SOONERS GET ON ROLL EARLY, BEAT A&M IN OPENER

OMAHA, Neb.

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 in the College World Series opener Friday.

Oklahoma 13, Texas A&M 8

The Sooners scored seven runs with two outs in the second inning to lead 8-0 and 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, will play Sunday against Notre Dame. Texas A&M (42-19) will play Texas.

Notre Dame 7, Texas 3: John Michael Bertrand and two relievers held Texas’ potent offense in check and Notre Dame scored in all kinds of ways in a victory in its first College World Series game in 20 years.

The Irish (41-15) carried over their momentum from eliminating No. 1 national seed Tennessee in the super regionals with a strong all-around performance against the program making its record 38th appearance in Omaha.

Bertrand (10-3), roughed up in his start against Tennessee last week, limited the Longhorns (47-21) to three runs on six hits in 51⁄3 innings. Alex Rao and Jack Findlay gave up no hits in 31⁄3 innings, with Findlay earning his fourth save.

Notable

National home run leader Ivan Melendez of Texas won the Dick Howser Trophy as the outstanding player in college baseball. Melendez’s 32 home runs are most in Division I since 2003.