Aaron Fitt

Editor in Chief for @D1Baseball. Great clubhouse guy. #WinEveryPodcast.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

My report from Omaha: unflappable freshman Cord Rager withstood an early threat and turned in five gritty innings, while Oklahoma's red-hot offense stayed in attack mode in a 9-3 throttling of North Carolina:

https://t.co/9J3mKJvRyD

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

FINAL: Oklahoma wins Game 1 of the CWS Finals in convincing fashion, drubbing UNC 9-3. For me, key moment of the game was Cord Rager minimizing damage in the first when UNC had a chance to land a knockout blow, then throwing 4 scoreless. Sooner offense continues to be crazy-good.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

UNC hadn't gotten anything going since the first, and it felt like the Heels had a golden chance to get back into this game in the 6th, after singles by Hynek and Schaffner put 2 on with 2 out for Owen Hull, their best hitter. But Gavyn Jones freezes him on 95. Still 8-3, T7.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

The big fella just rocking the Heels to sleep here in the middle innings—locating at 91-93 with very good feel to manipulate the shape and velocity of the breaking ball. Have heard so much about how fearless Rager is, and he is sure showing it today. Not rattled by rocky first.

[Bradley Smart @fridaystarters]

Man, just super impressed with Cord Rager's ability to shake off that first inning. Since giving up four hits in a row to start, he's given up just one in the next four innings and stacked zeroes. Five innings with five Ks on an even 100 pitches. Oklahoma up 7-3, through five.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

Final line on Jason DeCaro: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 WP. Not how North Carolina drew it up. Will be interesting to see how long they go with Walker McDuffie. If the UNC offense responds in these middle innings to keep this game close, you'd think McDuffie goes a while.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

DeCaro just didn't have good feel for the changeup today -- Dasan Harris ripped a double on a change without much action. Then DeCaro left a 95 mph fastball middle-middle, and Branch made him pay. Then another poor changeup for a wild pitch, and an RBI single — it's 6-3 Sooners.

[Bradley Smart @fridaystarters]

Branch was 0-for-11 out of the nine-hole with one walk here in Omaha. Huge spot to come through for the Sooners. Both him + Camden Johnson have gotten hits today, a great sign for (somehow) even more length in this lineup.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

Incredible display of strength there, just muscling that ball out to right. His setup and move reminds me a bit of Jimmy Janicki's.

Oklahoma and UNC are tied at 3-3 after Lachance's second homer of the day.

[Bradley Smart @fridaystarters]

This is getting ridiculous. Lachance just hammered an 0-2, 94 mph elevated fastball from DeCaro out to left. Cleared the bullpen, 105 mph / 388 feet. That is 18 home runs since April 9 for the catcher. Ties it up, 3-3

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

Tweet of the week, Coach Nat

[Natalie Spala @_nataliespala]

Mad respect for @Mike_Rooney using his platform to promote his Fantasy Football team, the Carrots.

The perfect time for us as a nation to come together and send good vibes. A merlot w/ champaign writing jacket is coming soon-I can feel it.

#Rebuildthegarden #MCWSfinalsaltcast

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

So North Carolina settles for 3 runs in the bottom of the first, taking a 3-2 lead on a bases-loaded sac fly by Colin Hynek. That could have been worse for Cord Rager—he was behind 3-0 vs. Hynek with 1 out. He struck out Winslow to strand men at corners. 35-pitch inning for him.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

You know, many people are calling Gavin Gallaher "Mr. June."

Gallaher stays hot with a two-run single up the middle to tie this game at 2-2. And UNC's LH hitters are doing a stellar job letting it travel vs. the LHP Rager, who has great extension. Heels have 3 back-side hits.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

But Jason DeCaro bounces back to strike out the next two Oklahoma hitters in the first, getting Willits on 95 heat, then throwing a dramatically better changeup at 84 with good diving action to strike out Trey Gambill.

It's 2-0 Sooners, M1.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

DeCaro threw a pair of poor changeups — Camden Johnson singled on one, then Lachance went deep on another, right/right over the outer half, pounded it oppo gap and just over the glove of leaping CF Owen Hull.

[Bradley Smart @fridaystarters]

Well, if you were wondering if the Oklahoma lineup would continue its historic home run pace, there's a first-inning answer. Deiten Lachance's fifth of the tournament is a 402-foot shot to right-center, 2-0 Sooners.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

Getting ready for first pitch here in Omaha. Forecast has shifted, clouds are building...weather appears to be on its way faster than originally anticipated. Important factor today—both teams need length from starters, so weather cutting an outing short would be a big wrinkle.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

@CBCJakeMck it does seem a little fishy, I can't argue with you.

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

Still an hour and change until first pitch here in Omaha. Are you antsy? Our preview show can help you pass some of the time!

[D1Baseball @d1baseball]

"This is about as fired up as I've been for a CWS Finals in a while." 🍿

@JoeHealyD1 and the rest of the guys break down the showdown between @OU_Baseball and the @DiamondHeels on our #MCWS Finals Preview Show.

FULL SHOW: https://t.co/vAWr9glDI5

[Kendall Rogers @KendallRogers]

⚾️CWS FINALS GAME 1 COVERAGE⚾️

Get ready for the opener between @OU_Baseball and @DiamondHeels with:

My 5 Burning Questions: https://t.co/TbFR7eABXU

@fridaystarters' excellent position-by-position breakdown: https://t.co/5AqARPKRER

[ESPN PR @ESPNPR]

Presenting the #MCWS Finals Game 1 alt-cast guest lineup

⚾️ 3p ET | ESPNU

#MCWS | #NCAABaseball

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

And @KendallRogers ruminates on five burning questions for the CWS Finals, hitting some key storylines to monitor here:

https://t.co/IbYHizEptt

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

Our man @fridaystarters put together a wonderful position-by-position breakdown of CWS Finalists @DiamondHeels and @OU_Baseball — a perfect guide to get you ready for the national championship showdown this weekend:

https://t.co/QhJ04VGxM9

[Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt]

@jakeladd35 @KendallRogers @NCAABaseball @KP_Omaha @ChrisBurke02 @karlravechespn @MikeMonaco_ Haha we had to go to the wide angle to get everybody in there - causes some distortion at the edges!