Oklahoma routs Kansas baseball in NCAA super regional opener
· Yahoo Sports
LAWRENCE — All the fanfare that led up to Kansas baseball’s NCAA super regional in Lawrence this weekend didn’t contribute to a win Saturday, as the Jayhawks suffered an 8-1 loss against Oklahoma.
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The Jayhawks (45-17) weren’t able to string together much momentum offensively, with Sooners starting pitcher and freshman Cord Rager setting his team up well by pitching six scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. Oklahoma (37-22) was able to knock KU starter and junior Dominic Voegele out of the game before the end of the fifth inning as the Sooners built their lead. Kansas had won six games in a row coming into this contest, winning the Big 12 Conference tournament and Lawrence Regional, but looked overmatched against Oklahoma.
“Tip your cap to OU tonight, I thought they played a great game and their starter was — he did a really nice job,” KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “They played clean baseball for the most part, and took advantage of some mistakes we made. But, proud of how the guys competed. I thought our preparation was awesome. I thought the way we stayed in it throughout the game was great. There was belief until the very end that we were going to come back. So, tough to go undefeated in the postseason. We were probably, as much as I hate to admit it, probably at some point going to have to persevere through a loss. So, here’s our opportunity and couldn’t be more confident in my team and how these guys compete and how they prepare and how they’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Kansas will now look ahead to a game Sunday at home against Oklahoma, as the super regional continues. The Jayhawks need to win this game in order to keep their season alive, while the Sooners can clinch a spot in the College World Series and a super regional title with a win. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. (CT) at Hoglund Ballpark.
Fitzgerald said his message to the team was pretty simple, that they’re competing in a super regional and now they have to persevere. They could take a moment to deal with the disappointment of the loss, but very quickly needed to turn their attention toward winning Sunday. It’s a win or go home situation for the Jayhawks.
Fitzgerald noted sophomore Mason Cook will start on the mound for KU against Oklahoma. Outside of him, Fitzgerald thinks they have a good amount of players available to use in the bullpen. Offensively, there will just be a need to produce in the ways they couldn’t in game one.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Oklahoma routs Kansas baseball in NCAA super regional opener