By R.L. Bynum

OMAHA, Neb. — The battle for the national championship is set.

On Wednesday night, Oklahoma followed No. 4 North Carolina in rolling into the College World Series Finals, easily eliminating No. 3 Georgia 11–4 after the Tar Heels advanced Wednesday afternoon with a 12–7 victory over West Virginia.

Game 1 of the best-of-three series is at 3:09 p.m. Saturday (ESPN), with Game 2 at 2:39 p.m. Sunday (ABC), and Game 3, if needed, at 8:09 p.m. Monday (ESPN). UNC is the favorite at -190 on DraftKings and -165 on FanDuel, with Oklahoma at +155 and +140.

The teams, both 3–0 in Omaha, will meet in the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season. In last season’s Chapel Hill Regional, UNC sent Oklahoma into the losers bracket with an 11–5 win in the second game for both teams. The Sooners earned a rematch with the Tar Heels and won 9–5 to force a deciding game, where the Tar Heels rolled to a 14–4 victory to advance.

Oklahoma advanced to the CWS Finals behind two home runs each from center fielder Jason Walk (top photo), including a 415-foot shot, and right fielder Dasan Harris, and a solo blast from designated hitter Trey Gambill.

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More CWS coverage

— Forbes emotionally reflects on his first trip to CWS Finals as pitching coach
— Heels two wins away from title after offensive explosion
— French’s Omaha challenges have included fastballs and organic chemistry
— ‘Loose as a goose’ Glauber belies his age, meets the moment

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The outburst was the latest example of an offense that has transformed over the last month, the kind of balanced, shared production that Coach Skip Johnson has said has changed the Sooners’ season because “they didn’t care who got the credit” and “went out and played for each other.”

On the mound, freshman Nick Wesloski got the win, giving up four hits, one earned run and two walks with four strikeouts in 5⅔ innings.

Oklahoma has leaned heavily on its freshman arms in Omaha, and Johnson has consistently praised the poise of that group. After the Sooners beat Georgia on Monday, he said his pitchers and hitters alike had learned to trust “one pitch at a time,” a mindset that showed again Wednesday when Oklahoma answered every Georgia push with another clean inning or another big swing.

Unranked Oklahoma’s push to Omaha as an unseeded team looks nothing like a fluke, with the Sooners playing as good as any team in the country. On May 1, Oklahoma was 125th in home runs in the country. The Sooners are now 30th with 43 homers in their last 16 games. That surge has not happened by accident.

After finishing 11th in the SEC at 14–16 and losing 6–2 to LSU in the first round of the SEC tournament, Oklahoma has only lost once since then. The turnaround has been one of the stories of this NCAA tournament, and the Sooners have kept describing it less as a sudden surprise than a group finally settling into itself at the right time.

The Sooners overcame a 9–3 loss to ACC champion Georgia Tech at the Atlanta Regional to beat the No. 2 Yellow Jackets twice (15–8 and 8–7 in 10 innings) to advance. First baseman Dayton Tockey blasted a game-ending home run in the clinching win.

That comeback weekend helped set the tone for what followed, and the Sooners have looked increasingly convinced of themselves ever since.

They opened the CWS with a 9–0 win over Alabama behind seven shutout innings from freshman left-hander Cord Rager, then edged Georgia 4–3 on Monday behind 7⅓ strong innings from freshman right-hander Xander Mercurius and late work from closer Jackson Cleveland.

After that Monday win, Johnson said, “The momentum kind of shifted there a little bit,” and Oklahoma has done an excellent job in Omaha of making sure it stays that way once it grabs control of a game.

Oklahoma has homered in nine straight games and has eight multi-homer games, the most in the tournament. For all the power, though, the Sooners have not played like a team hunting only home runs.

They have taken extra bases, forced stress innings and kept pressure on opponents from the first batter to the ninth. That has been part of what makes them so dangerous heading into the finals against Carolina.

If there is one Sooner to look out for, it’s junior catcher Deiten LaChance, who has 16 homers and 62 RBI.

He remains the centerpiece of a lineup that suddenly has threats everywhere, and he has been joined by hot bats all around him as Oklahoma bludgeoned its way through the bracket. Add more player quotesInclude coach Johnson’s full quoteAdd historical CWS finals context

Oklahoma 11, Georgia 4

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College World Series

At Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
Pool play
All listed times are ET
June 12 results
West Virginia 7, Troy 5
North Carolina 6, Ole Miss 2
June 13 results
Oklahoma 9, Alabama 0
Georgia 7, Texas 1
June 14 results
Troy 12, Ole Miss 8; Ole Miss eliminated
North Carolina 5, West Virginia 2
June 15 results
Texas 14, Alabama 2; Alabama eliminated
Oklahoma 4, Georgia 3
Tuesday’s results
West Virginia 12, Troy 0; Troy eliminated
Georgia 2, Texas 0; Texas eliminated
Wednesday’s results
North Carolina 12, West Virginia 7; West Virginia eliminated
Oklahoma 11, Georgia 4; Georgia eliminated
CWS Finals
(Best-of-3 series)
North Carolina vs. Oklahoma
Game 1 Saturday: Oklahoma 9, North Carolina 3; Sooners lead series 1-0
Game 2 Sunday: North Carolina 6, Oklahoma 2; series tied 1-1
Game 3 (UNC home team): Monday, 7:09 p.m., ESPN

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Date(s)	Day/ month	Times/ scores	Opponent (current rank)	Record/ TV *
	February
13–14	Fri., Sat.	W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11)	vs. Indiana	3–0
17	Tuesday	W, 10–0 (7)	vs. Richmond	4–0
18	Wednesday	W, 5–3	vs. Longwood	5–0
20–22	Fri.-Sun	W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3	vs. East Carolina	6–1–1
24	Tuesday	W, 9–1	vs. N.C. A&T	7–1–1
25	Wednesday	W, 13–3 (7)	vs. VCU	8–1–1
27–28	Fri., Sat.	W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7)	vs. Le Moyne	10–1–1
	March
1	Sunday	W, 21–1 (7)	vs. Le Moyne	11–1–1
3	Tuesday	W, 5–1	vs. Elon	12–1–1
6–7	Fri., Sat	L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12)	vs. Virginia	13–3–1, 1–2 ACC
10	Tuesday	W, 13–3 (7)	vs. Bucknell	14–3–1
13–15	Fri.-Sun.	W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2	at California	17–3–1, 4–2
18	Wednesday	W, 8–2	vs. UNCG	18–3–1
20–22	Fri.–Sun.	W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6	vs. Louisville	20–4–1, 6–3
24	Tuesday	W, 9–1	vs. South Carolina in Charlotte	21–4–1
28, 29	Sat., Sun	W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10	at Notre Dame	24–4–1, 9–3
31	Tuesday	W, 5–4 (14)	vs. Campbell	25–4–1
	April
2–4	Thur.-Sat.	L, 6–1; W, 5–2; W, 8–7	vs. Boston College	27–5–1, 11–4
7	Tuesday	W, 8–4	vs. Charlotte	28–5–1
10–12	Fri.–Sun.	L, 9–5; W, 6–4 (14); W, 12–5	at Clemson	30–6–1, 13–5
14	Tuesday	W, 14–5	vs. UNCW	31–6–1
17–19	Fri.-Sun.	W, 5–2; W, 14–4 (8); L, 5–2	vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech	33–7–1, 15–6
21	Tuesday	W, 9–2	vs. High Point	34–7–1
23–25	Thur.–Sat.	W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7)	at Duke	36–8–1, 17–7
28	Tuesday	L, 12–2	vs. Coastal Carolina	36–9–1
	May
3	Sunday	W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game)	vs. Duke	37–9–1
8–10	Fri.-Sun.	W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3	vs. Pittsburgh	40–9–1, 20–7
12	Tuesday	W, 13–7	at UNCW	41–9–1
14–16	Thur.-Sat.	W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2	at N.C. State	43–10–1, 22–8
		ACC tournament	Charlotte
22	Friday	W, 10–4	Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech	44–10–1
23	Saturday	W, 13–5	Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh	45–10–1
24	Sunday	L, 13–6	Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech	45–11–1
		NCAA tournament
		Chapel Hill Regional
29	Friday	W, 8–0	VCU	46–11–1
30–31	Sat.–Sun.	W, 7–5, W, 9–3	East Carolina	48–11–1
	June
		Chapel Hill Super Regionals
5–7	Fri.–Sun.	L, 9–5, W, 4–0, W, 4–3	Southern Cal	50–12–1
		College World Series	Omaha, Neb.
12	Friday	W, 6–2	No. 18 Ole Miss	51–12–1
14, 17	Sun., Wed.	W, 5–2, W, 12–7	No. 9 West Virginia	53–12–1
20–21	Sat., Sun.	L, 9–3, W, 6–2	CWS Finals vs. Oklahoma	54–13–1
22	Monday	7:09 (if needed)	vs. Oklahoma	ESPN

Photo via @NCAABaseball