Oral Roberts advanced to the College World Series with an 11-6 win over Oregon on Sunday in the third game of the Eugene Super Regional. A bases-loaded walk to Matt Hogan in the fourth inning gave the Golden Eagles the lead. Mac McCroskey drove in three runs and Jake McMurray was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI.
Quotable: “We knew we had a good club coming into the year. We continued to get better and better and better, and we’re playing well at the right time of year. We get an opportunity to keep playing, and that’s pretty fun.
Oral Roberts has earned a sport in the World Series for the first time since 1978 to mark the second time in program history. Despite coming in as the underdogs, the Golden Eagles have had a strong showing, winning the last 23 of 24 games for a total record of 51-12.
This is the first trip to Omaha, Nebraska for the Horned Frogs since 2017, but the team has never won it all. Can this be the year for TCU after dominating through the Regional and Super Regional rounds.
TCU swept Indiana State in the Fort Worth Super Regional, punching its ticket to Omaha with a 6-4 win on Saturday. A five-run fourth inning propelled the Horned Frogs to the victory and Cole Fontenelle added some insurance with a fifth-inning home run as part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
The Golden Eagles are one of the best defensive teams in baseball, posting the third best fielding percentage in college baseball during the regular season as well as a pitching staff that checks in top five ERA and WHIP.
The team is not known for its high octane offense, but did check in 20th in slugging percentage against a top 100 strength of schedule and scoring 27 runs in the three game Oregon Super Regional.
The CWS format calls for two brackets of four teams each. Each bracket plays a double-elimination tournament spaced out over the next six days. The winners emerging from the two brackets then meet in a best-two-out-of-three series to determine the NCAA baseball champion for 2023.
