Oklahoma Still Confident Despite Game 2 Loss

Oklahoma’s nine-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday afternoon as they fell in the second game of the National Championship series, meaning they’ll face a do-or-die situation for the first time since the Atlanta Regional. But the Sooners are not phased.

Just a few days ago, Oklahoma Sooner outfielder Trey Gambill gave the world an all-time quote when appearing on the SEC Network following the Sooners’ 11-4 win over Georgia to advance to the National Championship:

“You’re going to get punched in the face,” Gambill said of how OU’s SEC schedule helped prepare them for the postseason. “You’re going to bleed from the mouth. The question is…do you like the taste of blood?” 

The Sooners may have limped into the NCAA Tournament, but they’ve proven they belong with an epic run that includes a record-tying eight wins over National Seeds. They’ve beaten the ACC, Big 12, and SEC Champions not once, but twice each on that run.

After losing the 1-0 game in the Atlanta Regional to a historically great Georgia Tech team, Oklahoma battled back through the loser’s bracket to force a rematch, but quickly found themselves down 7-3 early.

The Sooners’ offense rallied to win 15-7 and then came back from an even bigger deficit the next day when they won on a Dayton Tockey walk-off moonshot after trailing early in the game by six runs.

“I don’t think it’s a momentum run as much as it is a confident run,” said OU head coach Skip Johnson following yesterday’s loss. “They’re confident in themselves and they play for each other. And when you see that confidence, you just kind of get out of their way.”

“Confidence is a fragile piece of ice, that is — you can go one day, and then the next day it’s not there,” he added.

Despite the loss, Oklahoma should be able to fall back on its recent success over the nation’s top teams to maintain confidence going into the final game against North Carolina.

Gambill, who spoke in the postgame press conference, assured the media that the Sooners would be ready. He appeared loose and upbeat as he fielded questions.

“We’re excited,” he said. “Obviously, a tough loss today, but I don’t think we overly care. We know that we still have the opportunity to win the national championship. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere. We’re excited. [We’ll] have a good meal tonight, a good shower, and be ready for tomorrow.”

Junior shortstop Jaxon Willits revealed that Oklahoma has a saying they’ve been using all season: “Yesterday’s dead.” Once they finished the press conference, the result would be flushed from their minds, and the focus would shift completely to Game 3.

It’s a mindset that’s allowed them to move past not just disappointing outcomes, but big triumphs as well. They’ve proven all tournament that they are comfortable in any situation, no matter how big the moment appears to be.

“We’ve proven all year long we’re not going to quit,” said Willits. “We’re going to fight no matter if we’re up 10-0 or down 10-0, we’re going to fight. We’re going to show tomorrow that we’re not going to quit and we’re going to fight no matter what.”

It’ll be all hands on deck for both the Sooners and Tar Heels as they face off for the final game of the 2026 college baseball season. For the first time since 2024, there will be a do-or-die game under the Monday night lights at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

“It will be an entertaining game for sure,” Gambill said. “It’s going to be super fun as a player. I’m sure it’s going to be super fun as a fan to see two teams just really fighting for a national championship.”

The Sooners will stick with their freshman rotation, as Skip Johnson confirmed that Nick Wesloski, who last pitched this past Wednesday against Georgia, would start the deciding Game 3.

After serving primarily as a reliever during the regular season, Wesloski has given up just four earned runs over 12.1 innings in two NCAA Tournament starts against The Citadel and Georgia. 

While fellow freshman starters Cord Rager and Xander Mercurius are likely unavailable, every other pitcher on the Sooner staff will be ready to roll. That includes a fully rested Jackson Cleveland and fairly fresh LJ Mercurius, who only threw 24 pitches on Saturday.

If the Sooners pull off the win to capture the program’s first National Championship since 1994, it would mark the ninth win over a National Seed in this year’s tournament. Oklahoma would have an argument with Fresno State’s 2008 run for the sport’s best title run.

Game 3 of the National Championship is scheduled to be played today at 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. local time.