Dayton Tockey and Trey Gambill launched pivotal home runs as the Sooners overcame early sluggishness and weather delays to dispatch the Bulldogs and secure a crucial postseason start
ATLANTA, Ga. - It wasn’t always pretty, but the Sooners got the job done and avoided an 0-1 start in the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma took care of business against The Citadel, winning 8-3 in the regional opener. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night but got pushed to Saturday because of the weather.
OU’s offense was quiet early on, but once the middle innings hit, the bats finally woke up. Infielder Dayton Tockey got things going with a solo home run in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1.
The Citadel answered right back though, scoring two runs in the top of the fourth to regain the lead.
That’s when Oklahoma responded.
The Sooners put together a big bottom of the fourth, collecting four hits and pushing across three runs. The big blow was a two-run homer to deep center field off the bat of Trey Gambill.
The Sooners stayed in command from there on out.
The Citadel handed OU some extra runs later with defensive mistakes. In the bottom of the sixth, their third baseman booted a routine ground ball and only got the out at third, which let another run score.
Jason Walk then drove in a run with an RBI single before the inning finally ended.The Bulldogs’ bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding either.
Relievers Andrew Buffkin and CJ Van Slooten combined to walk four batters in the seventh inning, and Oklahoma cashed in for two more insurance runs. Jaxon Willits added one final run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly that scored Walk.
On the mound, Cord Rager earned the win. He went six innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits.
It wasn’t his cleanest outing, but he battled through it and gave the Sooners a chance to win. LJ Mercurius came in and was outstanding in relief, throwing three shutout innings with just two hits and one walk.
After scoring three runs in the first four innings, The Citadel went silent and didn’t score again the rest of the way.
Oklahoma (33-21) showed some fight and manufactured runs when they needed to, even if the offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders the whole game.
Now the real test comes quickly.
UP NEXT: Oklahoma will face Georgia Tech tonight in the winner’s bracket, with first pitch set for 5 p.m. CT.
That’s going to be a tough matchup against a very good team, but winning this one would put OU in a strong position to advance out of the regional.
The Citadel drops into the loser’s bracket and will play Illinois-Chicago in an elimination game. The Flames got beat pretty badly by Georgia Tech on Friday, so they’ll be fighting for their lives too.
