OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — His team one win away from the national championship, Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson won’t mess with success.
The Sooners’ offense is producing at a level higher than any team to play in the College World Series since the event moved to Charles Schwab Field 15 years ago.
When it looked as though OU’s pitching could implode after being nothing short of magnificent the last week, Cord Rager settled in after a rocky first inning and combined with two relievers to shut down North Carolina the rest of the way in a 9-3 victory in Game 1 of the CWS finals Saturday.
“I’m just going to stay out of their way,” Johnson said. “I don’t know any other way to do it. You think we’re going to go out and hit tonight and take 100 groundballs somewhere? We’re not going to do that. I can promise you that. Just stay out of their way.”
Deiten Lachance homered twice off North Carolina ace Jason DeCaro early and the Sooners (42-22) used a four-run fourth inning to pull away for their ninth straight win. Rager, Gavyn Jones and LJ Mercurius allowed only two runners to reach second base after the Tar Heels (53-12-1) struck for three runs in the first.
Oklahoma won national titles in baseball in 1951 and 1994 and will go for its third on Sunday. North Carolina, looking for its first, will try to force a deciding Game 3 on Monday.
“North Carolina’s a really good team,” Johnson said, “and we picked a fight today. They’ll be ready for us tomorrow.”
OU ended DeCaro’s uncharacteristic bad day in the fourth inning. The Sooners scored all four runs that inning with two outs starting when Kyle Branch broke a 3-all tie with a two-run single. Branch came home on Jason Walk’s base hit and Camden Johnson singled off Walker McDuffie to make it 7-3.
DeCaro (11-3), who came in with a 2.31 ERA, was charged with all seven runs after having not allowed more than three in any of his previous starts.
“I think they just really punished the mistakes,” DeCaro said. “I feel like for the most part I made some pitches, and then whenever I did leave a ball over the plate, especially with two strikes, they capitalized.”
Lachance homered for a 2-0 lead in the first inning and again in the third to tie it at 3. The 6-foot-5, 231-pound Canadian known as “Big Maple” has hit all 18 of his homers in the last 32 games, including six in the last eight.
“I’m just trying to catch barrel at the plate right now and just help the team, just pass the baton,” Lachance said. “That’s a big thing for us.”
Oklahoma has hit 45 of its 93 home runs in the last 17 games. OU has connected 28 times in 11 NCAA Tournament games, and its 10 homers in four CWS games are the most by a team since the event moved to Charles Schwab Field in 2011. The Sooners are batting .331 and averaging better than eight runs per game in the CWS.
“Their approach is to get an ‘A’ swing off. That’s clear,” Carolina coach Scott Forbes said. “They’re not afraid to strike out.”
Rager (7-3), who threw 15 2/3 shutout innings over his previous three outings, steadied himself in the second inning and lasted through the fifth.
“After the first inning, I stopped playing for myself,” Rager said. “I just started playing for the guys around me, for the team. I really had to try to really be a pitcher today because I didn’t have my best stuff.”
Carolina’s Carter French made the defensive play of the CWS in the third when Walk sent a drive to deep right. As French went back to make the play, his glove got lodged under the padding running across the top of the fence. His glove was a bit crumpled as the ball landed in it. He held onto it and displayed it to the umpire.
“The great thing about baseball when you’re playing in a weekend series is you move on quickly,” Forbes said. “That’s what our team will do. They just beat us today.”
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