Hurston Waldrep admits it took him a little bit to settle in during start in Omaha

The Florida Gators and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles battled in what was one of the best games of the College World Series, to this point. The Gators put their elite starting pitcher Hurston Waldrep on the mound, who ultimately earned the win.

Despite earning the win, Waldrep was frustrated, admitting that it took him a little bit to settle into his start.

“I mean, overall the end result was good,” Hurston Waldrep said. “And that’s all that matters. But took me a little bit to settle in. It’s a big stage. And obviously a lot of feelings — a lot of adrenaline and emotions that come with this game. So able to settle in.”

Waldrep, ultimately, pitched six innings and only allowed one earned run. He also struck out 12 batters. However, he did suffer from some command issues and let 10 Oral Roberts hitters get on base. Still, he left the game with a lead that Florida was just barely able to hold on to.

“Obviously didn’t have the best feel for my fastball, command of my fastball. So to be able to have the three off-speed pitches and rely on those and work with B.T. really well, just to be able to control the game from there.”

Florida is advancing to the next round of the winner’s bracket, where the Gators will play the winner of TCU against Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles have already beaten the Horned Frogs in a thriller once during their time in Omaha.

Hurston Waldrep is considered one of the top prospects in all of college baseball. He is currently ranked as the 20th best draft-eligible prospect in the 2023 MLB Draft. Along with Waldrep, Wyatt Langford, Brandon Sproat, and Josh Rivera are all well regarded prospects in 2023.

Ryan Folmar on struggles against Hurston Waldrep

Even though it took Hurston Waldrep some time to settle in, Oral Roberts wasn’t able to do a ton of damage against him. Oral Roberts head coach Ryan Folmar broke down the offense’s struggles against him.

“First and foremost, it’s good. It’s really good. For obvious reasons. It’s a four-pitch mix. He can command the zone. He’s athletic, has a quick arm. He’s got deception. And as Hogey says every once in a while you know what’s coming, you’re still not hitting it. You’re not squaring it up. And he’s good,” Folmar said.

“We knew coming in a couple of things. Number one, you’re going to have trouble putting a bunch of base hits together against that guy and scoring a bunch of runs. We were going to try to make him a little bit uncomfortable whether that be with the bunt game or the run game, try to take certain pitches away from him at times.”