No. 2 seed OU baseball (34-22) got out to a hot start it never looked back on in a 15-5 win over No. 3 The Citadel (36-26) in the Atlanta Regional.
OU scored its highest number of runs since its win over Arkansas (40-21) on May 10, helping it advance to the regional championship, where it will need two wins. The Sooners would have their first regional championship since 2022, the year they last won the College World Series, if they win their next two.
Junior outfielder Jason Walk started off the Sooners’ scoring onslaught with a leadoff solo home run in the first inning, one of his three runs in the win. His fast start against the Bulldogs Sunday followed a speedy run from second base after an error in the Sooners’ loss to No. 1 seed Georgia Tech (50-9) Saturday.
The Sooners’ piled it on in the third inning for a 6-0 start, double its scoring in its 9-3 loss against Georgia Tech Saturday, before they came out of the fourth inning up 13-2. Junior catcher Brendan Brock grounded a two-out, two-run single in the third inning, and senior outfielder Trey Gambill had a two-run double in the fourth to contribute to the strong stretch.
Brock and Gambill each finished the game with three runs batted in, following their superb performances in their first regional game against The Citadel. They shifted the momentum against The Citadel Saturday to give the Sooners their first lead of the game against the Bulldogs in a 8-3 win. Brock scored a run on a double play ball, and Gambill blasted a two-run homer.
The Sooners also had another great showing from a freshman pitcher against The Citadel Sunday. Freshman pitcher Nick Wesloski recorded four strikeouts, a 4.03 earned run average and allowed six hits in seven innings of work. He also pitched four scoreless innings against the Bulldogs Sunday.
Wesloski’s performance follows the Sooners starting two fellow freshman pitchers, Cord Rager and Xander Mercurius, in their previous regional games. Mercurius recorded a career-high eight strikeouts and threw 100 pitches against Georgia Tech Saturday. Rager recorded a career-high-tying eight strikeouts in a career-long six innings of work against The Citadel Saturday.
Head coach Skip Johnson attributes Wesloski’s mindset to his time as a quarterback at McKinney Boyd High School in Texas.
“He’s a grinder, former quarterback and football family,” Johnson said on the SEC Network broadcast after the second inning. “So he’s aggressive, and he’s going to attack and go pitch to pitch.”
OU will rematch with Georgia Tech next. The Yellow Jackets need only one win to secure the regional championship, which would be their first since 2006 and sixth in program history.
“Coming in here playing the home team, home crowd, just getting on the board early and containing their offense (will be important),” Walk said on the SEC Network broadcast after the game.
OU will play Georgia Tech at 5 p.m. at Russ Chandler Stadium with the channel to be announced.