the Sooners have showed that.
Knocking off No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech and No. 15 national seed Kansas, Oklahoma is one of the hottest teams in all of college baseball and the Sooners look to keep the hot streak going as they head to Omaha for the Men's College World Series. You may be wondering what has gone well for them all of a sudden, and there a few things.
Read more: Even improved odds reveal there's still no belief in Oklahoma's MCWS title run
The resurgence of Deiten Lachance
Catcher Deiten Lachance had gone through a massive power struggle the first two-thirds of the season, but after he finally launched his first home run of the season on the road against Vanderbilt, they started to come in bunches. He has hit 15 home runs in the second half of the season to help lead the late season power surge for the Sooners.
Freshman pitchers
The other big story other then the explosive offensive impact has been the growth of the pitching staff, especially three freshmen pitchers who are now more well-known in the college baseball world. Cord Rager has spent the year as the normal Sunday starter but has blown expectations out of the water. He had two excellent starts against The Citadel in the Atlanta Regional and Kansas in the Lawrence Super Regional, which lines himself up to get the ball in Game 1 of the MCWS against the Crimson Tide on Saturday.
Xander Mercurius is the other young arm who has come into his own on the postseason stage. Mercurius spent a majority of this season as one of the first relievers out of the bullpen, but a lot like Rager, has come on strong in the postseason. The performances he put together against Georgia Tech and Kansas were huge boosts of momentum for the entire pitching staff.
The other big key is if the bullpen depth can stay productive. The Sooners' relievers have been lights out so far, and if they are going to make a run in Omaha, they are going to have to stay red hot.
Read more: Sooners need to ride the horse they rode in on for success in MCWS
Dayton Tockey
Where do you even start with Dayton Tockey?
Tockey has had the ultimate roller coaster season. He had been unplayable at times this season while losing starts to Connor Larkin in the middle section of the campaign. But a lot like everyone else on this Sooner roster, when they got out of SEC play, things started to change. Tockey has hit a home run in six of Oklahoma's last nine games and has been a key player in the Sooners' recent success. If the Sooners are going to keep this train rolling through the Men's College World Series, Tockey will have to keep his hot stretch going.
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