Oral Roberts is into the College World Series after stunning Oregon in the Super Regionals to face an upstart TCU team that is riding one of the hottest tournament runs at the plate.
Oral Roberts has made one College Baseball World Series appearance way back in 1978, and now enters against a relatively competitive opponent in TCU, who is trying to ride momentum into the semifinals.
This is the first trip to Omaha, Nebraska for the Horned Frogs since 2017, but the team has never won it all. Can this be the year for TCU after dominating through the Regional and Super Regional rounds.
Here are the odds for the first of potentially three on Friday:
Oral Roberts vs. TCU odds, run line and total
Oral Roberts vs. TCU prediction and pick
TCU has been on a tear in the college baseball championship, going 3-0 in the Fayetteville Regional, winning by a combined score of 44-13 followed by a sweep of Indiana State at home by a combined scored of 10-5.
Now the team faces an elite mid-major in Oral Roberts, who has justified its standing as a title contender by rallying to beat Oregon twice in a row to advance to Omaha.
The Golden Eagles are one of the best defensive teams in baseball, posting the third best fielding percentage in college baseball during the regular season as well as a pitching staff that checks in top five ERA and WHIP. The team is not known for its high octane offense, but did check in 20th in slugging percentage against a top 100 strength of schedule and scoring 27 runs in the three game Oregon Super Regional.
While TCU is swinging a sweet bat during its postseason run, it can cool off and regress to its regular season norm at any time. The team was outside the top 100 in slugging percentage during the regular season and was 57th in total ERA. Momentum is real, but the team's underlying metrics do not indicate the Horned Frogs should be favored on a neutral field.
I'll grab Oral Roberts at an underdog price, who continues to be underrated by the college baseball public.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
