College World Series

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Developing Stories 📰

The eight-team field for the Men's College World Series includes the top team in the country, a Cinderella and of course, incredible players across the board. Wake Forest, Florida, LSU, Stanford, Virginia, Tennessee, TCU and Oral Roberts have all made it to the final stage of the NCAA baseball tournament, which gets underway starting today with Oral Roberts playing TCU at 2pm on ESPN. This year’s Omaha features five of the teams with top-eight national seeds entering the NCAA tournament, including the top two. Though the SEC and ACC comprise over half the CWS field, there’s also a squad from the so-called mid-major ranks that defied the odds to reach Omaha.

The Gators return to Omaha for the first time since making four consecutive trips from 2015-18, avenging a regular season sweep by South Carolina in SEC play by taking two in a row from the Gamecocks in the super regionals. Caglianone, the college game’s answer to Shohei Ohtani as a two-way threat from the mound and the plate, is a finalist for the Golden Spikes award.

This is historically the most accomplished program to reach Omaha, though the season wasn’t always smooth sailing for the preseason No. 1 Tigers. They held that spot for 10 consecutive weeks before a few stumbles late in the season. But their star-studded lineup that features two of the three Golden Spikes finalists, Crews and Skenes, has a good chance to add to the school’s trophy case.

The Golden Eagles are just the third team to reach the CWS as a No. 4 regional seed since the tournament’s current format began in 1999, joining Stony Brook in 2012 and 2008 national champion Fresno State. Still, it’s hard to consider an ORU team that has won 23 of its last 24 games a Cinderella. Cox comes into Omaha on a 47-game hitting streak, tied for third longest in Division I history.

Say what you will about the lost fly ball that allowed the Cardinal to walk off Texas in a super regional squeaker, but Stanford has nevertheless been among the most consistent teams in the country throughout the season as it makes its third consecutive trip to Omaha. The pitching is often a committee approach when Mathews doesn’t start, but having Dowd as the first option out of the bullpen has helped the cause.

The Horned Frogs are in Omaha for the sixth time, which seemed like a pipedream when the team was just 23-20 in late April. TCU went 19-2 the rest of the way and is now among the hottest teams in the field, though the Frogs might not have the pitching depth of some of the other contenders.

After failing to reach Omaha as the top overall seed last season, this year’s postseason run by the Vols was more improbable. A midseason slump in SEC play kept them from hosting a regional, and they were a strike away from elimination at Clemson. But here they are after that rally and a pair of super regional road wins at Southern Mississippi. Tennessee dropped two of three in its regular-season series at LSU, its first opponent in Omaha.

The Cavaliers have become somewhat regular visitors to Omaha as they make their sixth CWS appearance, all since 2009 under current head coach Brian O’Connor. This year’s group dropped its super regional opener to ACC rival Duke but came back to take the next two in decisive fashion. The Cavaliers took two of three encounters with Florida in bracket play in the 2015 CWS en route to the national championship.

Holding the overall top seed has been anything but a guarantor of success historically speaking – Miami (Fla.) in 1999 was the last to claim the title, but the Demon Deacons have already defied recent precedent by getting to this point. By most measures Wake is the most complete team in Omaha, leading the nation in team ERA and ranking fourth in the country in scoring. Its plus-59 run differential thus far in the NCAA tournament is the highest ever under the current format.

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Trends 📈📉 via Oddsshark

⚾️ Marlins at Nationals

• Miami is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Washington

• Miami is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games

⚾️ Yankees at Redsox

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Yankees's last 6 games

• Boston is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against NY Yankees

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games

⚾️ Cardinals at Mets

• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of St. Louis's last 5 games on the road

• St. Louis is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games when playing on the road against NY Mets

• The total has gone UNDER in 7 of NY Mets's last 9 games at home

⚾️ Rockies at Braves

• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Colorado's last 5 games when playing on the road against Atlanta

⚾️ Reds at Astros

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games when playing Cincinnati

⚾️ Angles at Royals

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Angels's last 5 games when playing on the road against Kansas City

• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of LA Angels's last 7 games when playing Kansas City

⚾️ Pirates at Brewers

• Milwaukee is 11-4 SU in its last 15 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh

⚾️ Tigers at Twins

• Minnesota is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games

⚾️ Guardians at Diamondbacks

• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games when playing Arizona

⚾️ Phillies at Athletics

• The total has gone UNDER in 16 of Philadelphia's last 18 games when playing Oakland

• The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Philadelphia's last 9 games when playing on the road against Oakland

• Oakland is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games

⚾️ Rays at Padres

• Tampa Bay is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games when playing San Diego

⚾️ White Sox at Mariners

• Chi White Sox are 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games on the road

• Chi White Sox are 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Seattle

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 7 games

• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 7 games at home

Public Money 🤑 via VSiN at 9AMCT

⚾️ MLB

37% of bets and 49% of money is on OVER 9.5 NYY at BOS

27% of bets and 71% of money is on STL -1.5 (+140)

57% of bets and 83% of money is on OVER 10.5 COL at ATL

52% of bets and 71% of money is on TEX +125

30% of bets and 51% of money is on CIN +140

59% of bets and 84% of money is on MIL -115

53% of bets and 81% of money is on UNDER 8 CLE at ARI

60% of bets and 92% of money is on TB -1.5 (+160)

30% of bets and 59% of money is on UNDER 7.5 CWS at SEA

32% of bets and 72% of money is on SF +120

🎓⚾️ College World Series

30% of bets and 49% of money is on UNDER 11.5 ORU vs TCU

32% of bets and 60% of money is on UNDER 10.5 UVA vs UF

6.17.23

21% of bets and 56% of money is on UNDER 10.5 STAN vs WAKE

22% of bets and 49% of money is on UNDER 10.5 TENN vs LSU

Future Odds 🔮 via Bovada Sportsbook

Injury Report 🏥 via ESPN

ATL (RP) Jesse Chavez | 15 Day IL - Shin, placed on IL yesterday

CWS (3B) Yoan Moncada | 10 Day IL - Back, placed on IL yesterday

KC (C) Salvador Perez | Day-to-Day - Left Wednesday’s game with hand contusion

LAA (3B) Anthony Rendon | Day-to-Day - Wrist, getting imaging done after being hit by pitch in yesterday’s game

LAA (3B) Gio Urshela | Day-to-Day - Hip, was seen on crutches after yesterday’s game

SF (SP) Alex Wood | 15 Day IL - Likely to return and start on Saturday

SF (3B) JD Davis | Day-to-Day - Ankle, admitted after yesterday’s game he will be out of lineup for 3-10 days

TEX (SP) Jon Gray | Day-to-Day - Blister, Rangers are hopeful Jon will be able to start on Sunday

Weekend Picks 🔒

Yankees +100 | We had this pitching matchup June 10 in New York with the Yankees taking it 3-1. German shut down the Red Sox for 6 innings and I don’t see that changing even with this game being played in Boston.

TCU -175 | Kole Klecker has gotten the nod in past Game 1s for TCU as he sports a 10-4 record and a 3.84 ERA. Their offensive has been on fire since the regionals started. TCU is also 8-1 straight up in its last nine matchups against Oral Roberts, so take the Horned Frogs.