Following five wins on their home field, the Virginia Cavaliers have returned to the College World Series, arriving in Omaha on Wednesday afternoon. Awaiting the start of play later today will be great crowds and a talented eight-team field standing between them and a national title.
But UVa only needs to focus on one team, Florida, for now, and then two others, TCU and Oral Roberts, before even thinking about what’s going on with the other side of the bracket.
The Wahoos will open bracket play, basically mirroring the double-elimination Regional round, tonight and then play again on Sunday either in an elimination game at 2 p.m. ET or in a winner’s bracket game in the evening. Everything after that is to be determined.
With the College World Series opener on deck, we’re taking a look at UVa’s bracket and the teams the Cavaliers will be contending with on the path to the Championship Series.
No. 2 Florida Gators (50-15, 20-10 SEC)
Virginia opens tonight against a very talented Florida Gators team (7 p.m., ESPN). One of the favorites to win the tournament, UF is back in Omaha and like UVa has a 50+ win season under their belt. The Gators went 50-15 overall and like the Wahoos didn’t have to leave their own ballpark to make it to the CWS.
Florida was tested in the regional round, though, having to rally after a loss in its second game. The Gators eventually eliminated UConn and avenged their loss to Texas Tech by breezing past the Red Raiders twice to make it out or the Regional. By virtue of their high national seed, they hosted the Super Regional against No. 15 South Carolina. They were able to keep their momentum from their Regional rally going, sneaking by the Gamecocks 5-4 in Game 1 before handling Game 2 4-0 to sweep the series and return to the CWS for the first time since 2018.
Florida has an exceptional team with a very dangerous batting lineup. At the plate, the Gators put a lot of pressure on opponents by connecting on extra-base hits and home runs: Florida hits .293 as a team with a .940 OPS, with 116 doubles and a staggering 129 home runs, just under two per contest. UF has six players with 11 home runs or more, led by star two-way player Jac Caglianone. The sophomore is one of the nation’s top players and could be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft as he’s not eligible this season. Caglianone has a nation-best 31 home runs on the season, hitting .336 with a 1.17 OPS and 84 RBI. Outfielder Wyatt Langford, who leads off for the Gators, is another excellent hitter that figures to go near the top of this year’s draft. The junior outfielder is hitting a team-best .373 with 18 home runs and 48 RBI; he has also drawn a team-high 51 walks. That’s just two key players for Florida, but the top half of the lineup is as dangerous as any team in the country.
On the mound, Caglianone is once again a player to watch. The Tampa product leads Florida’s starters in ERA (3.78) with a 7-3 record in 16 starts. He has 81 strikeouts on the season and 29 earned runs allowed.
Florida’s two other starters have given up more runs but also earn more strikeouts. Hurston Waldrep threw eight innings in Saturday’s shutout win over South Carolina, striking out 13 and allowing just a trio of hits. On the season, he is 9-3 with a 4.15 ERA, and a team-high 142 K’s. Florida’s third starter, Brandon Sproat, has a 4.69 ERA and an 8-3 win loss record with 120 strikeouts. It remains to be seen which pitcher will go tonight, though UVa could face any of the three should they face the Gators again down the road.
UVa and Florida will meet tonight, building on their shared history in Omaha. The Hoos and Gators met three times in pool play in the 2015 CWS; UVa took the first game 1-0 before Florida won 10-5 to force a decisive game, which the Cavaliers won 5-4 en route to their first national title.
TCU Horned Frogs (42-22, 13-11 Big 12)
Virginia will play in the second game of this year’s College World Series, with TCU and Oral Roberts opening up the tournament earlier in the day ( 2 p.m., ESPN). The Horned Frogs and Golden Eagles will join UVa and Florida in their pod, with one of the four destined to meet one of Wake Forest, Stanford, Tennessee or LSU for the national title.
The Horned Frogs had a rocky start to the season, and at one point were 23-20, but they’re 19-2 since and haven’t lost in the postseason. After winning the Big 12 Tournament, TCU swept the Fayetteville Regional, knocking out No. 3 overall seed Arkansas to move on. Then the Frogs hosted No. 14 Indiana State in the Super Regionals and bested the Sycamores in two games to reach the College World Series. Having lost just two games since May 1st and none in nearly a month, nobody is looking forward to playing them right now.
TCU arrives in Omaha red hot after having done quite a bit of damage at the plate in the postseason. The Horned Frogs scored 48 runs in four Big 12 Tournament wins before dominating the Fayetteville regional with 44 runs in just three contests. In the NCAA Tournament, TCU has outscored opponents 54-18. On the season, the Horned Frogs are hitting .299 as a team with 477 RBI and 88 home runs. They’ve had a decent number of strikeouts, averaging nearly eight per game, with 314 walks on the year.
And like both Florida and Virginia (Jake Gelof), the Horned Frogs have one of the nation’s best longball hitters. Junior infielder Brayden Taylor has 23 home runs on the season, and had a streak of six homers in seven games stretching from the end of the regular season into the Regionals. Unsurprisingly, Taylor leads the team in RBI with 69. The top three hitters in TCU’s lineup are all averaging .340 or better. Leadoff man Karson Bowen is the team’s leader in average at .355, with 46 RBI on the year. Junior Cole Fontenelle is another dangerous hitter, batting .347 for the year with a team-high 1.099 OPS, 13 home runs and 52 RBI.
Like Florida, TCU seems a bit more vulnerable on the mound than at the plate. The Horned Frogs are averaging 4.73 ERA as a team, with opponents hitting .245 for the season. TCU has a committee approach to starting pitching after its two primary starters, who should get the ball on Friday and Sunday.
Freshman righty Kole Klecker got the start in Game 1 of the Super Regional and pitched well in the win over Indiana State. He has been the team’s best starter, with a 3.84 ERA and a team-best 69 strikeouts. Senior Sam Stoutenborough threw in Game 2 of the Supers, and has nine starts in 20 appearances this year. He has 55 K’s on the season and a perfect 5-0 record.
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (51-12, 23-1 Summit League)
While this year’s CWS is heavy on heavyweights and returnees, there is one obvious Cinderella story at play: Oral Roberts, which will open the tournament against TCU after a surprising run through the Regionals and Super Regionals on the road against tough competition.
ORU punched its ticket on Sunday night, beating Oregon in a Super Regional that went the distance in Eugene. The Golden Eagles stunned the college baseball world by coming out of the Stillwater Regional, headlined by No. 11 seed Oklahoma State, to win the regional as the 4- seed. When they take the field this weekend, the Golden Eagles will be just the third team to start a regional as a 4-seed and make it to Omaha, joining Fresno State and Stony Brook on that list.
Still, ORU is a 51-win team that’s won 23 of its last 24 games, went 23-1 in league play, and has already taken down some quality teams in this tournament.
The Golden Eagles can do some damage at the dish and while they might not have a lineup of household names, they can certainly beat teams with power. They hit .323 as a team, with 478 RBI and 95 home runs. ORU also draw a good number of walks, with 316 on the year to 470 strike outs.
As far as standouts are concerned, junior Jonah Cox is hitting .420 on the year with a 1.148 OPS, 110 hits with 11 home runs, and 67 RBI. He was relatively quiet in the Super Regional, going 4-for-12, but he did have a home run and a pair of RBI. Senior outfielder Matt Hogan is the most dangerous power hitter in the lineup, with team highs in RBI (70) and home runs (18).
Unlike TCU, Oral Roberts has a very defined three-man pitching rotation. Right-hander Brooks Fowler, who also plays in the infield, has a 3.27 ERA, best among starters. With a 9-1 record, he has been consistent and gets a lot of outs pitching to contact rather than with strikeouts. Jakob Hall leads all starters in K’s with 91, and like Fowler has a sub-4 ERA at 3.56. Finally, Harley Gollert, who pitched the opening game of the Super Regional against Oregon, has a 4.3 ERA with a 1.3 WHIP and 88 K’s on the year.
