Sooners sweep Missouri to move into fourth in SEC

With just four Southeastern Conference series remaining in the regular season, the Oklahoma baseball team is heading in the right direction.

The 14th-ranked Sooners beat Missouri, 8-4, on Sunday to take the three-game set via sweep. OU has now won five of its last six SEC games and sits in a tie for fifth in league standings. A finish by themselves that high would almost certainly ensure Oklahoma hosted a Regional in Norman come NCAA Tournament time.

Cord Rager led the charge on Sunday. The left-handed freshman went through the Mizzou lineup with ease, pitching 5 1/3 innings of one-hit ball while registering eight strikeouts and zero walks. His lineup staked him to a four-run lead after the second and he left with it up to eight.

The Sooners batted around in the second, picking up the four runs on five hits and a hit batter. Brendan Brock took the first pitch of the inning over the centerfield fence to open things. Cam Johnson tripled and scored on a Deitan LaChance groundout. A Dasan Harris single knocked in Nolan Stevens, who had been hit by a pitch to reach. And Jason Walk's bunt single scored Kyle Branch to cap the frame and chase Missouri starter Javyn Pimentel.

Trey Gambill hit an RBI single in the fourth and Johnson popped a three-run home run to give Oklahoma more than enough by the time coach Skip Johnson lifted Rager. Three of the four Sooners relievers allowed at least one run following the starter's exit, but by that point, things were well in hand.

Oklahoma heads into the seventh week of SEC play at 10-8, tied with Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Florida and Auburn. They're all one game ahead of Alabama, Arkansas and Vanderbilt. With such a slim margin for error, the Sooners have plenty to play for over the last month of the regular season.

This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma baseball sweeps Missouri with win Sunday