Oklahoma's Jackson Nicklaus discusses road warrior mentality

Everybody needs to be a road warrior to win in Omaha. No team in the College World Series is from Omaha or the great state of Nebraska as a whole. It’s foreign territory for all. According to Sooner slugger Jackson Nicklaus, Oklahoma thrives on the road.

“We like to keep it loose and have fun on the road,” Nicklaus said following his team’s 13-8 win over no. 5 seeded Texas A&M in the opening game of their CWS run. He also emphasized that bus rides have helped the team become so loose on the road. They goof off, play games, sing nursery rhymes (kidding) — but they try to use their time on the actual roads together to build team chemistry and get loose.

The Sooners players “can’t stay away from baseball,” per Nicklaus. Even during their downtime, they’ve “been playing a lot of MLB: The Show,” in Omaha. Keeping their minds “always locked in on baseball” as they compete for the title. They watch all the games, play baseball video games when there are none to watch, and they arrive at the diamond completely focused on playing their absolute best.

This Oklahoma unit has locked arms and locked in at the College World Series. After beating Texas A&M 13-8, they’re ready to keep rolling on Sunday, when they play Notre Dame at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 with a chance to play for a spot in the championship series if they’re able to win.

WATCH: Nicklaus bombs grand slam to pile on Texas A&M

Oklahoma put the boom in “Boomer Sooner” on Friday. The Sooners’ offensive explosion continued in the fourth inning vs. Texas A&M in the College World Series.

After Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle went out to talk to pitcher Joseph Menefee, Jackson Nicklaus hit a grand slam over the right field fence to extend the Sooners lead to 12-3 in the top of the fourth. It came just two innings after Oklahoma scored seven runs to chase Texas A&M starter Nathan Dettmer out of the game after 1.2 innings.

B💥💥MER S💥💥NER GRAND SLAM‼️

📺 ESPN#MCWS x @OU_Baseball pic.twitter.com/lIgeTmOPLK

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 17, 2022

It’s just another part of an offensive outburst for Oklahoma, led by six combined RBI from Jimmy Crooks and Tanner Tredaway. Skip Johnson’s group rode the hot start early to a comfortable victory. Although the pitching didn’t quite hold up like they’d hope as the series wore on. When you explode like they did at the plate, you can afford to give up eight runs. But that can’t be the norm going forward.