Mercurius Strikes Out 13 in Series-Opening Loss at Vandy

Thursday, April 9

Nashville, TN

6 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

22-11, 5-8

Vanderbilt

21-14, 7-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Oklahoma	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	1	5	11	2
Vanderbilt	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	5	X	10	10	1

Mercurius Strikes Out 13 in Series-Opening Loss at Vandy

April 09, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Final Stats Highlights

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 16 Oklahoma dropped the series opener at Vanderbilt Thursday night by a final of 10-5.

Starting right-handed pitcher LJ Mercurius struck out a career-high 13 batters in the loss, going 6.1 innings and surrendering three runs on five hits with just one walk. Thirteen of Mercurius' 19 recorded outs came via strikeout.

The game began as a pitching duel between Mercurius and Vanderbilt (21-14, 7-6) starter Connor Fennell with no score into the fourth inning. The Sooners (22-11, 5-8 SEC) took a 2-0 lead on Deiten Lachance's first home run as a Sooner in the fourth before Vanderbilt answered with one run in the home half of the inning.

Vandy would take advantage of the OU bullpen later in the game, scoring one in the sixth, three in the seventh and five in the eighth.

OU cut the lead to one run at the top of the eighth on a Trey Gambill RBI double and Brendan Brock run-scoring single, but the five-run bottom half of the eighth proved to be the difference.

The Sooners added one in the ninth on an RBI double from Camden Johnson to bring the final to 10-5.

Pitchers of Record

Win: Connor Fennell (3-1)
Loss: LJ Mercurius (5-4)
Save: Tyler Baird (3)

Statistical Snapshot

Trey Gambill | 3-for-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI
Brendan Brock | 2-for-4, 1 RBI
Jason Walk | 2-for-3, 1 2B
Deiten Lachance | 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
LJ Mercurius | 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 13 K

Notes

OU dropped to 22-11 on the year, 5-8 in SEC play and 4-6 in road games.
LJ Mercurius recorded a career-best 13 strikeouts. It was his second double-digit K game of the season and first since Feb. 14.
Mercurius' 13 K's was the most for a Sooner since Chazz Martinez fanned 14 vs. Northwestern State (2/27/21)
Trey Gambill had his third three-hit game of the season to tie for the team lead with nine multi-hit games. The senior also tied a career best with two doubles.
Deiten Lachance hit his first home run as a Sooner with a two-run blast in the fourth.
The loss was just the third of the season in which OU outhits the opponent as the Sooners had 11 hits to Vandy's 10. It was OU's 14th game with double-digit hits.

Up Next

Game two of the series is set for 6 p.m. CT Friday night on SECN+. All games can be heard on the radio via The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM with Toby Rowland on the call.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma baseball, follow the Sooners on X and Instagram (@OU_Baseball) and like Oklahoma Baseball on Facebook.