College World Series Predictions: Who wins in the opening round of CWS bracket play?

The first round of the 2023 College World Series begins this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska, and this should be an entertaining four games to keep an eye on. Losing the first game puts a team behind the eight ball as it is on the brink of elimination for the rest of their bracket games.

But which teams are going to win their first games and have the advantage of going through the winner's portion of the bracket? Let's dive into all four bracket games in the first round and discuss which teams should win.

Predicting the College World Series' opening games

TCU Horned Frogs vs. Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

The TCU Horned Frogs and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles both have been major surprises as neither team hosted a regional and still reached the College World Series. This is going to be the first game on the slate, and TCU should be able to win.

Jonah Cox has been a star and is in the single digits for breaking the NCAA all-time hit streak right now. He has been one of the most productive hitters in all of college baseball and really is the Golden Eagles' only threat offensively.

Their pitching staff only allowed five runs against Indiana State in their super regional, so expect starting pitcher Kole Klecker to dominate as he is pitching to a 1.33 ERA in his previous six games.

Florida Gators vs. Virginia Cavaliers

The two-seed Florida Gators and the seven-seed Virginia Cavaliers wrap up Friday's games, and this should be an interesting battle. Virginia has one of the best lineups in the College World Series as the Cavs have scored at least 10 runs in three of their five postseason games.

Florida is going to struggle to pitch to this lineup, which is best with a .335 team batting average, and Virginia will have enough pitching to help the Cavaliers win.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. Stanford Cardinal

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons open up Saturday's games with a matchup against the Stanford Cardinal.

Wake Forest has the best pitching staff in college baseball and that should help the Demon Deacons cruise in the College World Series. Rhett Lowder has been a menace on the mound for Wake Forest, getting hitters off-balance and lasting deep into games.

Expect this Stanford lineup to struggle to put up runs as the Cardinal were lucky to get past Texas in the super regional round in the first place.

LSU Tigers vs. Tennessee Volunteers

The final first-round game is between the LSU Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Tigers have two of the best players in the entire College World Series in Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews. Skenes has been a dominant starting pitcher while Crews has played his way to being the favorite for the first pick in the 2023 MLB draft. Expect this game to get silly quickly with the Tigers dominating.