The Oklahoma Sooners will play for a national championship.
Winning a national title seemed impossible three weeks ago for this baseball team that had lost seven of its last 10, but now after waltzing through its loaded bracket of the Men's College World Series unscathed, it seems like more of a reality than a dream for Skip Johnson's squad.
The Sooners will play No. 5 national seed North Carolina in the three-game championship series, which starts Saturday night, after sealing their spot there with an 11-4 win over No. 3 Georgia on Wednesday. Neither OU or UNC has lost a game in Omaha yet, so something will have to give this weekend.
Sooners crush Georgia with another freshman gem to be at full strength vs. North Carolina in championship series
OU started its third freshman pitcher in as many games to beat Georgia for the second time in the MCWS, and it was once again another gem. While fellow freshmen Cord Rager and Xander Mercurius both tossed at least seven innings in their earlier outings, Nick Wesloski was an out away from reaching the seventh after giving up just one run on three hits with four strikeouts in 5.2 on Wednesday.
By Saturday night, Rager, who has claimed the ace role, and Mercurius will be ready to go again to give the Sooners both of their top arms for the championship series against UNC. Had Georgia managed to steal one Wednesday night, Rager likely would have had to take the mound for the "if necessary" game on Thursday to keep OU's season alive and forced Johnson to do some scrambling beyond that.
Rager and Mercurius have combined for a 1.49 ERA in 24.1 total innings between their two MCWS starts. A week before the start of the championship series in the opening game against No. 7 Alabama last Saturday, Rager shut out the Crimson Tide for 7.0 innings and struck out eight. Two days later, Mercurius went 7.2 against a powerful Georgia lineup and gave up just three runs thanks to three solo blasts in the midst of six hits allowed. Both needed just one reliever to finish things off for them.
Read more: Brent Venables has Oklahoma baseball fired up to take on the CWS after electric speech
That puts the Sooners at full strength on the mound heading into the MCWS final while also having the hottest bats in college baseball during an eight-game winning streak. OU's lineup has blasted eight home runs in three MCWS games, including five on Wednesday night, while playing at a Charles Schwab Field Omaha that was built to keep balls inside the park. Even before putting up 11 against Georgia, the Sooners were already averaging 10.3 runs a game during their winning streak that includes two victories apiece over the conference champions from the SEC, ACC and Big 12.
It's no hyperbole to state that things could not be any better for the Sooners with a national title on the line.
How to watch Oklahoma vs. North Carolina in CWS championship series
Game 1
When: 7 p.m. CT Saturday
Watch: ESPN (watch using fuboTV free trial)
Game 2
When: 1:30 p.m. CT Sunday
Watch: ABC (watch using fuboTV free trial)
Game 3 (if necessary)
When: 6 p.m. CT Monday
Watch: ESPN (watch using fuboTV free trial)
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