Lj Mercurius helped Oklahoma reach the College World Series final with a 3⅓-inning relief outing in Wednesday’s 11-4 win over Georgia. The victory sends Oklahoma into a best-of-three series against North Carolina at 5 p.m. Saturday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
Mercurius had been a starter for most of the season before moving to the bullpen, and the switch fit the way Oklahoma has won its way through the postseason. He said, “I don’t care if I’m starting or in the bullpen. I want to win. When (Johnson) said he things I could do better in the bullpen for us to win, I was on board,”
Skip Johnson and Lj Mercurius
Skip Johnson moved the junior pitcher into relief so Oklahoma could win more games, and the change gave the team a late-inning arm with strikeout production. Mercurius leads Oklahoma with 96 strikeouts and now has a 6-7 record, a 4.74 ERA and four saves in 20 appearances.
That role change also mattered because Oklahoma entered the SEC tournament at 33-20 and was knocked out in the opening round by LSU. The Sooners then lost once more in the Atlanta regional to Georgia Tech before coming out of the losers bracket to beat Georgia Tech twice and Kansas twice in the super regional.
Xander Mercurius in Omaha
Xander Mercurius has given Oklahoma a different kind of lift. He earned his first college win in a seven-inning performance during a 4-3 victory over Georgia on Monday in the second round of the College World Series.
He has appeared in 19 games with four starts and is fourth on Oklahoma with 56 strikeouts, while also carrying a 1-2 record. He said after Wednesday’s win, “It doesn’t feel much different,” and, “The mindset’s always been the same of we just have to fight, we have to compete and have fun.”
Oklahoma’s 9-2 postseason run
The brothers from Southern Nevada have helped power Oklahoma’s 9-2 postseason run, with Lj handling the late innings and Xander working through key stretches in Omaha. Lj also picked up three saves during the run to the College World Series final, giving Oklahoma a bullpen option that has held up through the tournament grind.
Johnson said after Monday’s win, “I can’t thank them enough for staying with the process,” and added, “It’s easy for us to talk about one pitch at a time. It’s really hard to live because the game wants you to take it away from it.”
Oklahoma now gets North Carolina in the final, with the title series beginning Saturday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. For Lj, the job change has already paid off; for Oklahoma, the bullpen has become the difference between an early exit and one series away from a College World Series title.
