Oklahoma
Oklahoma ‘Getting Gritty’ After SEC Tournament Loss
NORMAN — Oklahoma didn’t shy away from the disappointment of losing to Georgia in the opening game of the SEC Tournament.
The Sooners have been open about using that as motivation in the Norman Regional.
The essons continue to be apparent, as third-seeded Oklahoma beat Kansas 9-0 in five innings Saturday at Love’s Field.
The Sooners have won their two games so far in the regional by a combined 20-0 while needed the minimum of eight at-bats.
“Georgia, did not feel good about that loss,” OU coach Patty Gasso said. “But it really inspired us to be better and change.
“So coming back to Norman, really, really working hard on the field. Really holding players kind of accountable, saying, ‘Do it again, do it again.’ They’re holding each other accountable, saying, ‘Do it again.’ And the goal here is to start peaking, and I believe this is the best run show that I’ve seen from this team thus far. So I think we are going in that direction.”
The Sooners will look to continue their run when they take on Binghamton, Kansas or Michigan at 2 p.m. Sunday at Love’s Field. Oklahoma needs to win one game in potentially two chances to advance to the Super Regionals.
Against Georgia, Oklahoma scored four first-inning runs and made it 5-0 on Kai Minor‘s homer to lead off the second.
But the rest of the way, the Sooners managed just two hits.
While Gasso was plenty happy with the three second-inning runs Saturday that came on home runs by Kasidi Pickering and Isabela Emerling, she was happier about the way the six-run fourth unfolded.
“I love home runs. Everybody loves home runs, but I love watching our team run the bases,” Gasso said. “It’s fun to put them in motion sometimes. It was good heads-up base running. We were that all day long. We can do it all kinds of ways, as long as we swing hard.”
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The Sooners produced the runs without the benefit of a homer, getting two doubles two singles, and four walks to help push the runs across and move the game into run-rule territory.
“I think taking that loss and kind of using it as, not like dwelling on it, but just learning how to just take it and what we could do better,” Miali Guachino said when asked about the biggest change spurred by the SEC Tournament loss. “I think we’re just kind of using it as fuel, and kind of just getting gritty, I think that’s the best word. Like, at practice and everything. I think we’re just starting to get gritty now.”
Oklahoma doesn’t figure to forget the loss to the Bulldogs anytime soon.
“Just being tougher, being more competitive, and not being denied again,” Emerling said. “Because we don’t want to feel like that again.”
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A pedestrian was killed early Sunday morning after being struck on I-235 Northbound in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers say 49-year-old Corey L. Williams of Oklahoma City was walking across the interstate when he was hit in the middle of the roadway around 1 a.m. at the junction of NW 23rd Street.
Two other vehicles were involved in the collision. Neither driver nor any passengers were injured.
One driver is a 19-year-old woman from Edmond. The other is a 23-year-old woman from Oklahoma City.
This remains an active investigation.
Editor’s note: We used AI tools to help with editing and formatting this story. A human journalist reviewed everything before publication.
The Sooners got half of the job done on Saturday.
Oklahoma defeated No. 15 Kansas 8-1 in Game 1 of the Super Regional series between the Sooners and the Jayhawks. OU can clinch its first College World Series appearance since 2022 with a win over KU on Sunday.
The Sooners controlled the game at the plate, on the mound and in the field.
Almost all of OU’s offense came in the middle of the contest.
Outfielder Dasan Harris scored the game’s first run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning. And one at-bat later, infielder Dayton Tockey blasted a three-run home run to left-center field to make it a 4-0 game.
The Sooners were able to separate themselves even further from the Jayhawks in the fifth.
Infielder Camden Johnson hit a two-run home run to give OU a 6-0 lead. And later that inning, Trey Gambill blasted a solo shot to center field.
OU got one more insurance run in the seventh, when Brendan Brock singled and drove Deiten Lachance across to score.
The Sooners combined for 11 hits as a team. Eight of the nine batters in OU’s starting lineup registered at least one base hit.
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On the mound, freshman Cord Rager controlled the Jayhawks throughout his six innings.
Rager gave up only one hit, and it came in the first inning. The left-handed pitcher struck out six Jayhawks and allowed only four baserunners during his outing.
LJ Mercurius pitched the rest of the game for the Sooners. He allowed Kansas to score its only run on a solo homer in the eighth. Mercurius allowed the one run on three hits in three innings.
Oklahoma’s Game 1 win follows its heroics at the Atlanta Regional last week. After losing to Georgia Tech in the 1-0 game, the Sooners won three games in a row — against The Citadel and twice against the Yellow Jackets — to advance to the Super Regionals.
OU improved to 37-22 overall with the win. The Sooners are 5-1 in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Their recent success is a total flip from how they performed in the weeks preceding the tourney, as OU lost four series in a row to end the regular season and dropped its SEC Tournament opener to LSU.
Kansas dropped to 45-17 after losing Game 1. The Jayhawks won both the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles and defeated Arkansas, Missouri State and Northeastern in their home regional last week. Dominic Voegele collected the loss for KU, as he surrendered seven runs — three earned — on seven hits and a walk.
The second game of the Super Regional series will begin at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
If the Sooners win Game 2, they will go to Omaha. If they lose, they’ll be forced to play a winner-take-all Game 3 on Monday, with first pitch time to be determined.
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Call it good timing, call it luck or a team finally showing their true selves. Oklahoma will take any of them..
Whatever the secret sauce, the Sooners (36-22) find themselves on the road once again. This time, in the Super Regionals to face an old conference friend in the Kansas Jayhawks. For the sixth time in program history, OU can smell college baseball’s hallowed grounds in Omaha.
But the Jayhawks want the same thing. Despite downing the No. 2 team in the country, with perhaps the best offense in recent years, Oklahoma will be up against it when it faces the Big 12’s regular season and conference tournament champions.
On the mound first will be true freshman LHP Cord Rager. RHP LJ Mercurius will get the nod for Game 2 on Saturday.
How to Watch Game 1 of the Lawrence Super Regional
- When: Saturday, June 6
- Time: 5 p.m.
- Channel: ESPN2
Starting freshman has been a part of Skip Johnson’s philosophy during the postseason. OU has started three true freshman — Rager, Mercurius and RHP Nick Wesloski — for three straight games before the veterans were called on the final two against Georgia Tech. The Sooners went 2-1 in those three games.
OU’s pitching staff has been made stronger with Mercurius’ move to the bullpen — a decision he described as “tough” on Thursday, but that he “went to Skip and said ‘Let’s go win.’” The former starter pitched four innings to earn the save, only giving up two hits and no runs.
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Dayton Tockey’s home run has already reached viral status. It will be forever etched in Sooner lore — if not already — if OU can get past the Jayhawks (45-16).
Oklahoma is 169-90-2 going back to 1945 against Kansas. This year is a little different for the boys from Lawrence. KU can hit with the best of them — best shown by Tyson LeBlanc’s program season-record 24 home runs. Behind his hitting, KU has a shot to get to the College World Series for only the second time in school history.
If the Sooners prevail, it would be their 11th appearance in the College World Series. Their last came in 2022 when they finished as the national runner-up to the Ole Miss Rebels, who beat the Sooners in two games.
They may very well make it 11 if they keep hitting at the rate they’ve been since the end of May. OU has hit 28 home runs over the last 11 games.
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