OMAHA, Neb. – It was a fully-charged battery that powered the Sooners.
Pitcher Cord Rager fanned eight in seven scoreless innings and catcher Deiten LaChance homered and scored three times as Oklahoma blanked No. 7 Alabama 9-0 in front of 24,579 fans on Saturday afternoon in Game 3 of the 2026 College World Series at Charles Schwab Field.
The Sooners (39-22) will face the winner of the Georgia-Texas game on Monday, June 15, at 6 p.m. CT. The Crimson Tide (42-20) will meet the loser in an elimination game on Monday at 1 p.m. CT.
Rager (6-3) dominated, working a season-high seven innings. He allowed three hits, did not walk a batter and matched a season high with eight strikeouts.
“Just get the leadoff guy out,” Rager said about his approach. “I watched the other games. I saw guys were letting the environment get the best of them. I just tried to stay calm, get strike one, get lead-off outs. And that’s the process for me.”
Rager retired six of the seven leadoff hitters he faced.
LaChance reached on a fielder’s choice in the first. Jaxon Willits followed with a base hit and LaChance stepped awkwardly on second base. Trey Gambill laced a double to right center with LaChance hobbling home from second and Willits streaking home from first to put the Sooners up 2-0.
“I think from the get-go we took the momentum in the game,” OU head coach Skip Johnson said. “Alabama’s a really good baseball team, and we took the momentum in the game and sustained the momentum. And that was really big.”
Jason Walk walked to lead off the third and scored on a double play as OU went up 3-0.
LaChance ripped a two-run homer to left in the sixth, his 16th of the season, to give the Sooners some breathing room at 5-0.
“He gave me a good pitch and I hit it out,” LaChance said. “Took my time around the bases. There’s no timer around there. I’m an aggressive hitter. If you give me something to hit, I’m going to hit it out or at least hit it hard. It was awesome. At least we won today. I’m just trying to help the team win.”
“We stayed in the process,” Johnson said. “Cord did a great job of staying in the process. Our defense was really good. And LaChance hits a big home run to separate the game. It made it a little bit better. Your breaking ball and your changeup, your fastball command get better when you have a lead like that.”
In the eighth, LaChance had a single and scored. Dasan Harris capped the four-run outburst with a two-run base hit to make it 9-0.
LJ Mercurius tossed the final two innings for OU with two hits, no walks and two strikeouts to secure the victory and the shutout.
No player for Alabama had more than one hit.
The only inning in which the Crimson Tide had two reach was the fifth. John Lemm had a leadoff single to center and went to second on a base hit by Eric Hines. Rager got Brennan Holt to hit a shot to first that Dayton Tockey turned into a 3-6-3 double play. Luke Vaughn grounded out to second to strand Lemm at third.
Tyler Fay (11-5) took the loss, giving up six hits and five runs in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Fay is from nearby Doniphan, Nebraska.
“it was really exciting,” Fay said of his homecoming. “There were a lot of people here. Lots of families scattered throughout the stands. I was really excited to go into the game. And it was a cool atmosphere, for sure.”
Notes
- This was OU’s seventh shutout of the season.
- The Sooners have 38 home runs in 18 games since May 1 after just 46 homers in their first 43 contests.
- OU has scored at least eight runs in each of its past six games.
- Jason Walk has a 10-game hitting streak and has reached base in 18 straight contests.
- Daniel LaChance has 12 homers since May 1, tops in the nation.
- Bryce Fowler extended his on-base streak to 13 games, while Brennan Holt has reached base in 11 straight contests for the Crimson Tide.