Virginia Baseball: 2023 College World Series Preview

Everything you need to know as the Cavaliers look to return from Omaha with their second-ever NCAA national championship

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

The final eight teams left standing in the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament will descend upon Omaha, Nebraska this week for the College World Series. Among those eight championship contenders are the Virginia Cavaliers, making their second College World Series appearance in the last three years and sixth in program history. UVA's side of the bracket features No. 2 overall seed Florida, TCU, and Oral Roberts, with one of those four teams advancing to the College World Series Finals to take on Wake Forest, LSU, Tennessee, or Stanford in a best-of-three series for the national title. 

Here's a full preview with everything you need to know as Virginia looks to win its second-ever national championship at the College World Series. 

READ MORE: Virginia Names Nick Parker as Starter for Opening CWS Game vs. Florida

College World Series Format and Schedule

The eight teams participating in the College World Series are separated into two four-team brackets that will each play a double-elimination tournament similar to the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia is in Bracket 1 along with Florida, TCU, and Oral Roberts. TCU and Oral Roberts will face each other in the opening game of the College World Series on Friday at 2pm Eastern, followed by Virginia's first game against Florida on Friday at 7pm. The four teams will play a double-elimination format until three of the four teams have suffered two losses and the remaining team advances to the best-of-three College World Series Finals, which begin on Saturday, June 24th. 

Here's the full schedule for UVA's side of the bracket:

Game 1, Friday at 2pm: Oral Roberts vs. TCU
Game 2, Friday at 7pm: No. 7 Virginia vs. No. 2 Florida
Game 5, Sunday at 2pm: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 6, Sunday at 7pm: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 9, Tuesday at 2pm: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6
Game 11, Wednesday at 2pm: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 6
Bracket 1 if necessary game: Thursday at 2pm or 7pm

See the complete bracket for the 2023 College World Series below:

Video: UVA Players Preview the College World Series

Watch the video below to hear from Virginia third baseman Jake Gelof, pitcher Nick Parker, shortstop Griff O'Ferrall, pitcher Evan Blanco, and designated hitter Anthony Stephan before UVA departed for Omaha:

Scouting Report: Florida

2023 Season Overview: Florida brings a 50-15 overall record into the College World Series as the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators went 20-10 in the highly-competitive SEC, earning series wins over Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky, but fell to Vanderbilt in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. 

Road to Omaha: Florida beat Florida A&M 3-0 to open the Gainesville Regional, but then lost to Texas Tech 5-4 in the winners' bracket game. Facing elimination, the Gators rattled off three-straight dominant wins over UConn (8-2), Texas Tech (7-1), and Texas Tech again (6-0) to advance. Florida then defeated SEC foe South Carolina 5-4 and 4-0 in the Super Regional to clinch a trip to the College World Series for the first time since 2018 and 13th time in program history. 

Personnel Overview: Florida placed five players on the All-SEC First Team and eight total Gators earned All-SEC honors, including the Second Team and All-Freshman Team. First baseman Jac Caglianone currently leads the nation in home runs with 31 and is sixth nationally with 84 RBI this season. Joining Caglianone on the All-SEC First Team is second baseman Cade Kurland, shortstop Josh Rivera, outfielder Wyatt Langford, and right-handed reliever Brandon Neely. 

History With Virginia: Virginia and Florida have met five times in the NCAA Tournament, with UVA holding a 3-2 all-time advantage. Most notably, the Cavaliers and Gators clashed in the 2015 College World Series during Virginia's legendary underdog run to the title. Florida was the No. 4 overall seed and a heavy favorite to reach the finals, but UVA pulled a 1-0 upset in the winners' bracket game behind a combined two-hit shutout from Brandon Waddell and Josh Sborz. Florida beat Virginia 10-5 to force a winner-take-all game 7, which UVA won over Florida in a 5-4 thriller to advance to the CWS Finals, where the Cavaliers took down Vanderbilt to win the 2015 National Championship. Virginia and Florida also met in the NCAA Atlantic Regional in 1985 in Coral Gables. UVA opened the regional with a 14-1 win over Florida, but then suffered back-to-back losses to Miami and then to Florida to end the season. 

Scouting Report: TCU

2023 Season Overview: TCU is 42-22 overall this season and turned in a mediocre conference record of 13-11 in the Big 12 before going on a big run in the Big 12 Tournament, winning four-straight games by a combined margin of 33 runs to win the title. 

Road to Omaha: TCU was sent to the Fayetteville Regional hosted by No. 3 overall seed Arkansas. The Horned Frogs continued their momentum from the the Big 12 Tournament and were utterly dominant in the regional round, beating Arizona 12-4, Arkansas 20-5, and then Arkansas again 12-4 to advance to the Super Regional. No. 14 seed Indiana State was slated to host the Supers, but complications with limited facilities, hotels, and resources resulted in the Super Regional being hosted by TCU in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs stayed hot and beat Indiana State 4-1 and 6-4 to clinch their sixth trip to the College World Series in program history and first since 2017. TCU is one of the hottest teams in the NCAA Tournament, bringing an 11-game winning streak to Omaha. 

Personnel Overview: Third baseman Brayden Taylor was TCU's lone selection on the All-Big 12 First Team. Taylor led the Horned Frogs with 23 home runs and 69 RBI. Shortstop Anthony Silva and right-handed reliever Garrett Wright made the All-Big 12 Second Team and four other TCU players were honorable mentions. TCU has gotten a major lift from a talented freshman class, including a conference-high four selections to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team: shortstop Anthony Silva, catcher Karson Bowen, and pitchers Ben Abeldt and Kole Klecker. 

History With Virginia: Virginia and TCU have met twice in the NCAA Tournament, splitting those two meetings. The Cavaliers and Horned Frogs clashed in the winners' bracket of the 2017 Fort Worth Regional, with TCU beating UVA 5-1 as part of its most recent run to the College World Series. The other meeting between these two programs took place in Omaha at the 2014 College World Series. No. 3 seed Virginia battled No. 7 TCU in a marathon game that matched the CWS record for longest game in terms of innings. UVA eventually defeated TCU 3-2 in 15 innings on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Pinero. Virginia went on to the CWS Finals, falling to Vanderbilt in three games. 

Scouting Report: Oral Roberts

2023 Season Overview: Oral Roberts is one of five teams in Omaha with 50 wins on the season, bringing a 51-12 overall record to the College World Series. The Golden Eagles went 23-1 in Summit League play and picked up a couple of notable non-conference wins over Oklahoma State. Oral Roberts booked its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a dominant 3-0 showing at the Summit League Tournament, winning each game by at least seven runs. 

Road to Omaha: Oral Roberts was selected as the No. 4 seed in the Stillwater regional, hosted by No. 11 overall seed Oklahoma State. The Golden Eagles shocked the world with a 6-4 victory over the top-seeded Cowboys and then outlasted Washington in a 15-12 shootout to put themselves in the driver's seat. Oral Roberts then defeated Dallas Baptist 6-5 to advance to the Super Regional. In game 1 in Eugene, Oral Roberts led Oregon 8-0, but saw that lead vanish in a remarkable 9-8 comeback victory for the Ducks. To their credit, the Golden Eagles bounced back in a big way, beating Oregon in a thriller 8-7 to even the series and then took the deciding third game 11-6 to clinch their first trip to the College World Series since 1978. Oral Roberts is just the third No. 4 seed in NCAA history to reach the College World Series and the first to do so since 2012. 

Personnel Overview: Oral Roberts' two best hitters are the outfield tandem of center fielder Jonah Cox and right fielder Matt Hogan. Cox leads the team with a staggering .420 batting average and leads the entire country with 110 hits this season. Hogan paces the team with 70 RBI and 18 home runs this year. The team's three main starters - Brooks Fowler, Jakob Hall, and Harley Gollert - have a combined record of 27-5 this season and the Golden Eagles bring in four relievers with an ERA of 3.00 or below out of the bullpen. That group is led by Cade Denton, an All-American righty who has a 1.85 ERA, a .94 WHIP and a 7.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. 

History With Virginia: Virginia and Oral Roberts have never played each other. 

Virginia Notes

• Virginia is making its sixth appearance in the College World Series with each of those trips coming since 2009. 
• In UVA's five previous trips to Omaha, the Cavaliers have twice advanced to the College World Series Finals, finishing as the national runner-up in 2014 and winning the national title in 2015. 
• Virginia holds a 13-10 all-time record at the College World Series.
• Virginia advanced to the Super Regional for the eighth time and hosted the series in Charlottesville for the sixth time in program history. 
• UVA lost game 1 to Duke 5-4, but came back to win game 2 by a score of 14-4 and game 3 by a score of 12-2 to win the Super Regional and advance to the College World Series. 
• Virginia has now won six of its eight series in the Super Regional Round of the NCAA Tournament and boasts a 13-9 all-time record in Super Regional games. 
• Virginia made its third-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 20th in program history. 
• UVA has participated in the NCAA Tournament in 17 of the 20 seasons under Brian O'Connor. 
• Virginia hosted a NCAA Tournament regional in Charlottesville for the 10th time in program history and was a top-8 national seed (No. 7) for the fifth time and for the first time since 2014.
• UVA went 3-0 to win the Charlottesville Regional for the fifth time, beating Army 15-1 and defeating East Carolina 2-1 and 8-3 in back-to-back games to clinch the regional.
• Virginia is now 67-45 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and 31-18 in postseason games played in Charlottesville. 

No. 7 seed Virginia (50-13) will open play at the 2023 College World Series against No. 2 seed Florida (50-15) on Friday, June 16th at 7pm ET at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. 

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