Cord Rager, three homers power Oklahoma past Kansas in Lawrence Super Regional opener

Oklahoma jumped in front early and never let Kansas get organized, using a Cord Rager pitching performance and a multi-homer outburst to win 8-1 in Game 1 of the Lawrence Super Regional on Saturday. The Sooners now lead the best-of-three series and are one victory away from advancing to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha.

The difference began in the fourth inning, when OU took advantage of a Kansas mistake to score four unearned runs. Dasan Harris drove in the first run with an RBI groundout, and Dayton Tockey followed with a three-run homer to left-center that pushed the Sooners to a 4-0 advantage. Rager, meanwhile, kept Kansas from turning the early contact into damage, allowing just one hit through his first six innings.

Oklahoma’s slugging continued in the fifth. Jason Walk started the frame with a double and stole third, setting the table for Camden Johnson to launch a two-run homer to right field. Two outs later, Trey Gambill added another big swing, blasting a two-out home run over the high center-field wall to extend the lead to 7-0. OU tacked on a run in the seventh when Brendan Brock drove in a run with an RBI single, turning the middle innings into separation that Kansas could not fully close.

Kansas avoided the shutout in the eighth, scoring on a solo home run by Jordan Bach. The Jayhawks still took the loss after setting a Hoglund Ballpark attendance record, drawing 4,415 fans, and continuing a late-season run of power that included a home run in a season-high 12 straight games. Oklahoma’s advantage also came with pitching clarity, with LJ Mercurius securing the final outs for his third save.

From a pitching standpoint, the matchup played out like a contrast in precision. Rager (6.0 innings, one hit, one walk, zero earned runs, six strikeouts) limited Kansas to only one batter reaching second base against him, and OU avoided the kind of free passes that can turn super regional openers into coin flips. Kansas starter Dominic Voegele was pulled after allowing seven hits and seven runs total in 4.2 innings, including the three-homer wave that Oklahoma strung together in the fourth and fifth.

With the series tilted toward Oklahoma, the focus shifts to Game 2 on Sunday, June 7, at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN (after Saturday’s 1-0 opener). Super regional baseball tends to reward teams that tighten up the details the second time through, so Kansas will likely need a cleaner fourth inning and more consistent bullpen coverage, while Oklahoma will aim to keep manufacturing at-bats and converting mistakes into runs. The winner of Game 3, if needed, would advance to join the remaining teams in Omaha once the super regionals wrap.