Deiten Lachance hit a pair of home runs as Oklahoma continued its offensive barrage with a 9-3 win over North Carolina in the opening game of the Men’s College World Series championship series on Saturday in Omaha, Neb.
The Sooners (42-22) will try to win the program’s third national title and first since 1994 in Sunday’s second game, while the Tar Heels (53-13-1) will look to force a decisive Game 3.
Both teams entered with their aces on the mound in Oklahoma freshman left-hander Cord Rager and North Carolina All-American right-hander Jason DeCaro.
But it was the offenses that set the tone early.
The Sooners took a 2-0 lead in the first on Lachance’s two-run home run to right-center on DeCaro’s 2-0 offering.
The first four Tar Heels hitters reached base in the bottom half of the inning off Rager, with Gavin Gallaher tying the game with a two-run single and Colin Hynek later giving North Carolina the lead with a sacrifice fly.
But Rager (7-3) settled in from there, allowing just one more hit in five total innings of work.
Lachance tied the game with a solo homer to left with two outs in the third.
Lachance, who didn’t hit his first home run of the season until April 9, has 18 home runs in the 32 games since.
Oklahoma then manufactured four runs in the fourth, driving DeCaro (11-3) from the game.
Kyle Branch broke the tie with a two-run single, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on Jason Walk’s single off shortstop Jake Schaffner’s glove.
After Walk stole second, Camden Johnson drove him in with a single to right-center.
DeCaro hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any appearance this season. He allowed seven on seven hits over 3 2/3 innings.
Walk drove in another in the sixth to make it 8-3.
In the top of the ninth, rain began falling at Charles Schwab Field. With inclement weather expected beginning in early evening, Saturday’s game was moved up to the afternoon.
As the rain fell, Oklahoma scored another on a double-play grounder.
The rain continued through the remainder of the game but LJ Mercurius struck out Erik Paulsen to finish off the victory.
Lachance finished 3-for-5 while Dasan Harris was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
Schaffner had three of North Carolina’s seven hits.
The top four hitters in the Tar Heels’ lineup were 6-for-18 while the bottom five were just 1-of-15.
–Field Level Media
