SPEAKER_01 0:00

Sooners win their third national championship. I don't think anybody thought the Sooners would be here, so let's recap it. Jason Id, welcome back. This is the Lucky Finn inning uh show. I am Kenneth Hilliard, along with the Lucky Finn Jason Id. Jason, we've kind of been on a little break, but Oklahoma wins the national championship in game three. I think the final was 12 to 2.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

13 to 2. 13 to 2.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Just a run. I say the beginning, like halfway through the season, and this was kind of towards their game against LSU. I did not think Oklahoma would be here, especially the way they play their last four series.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Yeah, I mean, crazy, crazy College World Series. I don't think anybody saw this coming. Especially, I mean, Oklahoma getting here was big. They got hot, beat Georgia Tech twice, beat Kansas twice. Uh so a lot of people didn't even think they'd get by Kansas. Uh they do. And um man, had to go through Georgia twice, had to go through Alabama, had to go through North Carolina twice. Uh I mean, got hot at the right time. And some people probably won't agree necessarily with that. But I mean, that is the case here. I mean, I think Oklahoma's a talented team, don't get me wrong, but uh they were clearly better teams roster-wise that were in the College World Series, though, between Georgia and Texas. Uh, you can even put some of the other teams possibly in there. But I mean, this is the team that finished 11th in SEC, Kenny. And I remember when we got close to time for um for the selection show. I mean, we were thinking Oklahoma may not even deserve a two-seed. Uh, maybe they were on the brink of that two three because um because of where they were in the SEC and how they ended the season with that loss to LSU in the SEC tournament, uh, not even making it out of one game. So, I mean, they they turned it on uh between Willitz and um and La Chance, and the offense really just picked it up all tournament.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

So, yeah, this is Oklahoma's this is not Oklahoma. Well, Oklahoma's third. This is the SEC's eighth, eighth, eighth in a row. Eighth in the road. And yeah, I want to say eighth. And I don't think if you would ask anybody who would be that eighth, Oklahoma would not be on that. Uh, we're I mean, I could listen before we even start, the fact that Oklahoma got through that side of the bracket was was absolutely incredible. I mean, Texas, I don't think they didn't have to play Texas, but you you got yeah, so okay, seven. So you go through Georgia, you was Bama on that side. Bama was on that side, too. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Go through Bama. Obviously, they played first. Um they shut Bama down.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Oh, goodness. And well, that's what I was hitting at, and we'll get into it. Um Oklahoma overall was and I said this when I re pre uh reviewed the latter their first game. Oklahoma, every single all of it was all over, just perfect around, excuse me. Pitching, hitting, um, defensive-wise. I mean, they and I said this in the first one. I said, you cannot, you cannot make a mistake here at Omaha this stadium, it bites you in the ass so hard. And that's what happened to that's what happened in the second game with Oklahoma, is you made those little tiny mistakes and you're done for. And Oklahoma did not do that game one, and they did not do it game three. And that's why just pitching wise, I mean, I don't know how many pitchers they used yesterday, but only three.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

I looked at it.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Okay, yeah. So, and I don't know about game two, but I think they used a lot. Game two was like seven or eight. That was the only time they've used they this whole series, they've only used two to three pitchers. And I think in the in the notes here, I got they um so they got a total 11 strikeouts yesterday. They recorded double-digit strikes out strikeouts in five of their six College World Series games in all three of their final contests. That is absolutely insane. And we're talking about the professionalism and just absolute focus is outstanding. And and like, can we can we touch on like what what was North Carolina missing that Oklahoma was gonna have at all?

SPEAKER_00 5:22

I think if you look at game three specifically, I mean, uh, it was all Oklahoma from the get-go. I mean, North Carolina had 10 hits in the game, but they couldn't even get but two runs, and that doesn't that says a lot about what they were doing. You had talked to me about it a little bit. They they see it seemed like they were going for the fences too much. They weren't playing what we've seen them do all year, which was a lot of smaller ball. Um, getting the I mean, we've seen Owen Hall hit a lot, hit a lot of good balls. Uh, I mean, in the last game against USC at home, I believe he had two or th he went three for four, four for five, had two or three doubles. And I mean, they were getting the ball, they were hitting the ball at the right time. Jeez, excuse me. Yeah. But it was not the case yesterday, and Oklahoma really took advantage of it.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Well, that that was a surprising thing, is is we talked about how big that ballpark was, and I was and you would kind of think that would if you're a team like North Carolina, the way you play, that field's gonna play to you to your advantage. Um and it just didn't work out that way. I mean, and one of the issues that they really had was their base running. Uh I think that one kid tried to stretch a just go into second base into a trip and to go into third, and he got gunned out. And now give him a little grace there because I think he was already on the run, he was already going, and you kind of expect um, I guess in his head, you're expecting him the guy to throw it home. So you've got a free base to third. And it was just a really smart play by the outfielder. I mean, he came up playing it hard and made the right decision to throw the third. And that was the thing with Oklahoma, uh, North Carolina. They they especially that first game, you had that huge mistake of I think they all ran into each other in the outfield, dropped one. Um, you had a couple errors, and they just bite you in the butt. But Jason, the storylines around Oklahoma have been it's it's just like a the story writes itself. Like you you couldn't like a Netflix documentary, or if this was like one of those romance sport books, you wouldn't believe any of it. But it's just like the uh Kyle Branch. I think that's the most incredible story. You know, he goes three for four at the plate yesterday. He had a career high, six RBIs, and then the three home three-run homer in the left field. Uh the most outstanding player of the tournament. I mean, this was you're you're ending your final career, your final at bat with Oklahoma. No, I think he's a freshman. I could be wrong, sorry. No, his final at-bat, but final I bat of the season. Yeah, the season. But you know, he hits that home run, and then his brother hit that home run, and then they're high-fiving each other going around second base.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Are you kidding me? And then talking about other brothers, you got the He's a sophomore. Okay. You got the Mercurious brothers who come into these games, you know. Xander didn't didn't start until the final regular season uh uh series finale. And now he's out here striking dudes out and getting all these win wins in here. So just the the the storylines around it have been incredible.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah, I think uh I think the other thing about it is North Carolina threw a lot of pitchers on in game two when we were talking about that. And uh it felt like they threw their best bullpen arms early. Um you threw McDuffie in game one uh whenever you were already behind. Uh but I understand that you're trying to come back. You're you want to keep your team in the game, you want to stay interested, and you know, you can always turn it around and getting that game one, Kenny is so big. Uh I mean, I don't even know the stat number on it, but I'm sure it's high on you when game one, you're in a good spot. But then you throw turn around in game two and you just throw two or three pitchers, you get a better, better show. And actually, I think it was two. I think um um Lynch threw four, Glober threw five, and so you get the full game there, and Oklahoma throws seven or eight pitchers, and then you turn around in game three, and it's the opposite, right? It felt like North Carolina was running out of gas on the mound. Uh you throw McDuffie again, you throw Glober again, neither of them make it out very long. Um, I mean Glober, I don't even know if he got it recorded and out. Um so uh it seemed like Oklahoma pitching wise yesterday was on point, and offense was on point, defense everything was just clicking, and uh Oklahoma just just took it took it took it away, North Carolina just couldn't catch up.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

So we we talked about the the long ball and that power baseball. Let's let's Oklahoma in their last 19 games hit 47 home runs. And that's dating back to May 9th against Arkansas. Their first 46 games, they hit 48. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

So they're chance, do you know?

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Oh, no, no clue.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Because that dude got hot at the right time.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Yeah. Talkie too, back you know, mid-mid of the lineup. And and I I I think I saw that in game game one with North Carolina. They were they were having they were having to play that, honestly. And I I'll I'll give a lot of props to Skip Johnson and that coaching staff for Oklahoma. That first game, North Carolina had their number in the beginning in the first inning. Uh the their their uh you saw a lot of a lot of times they're switching to they were throwing signals. They were throwing signals because North Carolina had them had them on their money, and they immediately flipped it. I thought it was very impressive for um Skip Johnson. I think that was the second game or the third game. He kind of kept McCurious in there and just kind of relied on on him to you know figure this out. You're gonna be able to get out of the inning. And they did. I don't think um I can't remember. There's with the World Cup on, there's just which game is all in game two? Yeah, I think it was game two. They kind of obviously had eight strikeouts and four plus. Yeah, they they they left him in, and he just he wasn't finding the strike zone. I think that was pretty much it. But yeah, to to the point of North Carolina's pitching, they they kept having to use the same guys, and a team like a team as hot as Oklahoma, they're gonna they're reading the ball really well. And yeah, if you're gonna throw balls down the middle and and you're all over the mound, it's just not gonna end well for you. But yeah. But so I guess the the final thought could be is well, I mean, we got a couple more, but um where does Oklahoma go from here? Is this a is Oklahoma got a lot of work to do? Um honestly, I think the hardest conversation is let's let's hit let's start with North Carolina first. North Carolina has not won a title yet. What does North Carolina need to go out and get to be a contender next year? Because they got a great team. What's missing for them?

SPEAKER_00 12:52

You're losing your ace. Um DeCaro's gone. Lynch is probably gone. I think they're gonna have to retool that pitching staff, especially the starting staff. Uh offense, I mean, they're you're losing your your captain. Uh-huh. Uh gosh. What's his name? Second baseman. Um gosh. I'm blanking. Uh Gallagher. And you're losing multiple guys from that lineup. Uh that I think there's a lot of pieces that they gotta replace, but this is a good program. They they I'm sure they have guys that are in there that didn't throw a lot of innings this year that are gonna be solid for next year, and they're gonna go get people in the portal too. Uh, but I I think the biggest thing is the starting rotation and figuring that out for next year, uh, because it's gonna look really different.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yeah. I think they're gonna have to go for I think you at least need one or two power guys on the lineup now. I think that's just a that's a great tool to have because if you're gonna get some dudes on base, some uh you're gonna have to hit them in. And uh, if a home run's gonna have to count, and that's why that's why I was like I said that I'm I was impressed with Troy. I think Troy, if Troy had a little bit more talent, I think Troy could have had a great chance of making a run. I think Troy was almost similar to Oklahoma in style, where they have they have guys who can get the base hits, but if you need a really if you're desperate in need of a home run, you can get it. That's what sucked with Georgia. I and we talked, I talked about the betting lines and I know not a betting show, but you know, Oklahoma was not favored in a couple games against Georgia. I was like, that's free money, baby. Because Georgia wasn't touching a fly on their bats. And that you know, they couldn't they couldn't find another avenue. They did find another avenue when they started putting against Texas, but you know, they didn't do that the next game.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

So And it's also hard when that's not your normal, normal style, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

And we had talked about it actually leading up to the them being in the tournament uh in the Cult World Series. We were talking about the stadium comparisons, remember, between Georgia and and Omaha. Because I mean that was Georgia's game all season and it didn't show up then in Omaha.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Yeah, they even tried they even put cardboard or construction paper cutouts of trees out in the outfield. I don't think that really helped at all, but uh dude, incredi it's just incredible by Oklahoma. I'm I'm so impressed from being uh from being a hater midway through the season. Um I mean they were up there in the rankings, and it I just enough something wasn't clicking for them. And that was obvious just to their demeanor throughout the state. They were winning the games, but they weren't that powerful to be the team, and they incredible. Just in yes, uh the college baseball is crazy. It's such a beautiful game. Uh just the I mean the branch story, the two brothers, it's just a beautiful game. I don't I don't and it sucks that it's over. It sucks that it's over, but other than that.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Yeah, and I think it and you think uh about um Glober, right? You want to talk about stories. It's like it's funny. And the guy, it's almost poetic, Kenny, that the last game of the season he gets in there and they lose their first game of the season with him pitching. So, um, but he'll be back, and I think he'll be he'll be there Friday night guy next year. I think there's no doubt about that. So he'll he'll get a chance to redeem himself.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Yeah. Well, all right, Jason. Any any final thoughts before we uh kind of finally end this season and and our our our first our first season of the lucky fin in it?

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Yeah, looking forward to seeing who's gonna return. Uh Jimmy Janicke's returning to Troy for next year, so that'll be a big one. Uh we'll see we'll see who else returns. We'll see who else is on the move, uh, because I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of coaches moving around. There's gonna be a lot of transfers. Uh we've already started seeing them. And so um it'll be interesting to see which teams retool, which teams pick back up, which teams return to the postseason that were left out. Uh, but yeah, definitely a great season. I'm excited that we were able to do this all year, and it was even at times when it was exhausting and tiring. Yeah, I don't I don't regret any of it. It was fun.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Yeah, 100%. Look, guys, look, we appreciate y'all tuning in throughout the season. Uh, make sure y'all go and follow uh Five Arms and the Lucky Finn podcast. Um, just just come and check in. We're we're we're covering all the sports. Uh I'm sure football is about to start up. It's already to kind of do some things here and here there. I know we're doing an interview. The boys are doing an interview with a basketball player. Brandon Luaowie. Um, so we'll be interviewing some guys throughout the through the summer break. Um so thanks for tuning in. Um Go Tigers. Thanks y'all for tuning in last time. And sucks to end the season, but here it is. All right, we'll be back. Yes, sir. Five arm and look at luck.