Former Faith Lutheran and UNLV pitcher LJ Mercurius was a starter for most of the Oklahoma baseball’s season.
But as the Sooners looked to find their groove during a rough patch, coach Skip Johnson decided to move the 6-foot-2-inch right-hander to the bullpen.
The Las Vegas native took the change well.
“I don’t care if I’m starting or in the bullpen. I want to win. When (Johnson) said he things I could do better in the bullpen for us to win, I was on board,” Mercurius said in an interview with SEC Network.
Oklahoma is on the verge of a College World Series title thanks to the strong pitching of LJ Mercurius and younger brother Xander, a true freshman.
The brothers have starred on the mound to help Oklahoma enter the College World Series final against North Carolina. The best-of-three series begins at 5 p.m. Saturday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha (ESPN).
Xander, a Durango graduate, has started on the mound during Oklahoma’s 9-2 postseason run and earned his first college win in a seven-inning performance during a 4-3 victory over Georgia on Monday in the second round of the College World Series.
LJ, a junior, has earned four saves for Oklahoma during the postseason. He earned the save on Wednesday, pitching 3⅓ innings of relief to help the Sooners beat Georgia again 11-4 in the semifinals and advance to the championship series.
“I can’t thank them enough for staying with the process,” Johnson said in a postgame press conference after Oklahoma’s win over Georgia on Monday. “It’s easy for us to talk about one pitch at a time. It’s really hard to live because the game wants you to take it away from it.
“You got to get to the next pitch, you can’t dwell on that pitch. The good ones can do that.”
LJ Mercurius leads Oklahoma with 96 strikeouts and has a 6-7 record, 4.74 ERA and four saves in 20 appearances. Xander Mercurius has appeared in 19 games, with four starts and is fourth with 56 strikeouts and 1-2 record.
‘Have fun’
LJ, after graduating from Faith Lutheran in 2023, spent two seasons at UNLV. He was a second-team All-Mountain West pitcher in 2025 and then transferred to Oklahoma.
Xander, who led Durango to back-to-back 4A state titles in 2024 and 2025 and also played football his senior year with the Trailblazers, already was committed to the Sooners during the fall of 2024.
LJ started in the rotation for Oklahoma in 2026, while Xander was in the bullpen. Oklahoma started 10-1 in February, but entered the SEC tournament 33-20 and was eliminated from the conference tournament after an opening-round loss to LSU.
Since then, Oklahoma has lost once, during the Atlanta regional to Georgia Tech. The Sooners came out of the losers bracket to beat the Yellow Jackets twice and then beat Kansas twice in the super regional to get to the College World Series.
LJ Mercurius picked up three saves during the stretch. The older Mercurius said the team’s confidence hasn’t wavered from the middle of the season to now.
“It doesn’t feel much different,” LJ Mercurius said in an SEC Network interview after Wednesday’s Georgia win. “The mindset’s always been the same of we just have to fight, we have to compete and have fun.
“We’re just having fun and we’re executing at a higher level that we were earlier this year. It’s been the same team, same mindset and it’s just showing.”
‘Take it all in’
Xander Mercurius lost his first two starts, which were to LSU and Georgia Tech. But the younger Mercurius held Georgia to three runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and earned the win Monday in Omaha in front of his mom, dad and sister.
“All I have to do is just take it all in. It’s honestly surreal,” Xander Mercurius said in a postgame TV interview with ESPN after earning the win against Georgia on Monday. “I got to do it in front of all these people. I’m just so happy that my team was able to do it, pull it off. … It means the world.
“They raised great kids, I can’t forget about my sister too, but I’m just happy they’re able to come out here and watch me play and watch by brother play.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
