Tag: Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida baseball’s win over Oral Roberts in CWS

Take a look at a series of highlights from Sunday nights big win for Florida baseball.

Florida baseball earned another nail-biting win in the College World Series on Sunday night when it hung on to defeat the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, 5-4. It was a weird game all around that included an arcane rule that almost derailed the Gators, but in the end after a fierce rally, the Orange and Blue prevailed.

UF starting pitcher Hurston Waldrep had a fine outing against ORU, working through some early command issues to finish the night with a dozen strikeouts and just one run allowed through six innings. The bullpen, on the other hand, wasn’t as sharp.

The top of the order struggled once again for Florida. Cade Kurland, Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglainone went a combined 1-for-12 with no runs batted in, leaving Ty Evans and Luke Heyman to do most of the work. Both players belted two-run homers, and Josh Rivera contributed a solo shot in the fourth.

Ryan Slater struggled in relief, forcing Florida to turn to the SEC’s save leader Brandon Neely in the seventh. Kevin O’Sullivan would have stuck with his All-SEC closer until the very end, but an excessive mound meeting meant that Neely had to be removed from the game.

Cade Fisher had to get out of two bases-loaded situations over the final two frames, but he navigated his way through a rollercoaster finish and secured the win for the Gators. Take a look below at highlights from the exciting College World Series action in Omaha, Nebraska.

 

Florida holds on against Oral Roberts, improves to 2-0 at College World Series

In a game that had everything, Florida emerged victorious over Oral Roberts Sunday night and is now 2-0 at the College World Series.

It seemed like Florida would run away with things early, but Oral Roberts chipped away at the Gators’ lead all night and nearly pulled off the upset before falling, 5-4, Sunday evening.

Hurston Waldrep was masterful once again for UF, working through some early command issues to finish the night with a dozen strikeouts and just one run allowed through six innings. The bullpen, on the other hand, wasn’t as sharp.

Ryan Slater struggled in relief, forcing Florida to turn to Brandon Neely in the seventh. Kevin O’Sullivan would have stuck with his All-SEC closer until the very end, but brain a fart led to a meeting that forced Neely out of the game.

Enter true freshman Cade Fisher.

Fisher had to get out of two bases-loaded situations over the final two frames, but he navigated his way through a rollercoaster finish and secured the win for Florida.

The top of the order struggled once again. Cade Kurland, Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglainone went a combined 1-for-12 with no runs batted in, leaving Ty Evans and Luke Heyman to do most of the work. Both players belted two-run homers, and Josh Rivera contributed a solo shot in the fourth.

Although Florida was the superior team on the field, Oral Roberts proved that non-SEC clubs can play some of the best baseball in the country. Florida finds success by being a blue-blood program, but you can’t help but tip your cap to a smaller program that wins just as much by being scrappy.

The Golden Eagles will have to take down TCU on Tuesday for a chance to rematch with the Gators.

For more on the game, Gators Wire has inning-by-inning notes from the game tonight below.

Game Preview: Florida and Oral Roberts battling for 2-0 College World Series start

Starting off 2-0 in Omaha would put Florida out in front of its College World Series pool, but Oral Roberts won’t be easy to get by.

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.

Twitter Reaction: Ducks’ electric season falls short of World Series with Game 3 loss to Oral Roberts

A tough end to an otherwise electric season for the Oregon Ducks. Fans took to Twitter to express their gratitude after the Super Regionals loss.

On Saturday night, the Oregon Ducks were two outs away from making it to their first College World Series since 1954.

It turns out that they would never get closer than that.

After the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles rallied to get a walk-off win over the Ducks in Game 2 of the Super Regionals, they stormed ahead in the final game of the series on Sunday afternoon, winning 11-6 and advancing to the College World Series.

The Ducks initially got out to a 3-1 lead early in the game, but the pitching ended up running out down the stretch, and a handful of unforced errors allowed Oral Roberts to run away with the victory.

While the season came to an unfortunate end, it should be largely viewed as a major success in Eugene. The Ducks got a stagnant baseball program out of the mud and there was more energy in the city for this squad than there has been in over a decade. After the loss, Oregon fans took to social media to express their gratitude for the great season, and show their support for the Ducks.

Here are some of the best reactions:

Twitter Reaction: Oral Roberts gets walk-off win to beat Ducks, force Game 3

After experiencing a walk-off win on Friday night, Duck fans unfortunately saw the flipside of that coin on Saturday. Game 3 Sunday. Buckle up.

The Oregon Ducks were two outs away from advancing to their first College World Series. Two outs away from continuing their 10-game winning streak and making it further than any Oregon team has since 1954.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the job done.

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In the bottom of the ninth inning against Oral Roberts, the Golden Eagles strung together a pair of singles and got a batter walked to load the bases. Then a line drive down the left field line ended up bouncing out of play, giving the Golden Eagles a walk-off ground-rule double to keep their season alive.

It was the second walk-off in as many days at PK Park, with the Ducks getting a walk-off RBI single from Drew Cowley on Friday night to end Oral Roberts’ 21-game winning streak.

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Now the two teams will play in Game 3 on Sunday afternoon for a chance to move on to the College World Series. Buckle up, I’m sure it will be a classic.

For now, here are some of the best reactions on social media throughout the night, ending in a brutal loss for the Ducks:

Game time announced for Game 3 of Super Regional between Oregon and Oral Roberts

The start time for Game 3 between Oregon and Oral Roberts has been set.

With the second walk-off victory in as many nights, we will be heading to a win-or-go-home Game 3 of the Eugene Super Regionals between the Oregon Ducks and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Sunday.

It was announced after the game on Saturday night that the final game of the series will start at 3 p.m. PT, being aired on ESPNU and ESPN+.

The Ducks were two outs away from advancing to the College World Series, but couldn’t get the job done. In the bottom of the ninth inning against Oral Roberts, the Golden Eagles strung together a pair of singles and got a batter walked to load the bases. Then a line drive down the left field line ended up bouncing out of play, giving the Golden Eagles a walk-off ground-rule double to keep their season alive.

Now we get nine innings on Sunday night for all of the marbles, sending one team on to Omaha and the other home for the season.

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Oral Roberts forces a Game 3 with ninth inning rally to beat Ducks

With the game on the line, Oral Roberts scores two in the bottom of the ninth to beat Oregon 8-7 and extend the Eugene Super Regional.

Oregon was three outs away from having its ticket punched for Omaha, but Oral Roberts had other plans.

The Golden Eagles scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth off of closer Josh Mollerus to shock the Ducks 8-7 and extend the Eugene Super Regional to a deciding Game 3 Sunday afternoon at 3 pm.

The usually reliable Mollerus was quite as sharp as he was in Game 1 and ORU’s Justin Quinn lined a ball down the left field line that landed on said line to score two and win the game.

It was eerily similar to how Oregon lost the last time they hosted a Super Regional against Kent State. The Ducks also lost on a ball that landed on that very same line and it happened again.

Unlike in Game 1, this contest went back and forth. Oral Roberts led 3-1 after two innings of play, but in the fourth, Sabin Ceballos broke out of his slump with a two-run home run to left-center field to tie the game.

The Golden Eagles grabbed the lead right back in the bottom of the inning, but it could have been a lot more. They had the bases loaded and no out. but Oregon pitcher Ian Umlandt coaxed a double play to end the threat.

Oregon was the “visiting” team due to NCAA Super Regional rules and grabbed the lead for good in the top of the fifth on Drew Cowley’s run-scoring single and Ceballos’ double to left-center for the 5-4 lead.

Reliever Austin Anderson came in and held the powerful ORU offense off the board for two straight innings, allowing the Ducks time to socre some insurance runs.

Those came in the seventh off of All-American closer when Drew Smith crushed one to the wall that found its way into the glove of Jonah Cox and then out of the glove of Jonah Cox for a triple.

Up 7-4 and nine outs to go, Oral Roberts didn’t make it easy.

Single runs in the seventh and eighth made it 7-6, including a homer run from Cox that extended his 46-game hitting streak.

Now the Ducks have to somehow forget this game, move on, and win Sunday afternoon. The Golden Eagles managed to move on from blowing an 8-0 lead and now it’s the Ducks’ turn to put a major disappointment behind them.

Photo Gallery: A wild night at PK Park ends with a Duck walk-off win

Photo Gallery: Oregon rallies from an 8-0 deficit and wins the game 9-8 on Drew Cowley’s single off of All-American closer Cade Denton.

It’s a night anyone associated with the Oregon Ducks baseball team, players, coaches, fans, and even administrators, won’t soon forget.

The Ducks pulled off an epic comeback where they were once down 8-0 in the third only to claw and scratch their way back and eventually win the game in the ninth inning off of All-American closer Cade Denton.

A crowd of 4,476 fans, the second-largest crowd in PK Park history, was sent into a frenzy where shirts were being taken off and flung around and drinks flying up in the air.

And this was just Game 1.

What do the Ducks have in store for Game 2? It’s hard to believe it could top the dramatics of this win. But a win tonight would send Oregon to Omaha and the College World Series for the first time since 1954. That’s been the goal since the very first day the program was brought back in 2009.

That alone could top what happened Friday night. Here are the pictures that illustrate the craziness on and off the field.

‘This team won’t quit;’ UO coach Mark Wasikowski credits heart, fan electricity for comeback win

“Our fans wouldn’t let us lose,” Coach Wasikowski said. “Our fans were amazing, and I don’t think PK Park has ever been that electric.”

It was a roller coaster ride for your average Oregon fan on Friday night in attendance at Game 1 of the Super Regionals between the Ducks and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Friday night.

While the electricity was present and pumping before the first pitch was thrown, with the second-largest crowd in PK Park history, the energy was quickly sapped from the ballpark as Oral Roberts hung an eight-run third inning on the Ducks and blew the game open.

Coming into the contest, everyone knew that the Golden Eagles were no joke — you don’t go 49-11 with a 21-game winning streak by accident. Duck fans were learning the hard way.

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A once raucous environment turned quiet. However, while the fans may have been frustrated and solemn in the stands, the Ducks stayed calm and looked to right the ship.

“This team won’t quit. This team’s got a toughness to them that I’ve never seen before,” said head coach Mark Wasikowski. “They won’t quit. To come back from an 8-0 deficit, as disappointed as they were in the third inning… They’ve been working to build this thing to where a day like this would happen, this number of people and this energy. And to get really punched in the face in the beginning of this game, I don’t think I’d ever be able to imagine another team rebounding from that.”

Back-to-back home runs from Jacob Walsh and Bennett Thompson in the third gave Oregon life, and then a three-run bomb again from Thompson in the fourth inning gave the Ducks a spark. From that point, the comeback was on.

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“You can’t hit a seven-run home run; I’ve never seen it,” Thompson said. “So I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball. That guy had been throwing a lot of strikes, and so I was just able to get a fastball in the zone and not trying to do too much. Ultimately the ball left the yard but I wasn’t trying to do that; it just ended up happening. So that was awesome to get the momentum back on our side there.”

The Ducks tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, and then a walk-off RBI single from Drew Cowley in the bottom of the ninth put Oregon over the top, completing the largest comeback in Super Regionals history.

“Our fans wouldn’t let us lose,” Wasikowski said. “Our fans were amazing, and I don’t think PK Park has ever been that electric. I think it can even get better, but they would not let us lose.”

It was an incredible win, and something that will give plenty of momentum going into Game 2 on Saturday night. Despite the craziness, the Ducks know that if they aren’t able to win one more game against Oral Roberts, then all of this will be for not.

“We’re obviously excited, grounded in the moment, but we understand that we’re still one win away,” Wasikowski said. “So it’s not like anything’s been accomplished other than the fact that it was a fantastic environment, a great game.”

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Twitter Reaction: Oregon Ducks complete largest comeback in Super Regional history

The Ducks erased an 8-0 deficit and beat Oral Roberts on a walk-off RBI in Game 1 of the Super Regionals. Oregon Twitter promptly melted down.

Is there anything in the world that is better than playoff baseball?

If you asked that question to fans of the Oregon Ducks after the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles hung an eight-run third inning on them, then the answer would have been a defiant “yes.”

However, six innings later, the Ducks capped off the biggest comeback in Super Regionals history, getting a walk-off RBI single from Drew Cowley in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Oral Roberts 9-8, now standing one win away from a trip to the College World Series.

The win continued Oregon’s now 10-game winning streak and ended Oral Roberts’ 21-game winning streak in the process.

As you would expect, social media was a wild place for Oregon fans who were celebrating the victory. Here are some of the best reactions from the night.