DENVER (AP) — Jake McCarthy hit a three-run triple down the left-field line in the ninth inning and the Colorado Rockies rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Monday night.
The Rockies started the inning with three straight singles off All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman (0-3) before McCarthy sent a liner that hit off the wall and bounded away from left fielder Jarren Duran. The carom allowed Cole Carrigg to slide in headfirst with the winning run.
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Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner works against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jake Bennett works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Jake McCarthy celebrates after his three-run walkoff triple off Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Jake McCarthy, center, celebrates after his three-run walkoff triple as third base umpire John Tumpane, left, and Boston Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin, right, look on in the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Cole Carrigg dives into home plate to score the winning run on a three-run walkoff triple hit by Jake McCarthy off Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Soon after, McCarthy was swarmed by excited teammates.
Colorado's rally offset a pair of baserunning blunders that ended the eighth. The Rockies had a runner thrown out at home, and another got tagged out after being caught between second and third base when a runner in front of him stopped at third.
The Rockies finished the game with eight consecutive hits spanning the last two innings. They're the first team since at least 1961 — when the expansion era began — with eight hits in its final eight plate appearances, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
It was also the third time the Rockies earned a walk-off win in nine innings when entering the ninth without a run. The team also accomplished the feat on Aug. 11, 2018, against the Los Angeles Dodgers and on June 11, 2008, versus San Francisco.
McCarthy's ninth-inning heroics spoiled a stellar outing by Red Sox rookie Jake Bennett, who threw six sharp innings while striking out nine. He allowed four hits.
Boston took a 2-0 lead in the sixth courtesy of an RBI double from Willson Contreras and a run-scoring single from Caleb Durbin.
Colorado starter Ryan Feltner threw six solid innings, allowing two runs. Victor Vodnik (2-2) earned the win by pitching two scoreless innings.
Mickey Moniak had a pinch-hit single in the eighth in his first game for Colorado since May 21. He was on the injured list with ankle tendinitis.
The Red Sox will send right-hander Sonny Gray (8-1, 3.12 ERA) to the mound Tuesday night. The Rockies counter with lefty Sean Sullivan (0-1, 10.29).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner works against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jake Bennett works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Jake McCarthy celebrates after his three-run walkoff triple off Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Jake McCarthy, center, celebrates after his three-run walkoff triple as third base umpire John Tumpane, left, and Boston Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin, right, look on in the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies' Cole Carrigg dives into home plate to score the winning run on a three-run walkoff triple hit by Jake McCarthy off Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, June 22, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The way its regular season unfolded, a national championship for Oklahoma would have seemed impossible.
The way the postseason unfolded, well, there was no stopping the Sooners.
OU completed the improbable run to its first national championship since 1994 with a 13-2 victory over North Carolina in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the College World Series finals Monday night, a performance that featured the prodigious offensive production and clutch pitching the Sooners rode through the NCAA Tournament.
“I think we knew the talent was always in the room,” said Jaxon Willits, named the CWS most outstanding player. “We got hot at the right time, and now we’re national champions.”
The Sooners (43-23) won the Southeastern Conference's seventh straight title, quite an accomplishment for a team picked 14th in the 16-team conference in the preseason, finished 11th and entered the postseason off losses in seven of nine games.
To get to Omaha, they beat No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech twice on the road in regionals and swept upstart Kansas on the road in super regionals. To get to the finals, they beat No. 3 Georgia twice in bracket play.
“They got really confident the last month,” OU coach Skip Johnson said. “They care about each other. They didn't want to give in. They were selfless.”
North Carolina (54-14-1) was runner-up for the third time since 2006 and now has 13 CWS appearances without a title. Only Florida State, with 24, has more without winning it all.
The Sooners were back in top form offensively after managing only four singles in a 6-2 loss in Game 2 and handed the Tar Heels their most lopsided loss of the season.
“We ran out of gas when all is said and done,” Carolina coach Scott Forbes said.
When Jackson Cleveland struck out Jake Schaffner to end the game, he and catcher Deiten Lachance embraced and then headed to the dogpile that formed near third base. Players waving national championship towels rushed back toward their dugout to salute the celebrating Sooner faithful on the first-base line, football greats Barry Switzer and Brian Bosworth among them.
Kyle Branch, the No. 9 batter who came into the game 1 of 16 (.063) in the CWS, drove in six runs with a pair of singles and home run. His homer came on his last at-bat, just as brother Kolby's did for Georgia last Wednesday.
“Pure joy. Pure joy for our team,” Branch said. “I had a teammate tell me I was going to do something special, and for him to tell me that with the way things have been going, it has to be a God thing.”
He joined Dayton Tockey as the seventh and eighth OU players to homer in Omaha. Willits had three hits, reached base five times and finished the CWS 13 of 25 (.520).
The pitching matchup of Carolina's Jackson Rose (5-1) and Oklahoma's Nick Wesloski was the first between freshmen in a CWS winner-take-all game since 1993. Neither got out of the third inning.
LJ Mercurius (7-7) turned in another strong performance out of the bullpen, shutting down a threat when OU led 3-1 in the third and holding the Tar Heels to one run in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed just two runs in 12 1/3 over four CWS appearances.
The Tar Heels' pitching staff, which had the best ERA in the Atlantic Coast Conference, had been good and occasionally great in the CWS. It was neither Monday, with eight pitchers combining to allow 14 hits, issue eight walks, throw three wild pitches and hit a batter.
ACC freshman of the year Caden Glauber, who had given up just one run in 10 1/3 innings in four CWS appearances, was called on for a fifth one day after he threw 65 pitches in five shutout innings. It was apparent coach Forbes went to the well one time too many.
Glauber was called for a clock violation before he even threw his first pitch. He issued a four-pitch bases-loaded walk and Willits followed with a two-run single to make it 6-1 in the fourth. That was all for Glauber, who threw seven pitches, five of them balls. The Tar Heels had won all 29 games in which Glauber had pitched before Monday.
“This group loved each other all season and took us on a ride and came up just short,” Forbes said. “I’d take that ride every day of the year. While we’re sad, the sadness will go away. We talk about joy. Joy doesn’t go away. These guys have given me, our coaching staff, our fans, administration, everybody, a ton of joy and a ton to be proud of.”
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
Oklahoma's LJ Mercurius pitches against North Carolina in the third inning of Game 3 of the NCAA College World Series baseball finals in Omaha, Neb., Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
