Following an incredible walk-off win Friday night against Virginia, the Florida Gators (51-15) are set to face Oral Roberts University (52-12) in the winner’s bracket of the pool play portion of the College World Series in Omaha.
Oral Roberts might sound like a midweek opponent that Florida deals with early in the year, but the Golden Eagles are one of eight teams left standing in the sport and just took down TCU as the road team to advance to the winner’s bracket. Oral Roberts has the fifth-highest team batting average in the country (.322) and is second in hits with 732.
Fortunately, Florida has Hurston Waldrep set to go on the mound. The future first-round talent has been lights out during the postseason and seems like a lock to go in the middle of the first round of the 2023 MLB draft in July.
The Golden Eagles can pitch too, though. Oral Roberts is ranked seventh overall with a 3.99 staff ERA through 564 1/3 innings. They are only No. 54 in strikeouts per nine innings but still average 9.4 a game. Florida will have a chance to hit, but this is a very good team that can’t be taken lightly.
BT Riopelle was the hottest bat for Florida against Virginia, but Wyatt Langford and Ty Evans delivered two late homers that might have sparked the rest of the group.
Here’s a detailed look at Sunday’s matchup.