Oklahoma and Georgia meet Monday in a College World Series winners' bracket game at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, with first pitch at 6 p.m. CT on and right-hander Xander Mercurius scheduled to start for the Sooners.
Georgia arrives as the No. 3 seed at 52-12, riding a nine-game winning streak after crushing Texas in its opener and carrying one of the country’s most dangerous lineups: a.326 team batting average (fourth nationally) and 9.4 runs per game (second nationally). Oklahoma, 39-22, punched its ticket to the winners' side with a 9-0 victory over Alabama and has won six straight.
The July scoreboard for both teams is heavy on proof. Oklahoma’s offense has been erupting — the Sooners entered Omaha having hit 37 homers in their last 14 games and one inning, and Jaxon Willits’ two-run homer against Alabama was Oklahoma’s 20th of the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma’s opener was also powered by a strong start from Cord Rager, who threw seven innings of three-hit ball, struck out eight and needed 88 pitches to get through his outing.
Those numbers set the immediate stakes: Georgia’s season-long run production and batting average against an Oklahoma club that has combined power and efficient pitching in Omaha so far. The two SEC teams did not play each other in the regular season, so Monday offers a first postseason matchup that pits Georgia’s sustained offensive excellence against the Sooners’ recent power surge and postseason momentum. Oklahoma is making its 12th College World Series appearance and its second in the last five years after advancing through the Lawrence Super Regional and the Atlanta Regional.
Oklahoma’s choice to hand the ball to Mercurius sharpens the matchup. Mercurius had a 5.82 ERA in three starts this season, yet the Sooners planned to use him to open in Omaha; he forced a popout, a lineout and a strikeout in the top of the first inning. Behind him the lineup was slated to turn quickly — Dasan Harris, Dayton Tockey and Kyle Branch were due up after one inning. The game also carried a notable human footnote: Kyle Branch faced Georgia shortstop Kolby Branch, the first time in College World Series history that brothers played against each other in the same game.
Broadcast details are set: will air the game with Karl Ravech, Kyle Peterson, Chris Burke and Kris Budden on the call. Radio coverage in Oklahoma is on The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM and 107.7 The Franchise, and listeners can stream on The Varsity Network app with Toby Rowland and Carly Murray handling the radio broadcast.
What to watch when the teams take the field: whether Mercurius can navigate Georgia’s lineup long enough for Oklahoma’s power to produce early support; whether the Sooners can translate their tournament home-run totals into the kinds of early leads that take pressure off a starter whose surface ERA shows vulnerability; and how much the workload of Cord Rager in the opener — seven innings on 88 pitches — affects Oklahoma’s rotation and bullpen options moving forward. Each of those elements will decide who stays in the winners' bracket and who drops into an elimination path.
The clearest, most consequential unanswered question is simple: can Mercurius, despite a 5.82 ERA over three starts, keep Georgia’s high-scoring offense in check long enough for Oklahoma’s recent power surge to matter? The answer will determine which team takes the next step in Omaha.
