Trey Gambill sends stern CWS warning to North Carolina with Oklahoma ready to battle

There are many sayings about being knocked down and getting back up. My favorite is the old proverb "fall down seven times and stand up eight." That sounds like the appropriate way to describe what Oklahoma baseball has done over the past two months. 

The Sooners got knocked down a lot to end the season and looked dead in the water when they stumbled into the Atlanta regional. But Oklahoma got up and fought back. The run to escape the Atlanta region, dominate Kansas in the Lawrence Super Regional and sweep through its half of the College World Series bracket to reach the championship finals against North Carolina might seem like a dream on the surface, but as outfielder Trey Gambill points out, it's a product of a team that refused to quit when they had every reason to.

"I think the talent has always been there. And obviously, you look at the year and there've been ups and downs, but our preparation and hard work has never changed throughout the entire year," Gambill said on the SEC Network during a post-game interview after the Sooners' 11-4 win over Georgia. "In the SEC it's a dogfight. You're going to get punched in the face, you're going to bleed from the mouth. The question is, do you like the taste of blood? Are you going to be OK with it? For us, we just keep fighting and keep going."

The Sooners got punched in the mouth over their final month in the SEC

It's been a wild two months for Oklahoma baseball. The Sooners swept Missouri on April 17–19 and got a win over Oral Roberts in a one-off game. Then they fell hard, losing their final four conference series to Auburn, Florida, Arkansas and Tennessee before losing in the first-round of the SEC tournament to LSU.

When the damage was done, Oklahoma had a 4-9 record during that stretch. The Sooners stumbled into the national tournament and were treated as a likely sacrificial lamb for No. 2-ranked Georgia Tech. The lamb, however, showed much more fight than expected and enjoyed the fruits of their labor with a pile-on celebration on the Yellow Jackets' field. The scene repeated itself in the Lawrence Super Regional when Oklahoma swept Kansas. 

The Sooners will be underdogs against North Carolina when the championship series begins Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT. But, so what? Oklahoma has been underdogs for two months now. There were some that didn't believe they deserved a No. 2 seed in the Atlanta regional. The Sooners weren't supposed to survive past two games in the all-SEC double-elimination gauntlet in their half of the CWS bracket. Somehow, they've managed to walk through the fire and do it impressively, outscoring opponents 24-7. 

Baseball is a sport of momentum. Teams have ridden a hot pitcher or some hot bats to championships at every level. It doesn't matter what Oklahoma was two months ago, because the Sooners are a different bunch right now. They've tasted the blood, they've wiped their faces clean of the bruises, and now they are punching back harder and stronger because the shots they took couldn't knock them out.

North Carolina might be the favorites, but the Tar Heels should know that these Sooners aren't rolling over, they aren't simply happy to be here, and they aren't going to be willing participants in a coronation much like they were expected to be in Atlanta. Oklahoma is here to win a College World Series and if the last month is any indication, the Sooners will run through any wall necessary to make it happen. 

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