OMAHA, Neb. (AP) 鈥� Freshman left-hander Cord Rager allowed three hits over seven innings, an injured after hitting a two-run homer and Oklahoma continued its postseason tear with a 9-0 victory over Alabama in the College World Series on Saturday.
The Sooners (39-22) advanced to play Monday against Georgia. The Crimson Tide (42-20) will face Texas in an elimination game Monday.
Alabama, which won two of three on the road against Oklahoma in April, was on its heels from the start in its first CWS appearance since 1999.
The Sooners put up two runs in the first inning against Tyler Fay (11-5), who grew up two hours west of Omaha in Doniphan, Nebraska. He gave up five runs in six innings, and the Sooners added four more in the eighth against two relievers.
鈥淎labama鈥檚 a really good baseball team, and we took the momentum in the game and sustained the momentum,鈥� OU coach Skip Johnson said, 鈥渁nd that was really big.鈥�
Rager (6-3), who has gone at least six innings in each of his three NCAA Tournament starts, routinely got ahead of batters, striking out four of the first six he faced and allowing only one baserunner through four innings.
With OU football coaching greats Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops looking on from a suite, Rager held Alabama hitless until John Lemm drilled his first pitch up the middle leading off the fifth and Eric Hines sent a ball down the third-base line. A double play and groundout ended the threat.
Rager allowed three singles in the longest outing of the season, walked none and struck out eight. Of his 88 pitches, 63 were strikes. He said going through the Southeastern Conference schedule prepared him for the postseason. In his last 19 innings, he’s given up three runs on 11 hits with 22 strikeouts and one walk.
鈥淛ust being able to mix my pitches better,鈥� Rager said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 fall into rhythms and patterns is kind of what I鈥檝e learned a lot, because I used to just go up there and throw heaters and not mix anything up and I would get ambushed by some teams. Having more intent, more conviction, and kind of just having more feel for the hitters and what they鈥檙e trying to do at the plate. That鈥檚 pretty much it right there.鈥�
The Sooners entered the national tournament off losses in seven of nine games. They鈥檝e won seven of eight in the NCAA Tournament with a .347 batting average, 19 homers, 31 extra-base hits and 79 runs.
No one has been better than Lachance, the 6-foot-5, 231-pound Canadian catcher whose nickname is 鈥淏ig Maple.鈥� He stayed in the game after he rolled his left ankle going into second base in the first inning. He drove a ball out to left for a 5-0 lead in the sixth, laboring during his trot around the bases and nearly making a full stop a few steps from the plate to raise his arms and pull them down with a clap.
鈥淗e went full Kirk Gibson on us, didn鈥檛 he?鈥� Alabama coach Rob Vaughn said.
Lachance said he has watched video of Gibson, playing on two bad legs, pumping his right arm and slowly making his way around the bases after his iconic game-ending homer for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series against the Athletics.
鈥淭here’s no timer around the bases,鈥� Lachance said. 鈥淚 took my time. I wanted to enjoy the moment a little bit. I knew it was big for the team. I just took it all in and it was awesome.鈥�
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