By: Bryce Mitchell
By the end of Tuesday’s matchups, the Men’s College World Series will be cut down to just four teams.
The eight best teams in the country began play in Omaha, Nebraska on June 16, and there has been no shortage of drama throughout the first few days of competition.
Here’s what we’ve seen so far.
Last Chance
TCU vs. Oral Roberts
The first elimination game of the NCAA Tournament begins Tuesday, June 20 at 2 p.m. with Oral Roberts and TCU.
These teams opened up the College World Series last Friday, and Oral Roberts won 6-5.
This first game between the Horned Frogs and Golden Eagles set the precedent for this year’s NCAA, promising to be full of back-and-forth games and drama.
Ahead of the final inning of the game, Oral Roberts trailed 5-2. Fans wearing gold and navy looked to their team hoping for a miracle. The Eagles delivered.
Oral Roberts rallied in the ninth for four runs to take the first game. Blaze Brothers made the highlight reel-worthy play with a three-run homer to left field, putting the team ahead.
TCU had a rally of their own in the eighth, breaking the 2-2 tie with three runs, but it wasn’t enough to continue in the winners’ bracket.
But, the Horned Frogs went on to survive their losers’ bracket game against the Virginia Cavaliers, winning 4-3.
Elijah Nunez led off that game with a double and moved to third on a Karson Bowen base knock. After a sacrifice fly by Cole Fontenelle, Nunez ran home to give the Frogs a 1-0 lead.
In the eighth, Ben Abeldt took the mound with the Frogs up 4-2. Abeldt retired five of the six batters he faced for his second save of the season. He left the tying run on second base with his second strikeout.
The Virginia Cavaliers were the first team to be eliminated from the College World Series after their first loss to the Florida Gators and then the Horned Frogs.
Tennessee vs. LSU
The second elimination game is an SEC matchup of LSU and Tennessee. The first pitch is set for Tuesday night at 7.
These two teams also had an opening matchup on June 17, and LSU came out victorious; 6-3.
Right-hand pitcher Paul Skenes led his team to victory with 12 strikeouts in 7.2 innings. Skenes has 200 strikeouts on the season and is only the second LSU pitcher to reach this standard.
LSU went on to play top seed Wake Forest on June 19, ultimately losing 3-2. Thatcher Hurd, right-hander, took heat from the loss after allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts.
The Tennessee Volunteers’ comeback attempt against LSU wasn’t enough to beat the Tigers. Ahead of the eighth, Tennessee trailed 5-0, but had a late surge after a RBI single to get the Vols on the board and then a homer by Hunter Ensley.
Starter RHP Andrew Lindsey allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts during his 3.2 innings.
The Volunteers eliminated Stanford in their second game, with a final score of 6-4. Again, UT had to rally to overcome a deficit, but were finally able to against the Stanford Cardinal.
Zane Denton hit the game-decider with an RBI groundout before Blake Burke ran home on a wild pitch to give the Vols the final lead.
Chase Burns had an impressive relief outing in his six innings. He retired 18 of the 20 batters he faced and allowed only two hits. He finished with nine strikeouts.
Stanford was the second team to be eliminated after their first loss to Wake Forest and then the Volunteers.
Top seeds are 2-0
No. 1 Wake Forest
The top seed for this year’s College World Series is 2-0 so far in the tournament. The program is competing in their third College World Series in the program’s history, and its most recent trip was in 1955 when they won it all.
The Deacons had a stellar first game against Stanford, where they won 3-2 after trailing until an eighth inning comeback.
Keeping in line with this year’s late game excitement, Wake Forest trailed by one ahead of the eighth before scoring two runs.
With Nick Kurtz and Brock Wilken in scoring position thanks to Justin Johnson, Danny Corona hit a single up the middle to get the pair to home plate.
Wilken also launched his 31st homer of the season, and tied the HR leader, Jac Caglianone, the Gators’ two-way player.
The Deacons second game against LSU was another one-run win; 3-2.
Embed from Getty ImagesWake tied the game in the sixth and took the game in the eighth. Corona hit a hot one to the right field corner and Bennett Lee followed with an RBI single to give the Deacs a lead.
The Wake Forest Deacons will play the winner of Tennessee and LSU on Wednesday night at 7.
No. 2 Florida
The second-seeded Florida Gators have defended their seed title after winning their two games.
Their first game against Virginia ended with a comeback in the ninth inning. It looked like the Cavaliers had the game in the bag headed into the eighth, leading 4-2.
The Gators went into the final frame only trailing by one and after one run by Virginia in the eighth, the Gators would have to score three runs to win the game.
UF’s comeback started with a solo home run by Ty Evans to make it a one-run game. Evans hit a 2-1 pitch into the left field crowd. Next at bat was Cade Kurland who would strike out for UVA’s first out.
Following was Wyatt Langford, who hit a homer to tie the game.
The winning run of the game came when bases were loaded for Florida, and DH Luke Heyman hit a sac fly that got Jac Caglianone home to win the game.
The Gators went on to best the underdog, Oral Roberts 5-4. The game was a nail-biter after pitcher Brandon Neely was forced to retire because of too many conferences with the pitcher.
Freshman Cade Fisher came from the bullpen to relieve Neely, but without warmup time. Pitching the last 1.1 innings, Fisher allowed one run.
Florida will play the winner of Oral Roberts and TCU on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
