Florida and Oral Roberts battling for a 2-0 College World Series start

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.

Projected Starting Lineup

Notes: Ty Evans is listed as the right-field starter after his big at-bats on Friday, moving Tyler Shelnut over to left field. That also means no Richie Schiekofer, but he wasn’t providing much offense either (Evans is a strong defender).

Colby Halter and Dale Thomas are still listed as an “OR” option, and it’s likely Sully uses both as he did on Friday.

Probable Starters

NOTES: The last time we saw Hurston Waldrep he was walking off the mound after eight innings of work and an all-time pitching performance to beat South Carolina in the Super Regionals. But this is nothing new for Waldrep.

Over the past four games, he’s lowered his ERA from 4.99 to 4.15 and struck out 38 batters over 26 2/3 innings. Playoff Waldrep has been a different beast and even Oral Roberts’ efficient offense may struggle against him. Everyone knows about the splitter, but it’s the slider that needs to be effective for Waldrep to maintain his recent dominance.

Harley Gollert is a sixth-year lefty that transferred to Oral Roberts from Austin Peay for his final season. Things haven’t gone great in his last two outings, but Gollert has been a decent No. 2 for ORU all year with a 10-1 record and a 4.30 ERA.

His 23.4% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate are both solid, but his 15% home-run-to-fly-ball rate suggests he’s a bit unlucky.

Other Players to Watch

Two-thirds of Oral Roberts’ lineup is hitting over .300, but it’s Jonah Cox’s bat that is the most terrifying for opposing pitchers. His .412 batting average is backed up by a 1.127 on-base-plus-slugging percentage and he hits for plenty of power in the game with 16 doubles, eight triples and 11 home runs. His 67 runs batted in are second only to Matt Hogan’s 70 RBIs.

Hogan is the bigger power hitter among the two with 18 homers, but there are four other players that have double-digit bombs on the year. ORU likes to run, too. Cox and Blaze Brothers each have over 20 steals and rarely get caught.

Series History

NOTES: This will be the first matchup between the two programs.

Follow the Action

SUNDAY (7 p.m. EDT)

Prediction

Who is picking against Florida after Friday night? Not me.

Wyatt Langford has arrived and Jac Caglianone is due. BT Riopelle did enough on Friday, but maybe he keeps it rolling off the adrenaline of the World Series. Hurston Waldrep should be just fine, but the offense needs to play like he’s going to give up six runs or more.

Prediction: Florida establishes itself as the favorite to win it all with a dominant 7-1 win over Oral Roberts.

Story originally appeared on Gators Wire