OMAHA, Neb. - It appears the homer-happy nature of this offensive outburst of a 2022 season for college baseball will continue trending all the way to the finish.
At least that's what the opening game of the College World Series suggested.
Jackson Nicklaus hit a grand slam, Jake Bennett pitched six strong innings, and Oklahoma jumped on No. 5 national seed Texas A&M early in a 13-8 win Friday afternoon to open the eight-team event that will determine the national champion over the next week-plus.
The Sooners scored seven runs with two outs in the second inning to lead 8-0, then turned back the Aggies' comeback bids in the highest-scoring CWS game since 2008.
"We talked about being a team of Davids and attacking the giant," Nicklaus said. "That's been our team motto lately. We just want to attack the game and play with no fear. We had a game plan. We wanted to execute early. We did."
The Sooners (43-22), who advanced to Omaha as a No. 2 regional seed, won the opener a week after the school's softball team earned its second straight Women's College World Series championship.
Texas A&M (42-19) has lost nine straight CWS games over five appearances since it beat Kansas in 1993. The Aggies will be facing elimination when they return to the field Sunday.
"There's been all kinds of different stories in this College World Series for many, many years," coach Jim Schlossnagle said. "We can either cower down and put our tail between our legs and go back to College Station, or we can fight. My money is on our guys fighting."
Aggies starter Nathan Dettmer (5-3) lasted just 1 2/3 innings and left with his team down 5-0. He hasn't made it past the fifth inning since April and has allowed 30 earned runs in his past 24 2/3 innings (10.95 ERA).
Joseph Menefee took over for Dettmer, and Jimmy Crooks drove his second offering into the right-field bullpen for his eighth homer of the year and an 8-0 lead.
Six Texas A&M pitchers combined to walk 10 batters, hit three and strike out 12.
Oklahoma loaded the bases in the fourth on a bunt single, throwing error and walk before Nicklaus's grand slam made it 12-3.
"I thought we set the table really early, took the momentum in the game, early in the game," Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson said. "Settled Jake down a little bit."
Bennett (10-3), who allowed five hits and four earned runs, retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced.
The Aggies got homers from Jordan Thompson and Austin Bost, and they were within four runs in the seventh after three straight RBI singles and a run-scoring groundout.
It was the teams' first meeting since Texas A&M left the Big 12 after the 2012 season, and both will eventually be conference foes again. The Sooners are set to join the Aggies in the Southeastern Conference by July 2025.
Charles Schwab Field didn't play like the pitcher's park it had been since it opened in 2011, with Oklahoma and Texas A&M combining for four homers to tie the stadium record. And yet it wasn't altogether unexpected: The 424 homers in regionals and super regionals had already broken the NCAA tournament record.
NCAA officials said Thursday that ball specifications have not changed since the flat-seam ball was introduced in 2015. Schlossnagle isn't so sure.
"The ball has definitely changed," he said. "I'm not a big conspiracy theory guy, but there's a lot of coaches out there who think the ball has changed a lot this particular season.
"I don't know enough about the science to say that's the case or not, but there's no question, whether it be older players or lack of good pitchers, the ball is flying everywhere this year."
Oklahoma designated hitter Brett Squires broke his left hand when he was hit by a pitch in the third inning and will miss the rest of the CWS. The Sooners got a scare in the ninth when Chris Cortez's fastball hit Kendall Pettis in the ribs as he squared to bunt.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback and 2018 Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray was on hand to watch the game between two schools he attended.
Murray spent his freshman football season at Texas A&M, where he started three games before transferring to Oklahoma after the 2015 season. He led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff in 2018.
Murray also played baseball and was an outfielder for two seasons for the Sooners before being taken ninth overall in the 2018 MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics. The NFL player spoke to the Sooners in Omaha on Thursday.
"When you have an ex-player like him come back, you know you've done something to carve your name on his heart," Johnson said. "He shows that he cares about us, because we cared about him."
Awards pile up
Texas slugger Ivan Melendez was announced Friday as the winner of the Dick Howser Trophy as the outstanding player in college baseball this year.
Melendez entered the CWS with 32 home runs this season, the most in Division I since 2003. He also led the nation with 94 RBIs and an .886 slugging percentage and ranked first in the Big 12 in batting average (.432), homers (14) and RBIs (32).
The junior from El Paso is the fourth Longhorn to win the Howser Trophy. Other Texas players to win it were Brooks Kieschnick (1992-93), Scott Bryant (1989) and Taylor Jungmann (2011).
Melendez also has been named national player of the year by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game and is a consensus All-American.
The other Howser Trophy finalists were Oregon State pitcher Connor Hjerpe, Tennessee third baseman Trey Lipscomb, Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada and Clemson third baseman Max Wagner.