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06/13 18:24 CDT Cord Rager stymies Alabama and Sooners' offense keeps rolling
in 9-0 College World Series victory
Cord Rager stymies Alabama and Sooners' offense keeps rolling in 9-0 College
World Series victory
By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) --- Freshman left-hander Cord Rager allowed three hits over
seven innings, an injured Deiten Lachance hobbled around the bases 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 the winner of Saturday
night's game between Texas and Georgia. The Crimson Tide (42-20) will face the
Texas-Georgia loser 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.
"Alabama's a really good baseball team, and we took the momentum in the game
and sustained the momentum," OU coach Skip Johnson said, "and that was really
big."
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.
"Just being able to mix my pitches better," Rager said. "Don't fall into
rhythms and patterns is kind of what I've 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're trying to do at the plate. That's
pretty much it right there."
The Sooners entered the national tournament off losses in seven of nine games.
They've 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 "Big Maple." 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.
"He went full Kirk Gibson on us, didn't he?" 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.
"There's no timer around the bases," Lachance said. "I 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."
___
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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