How did Oral Roberts get to the College World Series? A closer look at the most surprising team in the tournament

The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles have been going on a historic run to make the 2023 College World Series. They have the longest odds by far to win the whole thing and it makes sense compared to the talent of the remaining programs in Omaha, Nebraska.

This is the first time Oral Roberts has made the College World Series since 1978 and were able to upset the Oregon Ducks in the super-regional round. But what did this program do to get to this point?

How did the Oral Roberts baseball program get to this point?

Head coach Ryan Folmar has been building a great program since he joined the Golden Eagles before the 2013 season. The team has made six college regional rounds with Folmar during that time. Having an incredible team with an outstanding leader is going to help. Folmar has been doing extremely well as he is 317-208 throughout his coaching career with the Golden Eagles.

Another major factor to get to this point is the fact they have an outstanding player having a historic run in Jonah Cox. He is on a massive hitting streak to the point where the NCAA record is within reach at the beginning of next season. He has a 1.148 OPS with 11 home runs and 67 RBI while swiping 28 bases. Cox has been doing extremely well and that has been a major piece of the program.

The Oral Roberts team has a lot of speed and makes sure to be aggressive on the basepaths to keep the opposing pitcher on their toes. The team is tied for 37th in Division I with 98 stolen bases while only being caught 15 times (86.7% success rate) so far.

However, the major reason for the success has been their pitching staff. Doubters are going to say they are playing in a lesser conference but they are seventh in the United States as they are pitching to a combined 3.97 ERA. Starting pitcher Brooks Fowler has been doing extremely well as he has a 3.27 ERA this season, which is 64th in all of college baseball.

This Oral Roberts team is a massive underdog heading into the College World Series but could be a fun team to watch. They have some key components to make a solid team and could surprise a lot of people throughout the remainder of the college baseball season.