Sooners Rematch with Bulldogs in Semifinals Wednesday

OMAHA, Neb. – Oklahoma (40-22) meets Georgia (53-13) in the CWS semifinals at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday on ESPN with Karl Ravech, Kyle Peterson, Chris Burke and Kris Budden on the call.

All games can be heard on the radio via The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM and 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma and on The Varsity Network app with Toby Rowland and Carly Murray on the call. Tickets for the Men's College World Series are available via NCAAtickets.com.

THE BASICS

• The Sooners have started 2-0 in Omaha with impressive victories over No. 7 seed Alabama (9-0, Saturday) and third-seeded Georgia (4-3, Monday). OU is seeking its second CWS finals appearance in the last five years and fourth championship showing all-time (1951, '94, 2022).

• OU has been led by a pair of freshman pitchers, Cord Rager and Xander Mercurius, to the semis with Rager going seven innings of three-hit ball while striking out eight vs. Alabama, and Mercurius shutting down the UGA offense, hurling 7.1 innings of three-run ball with a career-high nine strikeouts. OU will start its third consecutive freshman on Wednesday in RHP Nick Wesloski. The McKinney, Texas, product's last outing was a career best in regionals vs. The Citadel, going seven innings of three-run ball with four strikeouts to help OU to the regional final.

• The Sooners are playing in the CWS semis for the second time in five years and fifth time in program history (1951, '75, '94, 2022). OU is making its 12th CWS appearance in program history and second in the last five years this week in Omaha, Neb., at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

• Oklahoma is seeking its third national title, winning titles in 1951 and 1994.

• En route to the CWS semifinals, Oklahoma has gone through the ACC regular season and tournament champ (Georgia Tech), the Big 12 regular season and tournament champ (Kansas) and the SEC regular season and tournament champ (Georgia).

OU IN THE NCAA TOURNEY

• OU has advanced to the College World Series 12 times including this season (1951, '72, '73, '74, '75, '76, '92, '94, '95, 2010, '22, '26).

• This is Oklahoma's 43rd NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth straight. The Sooners are 109-87 all-time in the NCAA postseason, and won national championships in 1951 and 1994.

• En route to its 12th appearance in Omaha, Oklahoma won its 15th regional in program history and third super regional.

• OU is 20-18 all-time at the College World Series and 5-2 under head coach Skip Johnson.

RECAPPING THE 2-0 CWS START

• Freshman righty Xander Mercurius earned the first win of his collegiate career in his fourth start of the season Monday in the Sooners' 4-3 win over No. 3 Georgia.

• The frosh hurled 7.1 innings for a career-high nine strikeouts against a potent Bulldog lineup.

• Righty reliever Jackson Cleveland turned in 1.2 innings of scoreless ball to secure his ninth save of the year, stranding four runners combined and slamming the door in the ninth with the tying run in scoring position.

• Brock and Willits both went yard against Georgia's Caden Aoki, who the Sooners handed just his second loss vs. an SEC team this season.

• OU moved to 2-0 in the 2026 College World Series, needing one win to advance to the championship series.

• In the CWS opener vs. Alabama, freshman lefty Cord Rager continued his prolific postseason performance with seven innings of shutout ball, and the Sooner bats came up with timely hits as Oklahoma shut out Alabama, 9-0.

• It was OU's seventh shutout of the season, third in program history at the CWS and first since 1975.

• It was the largest shutout victory for a team in the opening game of the CWS since 2002.

• The Sooners put up their sixth-consecutive double-digit hit performance, and Rager notched a season-best 7.0 scoreless innings and tied a career high with eight strikeouts.

UP NEXT

• With a win, Oklahoma advances to the College World Series championship series, June 20-21/22 vs. the winner of the other bracket's semifinal between (5) North Carolina and (16) West Virginia. North Carolina needs one win to advance while the Mountaineers would need to beat UNC twice.

• With a loss Wednesday, OU and Georgia would meet in a winner-take-all semifinal on Thursday at a time to be determined. The game would be broadcast on ESPN.

MORE CWS NOTES & NUGGETS

vs. Georgia
• The last time both starters (Aoki, Mercurius) went seven or more innings in a CWS game was in 2023 when Wake Forest's Rhett Lowder met LSU's Paul Skenes in the championship series.

• Brothers Kyle Branch (OU) and Kolby Branch (UGA) squared off in the first instance of brothers playing against one another in a College World Series game.

• It was only Aoki's second loss all season in games in which he's started against an SEC opponent.

• Oklahoma snapped Georgia's winning streak at nine games

• Mercurius' longest outing of the season prior to Monday was his 5.2 innings against Georgia Tech in the regional. He broke 100 pitches for just the second time on the year.

• Jason Walk extended his reached base streak to 19 games, a team best. He also tallied his 15th multi-hit game.

• Cord Rager and Xander Mercurius have combined for 14.1 innings of the 18 played at the College World Series, going 2-0 with 17 strikeouts and only three earned runs in that stretch.

• OU held UGA to 0-12 with runners on and 0-3 with runners in scoring position, with those three instances coming in the final two innings.

• OU is 11-3 in one-run games.

• Oklahoma is outscoring opponents, 76-43, in the first inning this season.

vs. Alabama
• Rager turned in his third consecutive start of six or more innings, all of which have come in NCAA Tournament play. Prior to postseason play Rager had not gone longer than five innings.

• It was the largest shutout victory for a team in the opening game of the CWS since 2002.

• The shutout was OU's third at the College World Series in program history and first since 1975 (7-0, Eastern Michigan).

• Lachance hit his 12th home run since May 2, the most in NCAA Division I during that time span. It was Lachance's fourth homer in the NCAA Tournament.

• Rager is just the third Sooner in CWS history to spin seven or more shutout innings.

• Lachance posted his 16th multi-RBI game performance of the year, a team best.

• Three Sooners posted multi-hit days. Eight of OU's nine batters reached via at least one hit.

• Rager tied a season high with eight strikeouts. He's reached eight four times this year and twice in postseason play.

• OU has won the opening game of the College World Series seven of 12 times, including three straight.

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