OMAHA, Neb. – Oklahoma (42-23) had its nine-game winning streak snapped with a 6-2 setback to No. 5 North Carolina (54-13-1) in game two of the best-of-three championship series at the College World Series before a sellout crowd of 24,621 on Sunday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field.
The outcome forces a winner-take-all showdown for the national title at 6 p.m. Monday night on ESPN.
OU had outscored opponents 92-32 during its season-long winning streak that included two NCAA Tournament victories each over No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 3 Georgia and No. 15 Kansas, plus an opening-round CWS victory over No. 7 Alabama and a 9-3 championship series triumph over UNC on Saturday.
The Sooners’ sizzling bats put up two runs in the first but were held scoreless the rest of the way. The OU pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts but permitted nine walks.
On the heels of the Sooners’ victory on Saturday, UNC won its 11th straight game this season following a loss.
OU freshman righty Xander Mercurius (1-3) dominated the Tar Heels in the first two innings. His first seven pitches were strikes, which included multiple changeups in the low 80s and a 96-mph fastball. Mercurius struck out the side in the first – two batters went down looking and the other was retired on a check swing. In fact, UNC’s first six outs came via strikeouts.
“That’s the trick in baseball is not to get away from your game plan and start trying to punch guys out and kind of lost it a little bit,” Sooners coach Skip Johnson said. “Instead of just trying to throw the ball to the target, he’s trying to pinch people out. And that happens. No different than we kind of get off our game plan going pitch to pitch. We’ve done a really good job over the last couple of weeks with it. And we’ll learn from it. And that’s a good thing.”
For the eighth straight game, OU scored first, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Junior centerfielder Jason Walk led off with a single to center, pushing his hitting streak to 14 games and marking the 22nd consecutive game he has reached base.
Junior third baseman Camden Johnson followed with a four-pitch walk. Walk stole third and Johnson stole second on a throwing error by the catcher, which allowed Walk to score from third.
Junior shortstop Jason Willits doubled with a 109-mph line drive off the wall in right-center to score Johnson and make the score 2-0. It was Willits’ 10th hit in the CWS, setting a school record for an OU player.
Momentum did an abrupt about-face in the top of the third inning when the Tar Heels took a 3-2 lead on three hits, one walk, one hit-by-pitch and three runners left on base as Mercurius threw an astonishing 50 pitches, taking his pitch total from 32 to 82.
After a 3-up, 3-down fourth inning, Mercurius faced the final batter of his outing when All-American centerfielder Owen Hull led off the fifth with a solo home run to right to give the Tar Heels a 4-2 advantage. Mercurius surrendered four runs (all earned) and five hits with eight strikeouts and three walks on 92 pitches.
After that came a procession of sixth OU pitchers used in relief as UNC added two runs in the seventh to set the final margin.
“We have a saying, ‘Yesterday’s dead,'” Willits said. “And I feel that’s kind of been our motto through the whole year. And I feel like we’ve got to move on past today. Today doesn’t affect us anymore after this (news) conference right here. We’re going to go on tomorrow and how we can attack them and how we can go out and win a national championship.”
Tar Heels freshman All-American Caden Glauber (12-0) came on in relief in the fourth and was credited with the win after pitching a shutout in the final 5.0 innings, allowing just one hit, walking two and striking out eight while upping his season record to 29-0 in games he has made an appearance.
“They got the momentum and they never gave it back,” Johnson said. “We faced two really good pitchers and hats off to those guys. And that’s about how it ended.”
Pitchers of Record
Win: Caden Glauber (12-0)
Loss: Xander Mercurius (1-3).
Statistical Snapshot
Jaxon Willits | 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
Trey Gambill | 1-for-3, BB
Brendan Brock | 1-for-3, BB
Jason Walk | 1-for-4, R
Xander Mercurius | 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
Notes
Oklahoma is making its fourth appearance in the College World Series finals and second in the era of three-game series. OU is now 3-3 in CWS finals games.
OU’s nine-game winning streak came to an end. The Sooners are now 42-23 on the year.
This was the seventh all-time meeting between Oklahoma and North Carolina. The Sooners lead the series 4-3. All seven meetings have come in the postseason (prior to this CWS finals matchup, OU won twice in the 2010 Norman Regional and UNC won two of three games in the 2025 Chapel Hill Regional).
Oklahoma’s two runs scored today were its fewest since a 6-2 loss to LSU in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on May 19.
Oklahoma recorded four hits today, its fewest in a game since March 19 (four hits in a 7-1 loss in the series opener at LSU).
Today’s game marked the first time in the NCAA Tournament in which Oklahoma did not hit a home run (11 games). OU’s last game without a home run was in the SEC Tournament vs. LSU (May 19).
Oklahoma pitchers totaled 15 strikeouts today, tied for the team’s second most this season (also had 15 strikeouts at Vanderbilt on April 9 and vs. Santa Clara on March 8). OU’s season high was 17 strikeouts vs. Oklahoma State on Feb. 14 (second game of the season).
The Sooners allowed nine walks today, their most in a game since May 30 at Georgia Tech in the Atlanta Regional (OU’s last loss).
A third-inning throwing error that allowed UNC runners to advance to second and third was just the second error committed by OU in five CWS games (the runners did not score).
Oklahoma’s 4-2 deficit in the fifth inning marked the first time it trailed by more than one run in the CWS. North Carolina’s 3-2 lead after the first inning on Saturday marked the first time OU had trailed in a game since the Atlanta Regional final at Georgia Tech on June 1 (trailed 7-3 after six innings).
Oklahoma has scored first in eight straight games, dating back to the Atlanta Regional final at Georgia Tech on June 1. The Sooners scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning today.
Junior Jaxon Willits recorded his 10th hit of the CWS, establishing a new school record for hits in a College World Series. He had nine hits through OU’s first four games, which tied the mark set by Rick Gutierrez in 1994 (also in four games).
Willits is hitting a team-best .455 (10 for 22) with four doubles and five RBI in the CWS.
With a stolen base today, junior Camden Johnson increased his season total to 31 (31 of 34). This is the 15th time in program history that a player has registered 30 or more stolen bases. He ranks 13th in single-season program history, and his 31 steals are the most since Peyton Graham had 34 in 2022.
Oklahoma used seven pitchers today, the most pitchers it has used in a game since it also used seven pitchers on May 9 at Arkansas.
True freshman Xander Mercurius made his second College World Series start, marking the fifth CWS game and seventh straight contest in which the Sooners have started a true freshman on the mound.
In each of his five starts this season (his last five mound appearances), Mercurius has recorded at least six strikeouts. He struck out eight over his 4.0 innings today and allowed four runs on five hits and three walks.
Mercurius totaled 17 strikeouts in 11.1 innings over his two CWS starts.
Junior Jason Bodin made his CWS debut, pitching 1.1 scoreless innings in relief and recording two strikeouts. It was his team-leading 26th appearance of the season and first since the second game of the Lawrence Super Regional at Kansas (0.1 innings).
Redshirt sophomore Nate Smithburg made his CWS debut on the mound, pitching 1.1 relief innings with a pair of strikeouts. It was his first appearance since a 3.2-inning stint in the second game of the Lawrence Super Regional at Kansas in which he earned the victory.
Junior Mason Bixby made his CWS debut and first mound appearance since May 14 vs. Tennessee (0.1 inning). He recorded two outs (one strikeout) and a walk and allowed no hits.
Sophomore Jaden Barfield made his CWS debut and first mound appearance since May 31 in the Atlanta Regional vs. The Citadel (1.0 inning.) He faced two batters and recorded a strikeout and a walk.
Graduate senior Reid Hensley made his CWS debut and first mound appearance since May 31 in the Atlanta Regional vs. The Citadel (1.0 inning). He retired the only batter he faced with a fly out.
Sophomore Trent Collier made his CWS debut and first mound appearance since May 30 in the Atlanta Regional vs. Georgia Tech (2.0 innings). He pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout.
OU has scored 105 runs on 142 hits in its 12 NCAA Tournament games.
Walk extended his team-leading hitting streak to 14 games. Walk has reached base in 22 straight games and Jaxon Willits has an 18-game reached base streak.
Up Next
Oklahoma and No. 5-seed North Carolina will meet in a winner-take-all final game of the 2026 NCAA Men’s College World Series at 6 p.m. Monday. The game will be televised on ESPN.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma baseball, follow the Sooners on X and Instagram (@OU_Baseball) and like Oklahoma Baseball on Facebook.