As OU prepares to take the stage in Omaha, its path to the College World Series has been driven by an offense that has found its rhythm at the right time.
OU (38-22) has scored 70 runs in the last seven postseason games, turning nearly every opponent mistake into damage. For context, OU’s seven highest-scoring games during Southeastern Conference play produced a combined 69 runs, and they are now doing it against college baseball's best.
The success wasn't always there for the Sooners. OU bowed out of the SEC tournament in the first round prior to their NCAA Tournament hot streak, and in the regular season, the team saw mixed results. The Sooners went 14-16 in SEC play and moved in and out of the rankings despite a strong start that saw them rise from unranked to No. 21 in week two.
“Having the whole offense click is obviously huge for us. … To be a part of it is something special,” senior outfielder Trey Gambill said. “We’ve had the talent all year to do what we’re doing. Sometimes, it didn’t click. … We’re just excited and ready that it’s clicking now in such a big moment.”
The offense seems even sharper when compared to OU’s last trip to the College World Series in 2022. That team scored 56 runs across eight regional and super regional games, including a three-game super regional series at Virginia Tech that clinched its Omaha berth. This season, the Sooners needed just two games to sweep No. 15 overall seed Kansas (45-18) in the super regional.
Head coach Skip Johnson said the recent surge is less about schematic changes and more about timing and confidence.
“It’s not somebody. It’s not a difference in what we do offensively. We’re still going to do what we do; that’s what we practice all the time,” Johnson said. “Maybe they’re getting on time a little bit; maybe they’re getting confident. … Confidence, … it’s the thing that you search for in baseball. It’s the thing that we talk about a lot, trying to get it and hold it. You know they’re confident. They’re the chaos style of baseball.”
That “chaos” has defined OU’s postseason path. The Sooners eliminated No. 2 overall seed Georgia Tech (50-11) on the road with a walk-off home run from senior infielder Dayton Tockey, then handled a Kansas team that entered the super regional undefeated in postseason play with ease on their path to Omaha. And while Johnson doesn’t believe that a single player has been the sole difference maker on OU’s postseason run, Tockey’s heroics have been a catalyst the team has fed off, though he was in and out of the lineup for most of the season, only starting 28 of the Sooners’ 60 games.
“Dayton's journey this year is more emblematic of what sports is all about than somebody you see just have the big moment itself,” former athletic director Joe Castiglione said. “It doesn't matter how good players are. Ultimately, they go through this, and those that are tenacious and persistent and considered continue to be committed to the process, working through it, they're the ones that come out on the other end and are the stars in the moments when they present themselves.”
Tockey emerged as a star with his performance in the Atlanta Regional, but during the regular season, the success wasn’t as steady as it has been over the last seven games. The Fort Worth native appeared in only 29 games prior to the postseason, but he came alive when the pressure turned up. Tockey has hit only eight home runs over the course of the season, but five of them have come during the NCAA Tournament.
“(Tockey) just didn't have the kind of year early on that everybody thought he would, but he had to run his race and he did. I know there are other guys on this team … that have done that,” Castiglione said. “They stayed in the moment, … seized the opportunity when it came, and … as we go through the next couple of weeks, who knows who's going to be the other player on this team to step up and do something when the team needs it the most.”
The combination of timely hitting, lineup depth and growing confidence has allowed OU to dictate more games than they’ve had to adapt to. What began as flashes of offensive potential during the regular season has turned into a sustained, relentless attack.
OU opens the College World Series against No. 7 overall seed Alabama (42-19), a team it struggled against during the regular season, dropping the series 2-1. The matchup was relatively low-scoring outside of a 10-7 Crimson Tide win in the opener, but with the Sooners’ offense surging, OU is striving for a much different result.
First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Saturday in Omaha on ESPN.
Joshua McDaniel contributed to the reporting of this story.
This story was edited by Joshua McDaniel.
