Backwards K Baseball – College World Series Preview

The time has come. After a hard fought regular season and having to battle through the NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals, eight teams have made their way to Charles Schwab Field in Omaha for the College World Series. The premier event in college baseball is here and for the first time since 1957, none of the eight teams from the College World Serious from previous year are in Omaha this year. This year, there is a wide range of teams, which will make for a tremendous week of baseball. Let’s take a look at the field for this year.

Bracket A

Arizona (44-19)
Coastal Carolina (53-11)
Louisville (40-22)
Oregon State (47-14-1)

The Skinny: This is the most balanced of the two brackets, with solid baseball teams from top to bottom and any one of them could make it through to the championship series. The hottest team coming into the CWS is Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers have won 23 straight games and possess one of the top pitching staffs in the country. The Chants have made it back to Omaha for the first time since they won the championship in 2016 and are in a great position to repeat that performance. Arizona rolled through Big 12 tournament and were handed a rough NCAA Regional draw, having to travel to Oregon. Arizona had no trouble, winning the Eugene Regional with ease before another obstacle was put in front of them, the 5th ranked North Carolina Tarheels. After getting pummeled 18-2 in game 1, the Wildcats stormed back and won the final two games in Chapel Hill to punch their ticket to Omaha for the 18th time in program history. Oregon State comes into Omaha as an independent team after the PAC 12 dissolved, leaving the Beavers in limbo. That didn’t stop them from steamrolling through their schedule, mostly playing road games. Oregon State is led by their start second baseman, Aiva Arquette, making them one of the favorites to win it all. The final team in this bracket is the Louisville Cardinals. Louisville is making their sixth appearance in Omaha and are the lone representative for the ACC in this College World Series. Zion Rose and Lucas Moore are the leaders for the Cardinals and could help carry Louisville to a finals appearance.

Bracket B

UCLA (47-16)
Murray State (43-15)
LSU (48-15)
Arkansas (48-13)

The Skinny: This side of the bracket is top heavy with LSU and Arkansas leading the way. Unfortunately, the Cinderella story, Murray State Racers are in this bracket and face a massive uphill battle to make it out. Murray State is only the fourth four seed to make it to Omaha. The Racers battled through Ole Miss in the regional before knocking off the Duke Blue Devils in the Durham Super Regional. If the Racers offense can stay hot, the potential is there to win a game or two. The UCLA Bruins are looking to capture their second national championship. This is the first time the Bruins have made it to Omaha, since they won the CWS in 2013. Led by potential top MLB pick, Roch Cholowsky, the Bruins are a solid bet to at least the semifinals. This bracket is headlined by the two SEC powerhouses. The SEC has only two teams in this CWS and both reside in this bracket. The LSU Tigers are looking to capture their eighth national championship. Standing in their way, the Arkansas Razorbacks. Both of these teams are solid and look to continue the SEC dominance in Omaha.

Players to Watch:

Caden Bodine (C) – Coastal Carolina
Riley Eikhoff (P) – Coastal Carolina
Aiva Arquette (2B) – Oregon State
Trent Carraway (3B) – Oregon State
Roch Cholowsky (SS) – UCLA
Wehiwa Aloy (SS) – Arkansas
Brendan Summerhill (OF) – Arizona
Kade Anderson (P) – LSU
Jonathan Hogart (OF) – Murray State
Zion Rose (OF) – Louisville
Lucas Moore (OF) – Louisville