One day after storming back from a six-run deficit to upset No. 2 overall seed Georgia Tech, Oklahoma rallied late before Dayton Tockey’s walk-off homer in the 10th inning stunned the host Yellow Jackets 8-7 in the Atlanta Regional final on Monday.
The Sooners (36-22) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning before the Yellow Jackets (50-11) rebounded and took a 7-3 cushion into the seventh.
Oklahoma chipped away at the deficit with two runs in the seventh and single runs in the eighth and ninth, tying the game at 7-all on Jaxon Willits’ one-out RBI single. Willits went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, Dasan Harris was 3-for-5 with one RBI and Deiten Lachance hit a two-run homer in the first.
After Georgia Tech went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th, Tockey led off the bottom of the inning with a blast to center on a 3-2 pitch by Tate McKee to send the Sooners to the super regionals.
Jackson Cleveland (3-2) earned the victory with 3 2/3 scoreless innings. McKee (9-2) took the loss, giving up the tying and winning runs in his one-plus inning of work. Drew Burress, Parker Brosius and Caleb Daniel each homered and drove in two for the Yellow Jackets.
Elsewhere, Tallahassee Regional host Florida State was upended 5-4 by St. John’s in the regional final despite a late comeback.
The Seminoles (40-19), the No. 10 overall seed, got a two-run homer from Cal Fisher — his second home run of the game — in the top of the ninth to pull within one, but Red Storm closer Victor Frederick overcame a two-out walk for his sixth save.
St. John’s (36-24) reached the super regional for just the second time in program history, thanks in large part to Adam Agresti’s go-ahead grand slam in the fifth that erased a 2-0 deficit.
–Field Level Media
