OMAHA, Neb. – They put the BOOM in Boomer Sooner.
Jason Walk and Dasan Harris both homered twice as Oklahoma downed No. 3 Georgia 11-4 in front of 24,446 fans on Wednesday evening in Game 12 of the 2026 College World Series at Charles Schwab Field.
The Sooners (41-22) advanced to face North Carolina in the CWS Championship Series. The best-of-three series begins on Saturday, June 20. The Bulldogs concluded their season with a 53-14 record.
“Really proud of these guys picking each other up,” said OU head coach Skip Johnson. “You’re looking at a baseball team, a selfless baseball team, which is really fun to be around. And hopefully I can just stay out of the way the next three games.”
OU belted five total home runs. Walk and Harris each had four homers on the season entering the contest.
With one away in the top of the third, Walk hit a fly ball to center that kept carrying all the way over the fence that was 408 feet from home plate to give OU a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, Trey Gambill launched a long fly into the Sooner bullpen for his 11th homer of the season to put OU up 2-0. After a base hit by Brendan Brock, Harris hammered a homer to right center to extend the lead to 4-0.
UGA got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. Kolby Branch doubled to left center and came home on a single by Ryan Black to make it 4-1.
OU got that run back in the top of the sixth. Gambill led off with a single, stole second, went to third on a flyout to left and scored on a chopper to second by Harris as the Sooners took a 5-1 advantage.
The Bulldogs put up a crooked number in the bottom of the sixth. Brennan Hudson had a one-out single and went to second when Ryan Wynn drew a two-out walk. That was the end of the night for OU starter Nick Wesloski, who was replaced by LJ Mercurius.
Jack Arcamone hit a slow roller to first that could not be handled, loading the bases. Mercurius walked Kolby Branch and Black to force in two runs before a fielder’s choice by Phelps ended the inning, as UGA pulled within two at 5-3.
The Sooners responded in the top of the seventh. Kyle Branch drew a leadoff walk, went to third on a two-out single by Deiten LaChance and scored on a double by Jaxon Willits to extend the lead to 6-3.
Harris and Walk both went deep again in the eighth, a two-run shot for Harris, as OU pushed the lead to 9-3.
“Honestly, it was just trying to pass the bat to the next guy,” Walk said. “I know everybody behind me can hit really well. And it was actually funny because when Dasan hit the second one, I was, like, you’re not trying to have a home run battle right now are you? And then I ended up hitting one, so I let him hear it a little bit.”
Gambill had his fourth hit of the game in the ninth, a two-run double to make it 11-3.
Kolby Branch homered in the bottom of the ninth for the Bulldogs, his 20th of the season, making the final 11-4. He high-fived his brother Kyle rounding second base.
“Unbelievable — can’t script it up any better,” Kolby Branch said. “You’re down eight runs, so you’re just trying to have a good at-bat. And you have those emotions flowing through you because you know it’s your last one, most likely. I got a pitch up and drilled it. And I saw Kyle and he was out there, he was smiling. It’s a good moment. Got to high-five him and that was kind of cool, wishing luck in the national championship.”
Harris homered twice and knocked in a career-best five, while Walk hit a pair of solo dingers. Gambill went 4 for 5 with a double, a homer, two runs and three RBI for the Sooners.
Wesloski (2-1) worked 5.2 innings with four hits, one earned run, two walks and four strikeouts to earn the win.
“I think it was a positive day overall,” Wesloski said. “There’s definitely room for improvement — attacking batters early in courts, getting ahead in the counts. But I think overall, it was a win on my part. But you gotta look at the catcher, you gotta look at the pitch callers. Those guys were elite all night. There were guys making plays behind me. It’s not just about me. It’s the seven guys behind me. They’re the reason why we were able to have success tonight.”
Mercurius pitched the final 3.1 innings with two hits, one run, two walks and two strikeouts to record his fourth save. All four of his saves have come in the postseason.
Kolby Branch went 2 for 3 with a double, a homer, two runs and two RBI for the Bulldogs.
“I think OU’s playing really, really hot baseball right now,” UGA head coach Wes Johnson said. “That team is playing at their peak. They came out tonight, they had a guy who came out, pounded the strike zone. I thought we had some things, had some chances a couple times to get back into the game. But they executed pitches all night long. They got off great swings in hitter counts and didn’t miss their pitch.”
Notes
- Oklahoma is 3-2 all-time against North Carolina. The Tar Heels won two of three meetings with the Sooners last year in the Chapel Hill Regional.
- This will be Oklahoma’s second trip to the CWS Championship Series. The Sooners lost twice to Ole Miss in 2022. OU did win national championships in 1951 and 1994.
- Through the 2026 NCAA Tournament, OU beat No. 2 Georgia Tech twice in the Atlanta Regional, swept two games at No. 15 Kansas in the Lawrence Super Regional, and defeated No. 3 Georgia twice and No. 7 Alabama once in the College World Series.
- OU has 45 home runs in its 20 games since May 1 after just 46 homers in their first 43 games.
- Jason Walk extended his hit streak to 12 games and his on-base streak to 20 games.
- Georgia scored 16 runs in its four CWS games, the fewest runs in a four-game stretch this season. The previous low was 20.