The College World Series opens Friday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, with Troy facing West Virginia and Mississippi meeting North Carolina, the Associated Press reported. Saturday’s games pair Oklahoma against Alabama and Texas against Georgia, the AP said.
Troy (38-30) is making its first trip to the CWS under coach Skylar Meade, who is 186-119 in five seasons at Troy, the AP reported. The Trojans reached Omaha after winning the Gainesville regional and the Troy super regional. Meade said the run has been all-consuming for his team, adding, “It’s what you put everything into, everything you do you do for this. You don’t sleep, you don’t stop thinking about it,” the AP quoted him as saying.
West Virginia (45-15) is also making its CWS debut and set a program record for wins, the AP reported. Coach Steve Sabins is 89-31 in two seasons at the school. The Mountaineers outscored Cal Poly 29-3 in their super regional and entered the tournament averaging 10.7 runs per game, the AP said. “Mountaineers are going to Omaha. Hundred and thirty-five years in the making,” Sabins said, according to the AP.
Mississippi (41-21), the 2022 national champion, returns to Omaha under coach Mike Bianco, who has 990 wins at Mississippi, the AP reported. Bianco praised his players’ resilience as they advanced through regional and super regional play, the AP said. North Carolina (50-12-1) earned its spot with a super regional win over USC and is making another deep run under coach Scott Forbes, the AP reported. Tar Heel outfielder Owen Hull delivered the walk-off hit that clinched the super regional, the AP said.
Oklahoma (38-22) reached Omaha after winning the Atlanta regional and the Lawrence super regional, the AP reported. The Sooners have hit 18 homers and scored 70 runs in seven NCAA Tournament games and entered the CWS with the best team batting average (.350) among the field, the AP said. Statistics, records and player information in this report are from the Associated Press.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
