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Ryan Folmar explains what this Oral Roberts group will mean to him

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report06/20/23
Oral Roberts Baseball
Oral Roberts players embrace each other following a loss to TCU in the College World Series on June 20, 2023. (Steven Branscombe / USA TODAY Sports)

Oral Roberts‘ magical postseason run came to an end on Tuesday with a 6-1 loss to TCU, but the Golden Eagles made some memories that will last for a lifetime. Improbable memories, at that.

The program became only the third team that was a four-seed in NCAA Regional action to reach Omaha and only the second to win a game at the College World Series.

Oral Roberts knocked off TCU in a thrilling 6-5 game to open play in Omaha before tumbling out on Tuesday.

“What it means historically, I don’t know yet,” coach Ryan Folmar said. “We’ll take some time and process that now that we’re done. But when you’re in the moment, I don’t think you really think in those terms in the moment.”

Suffice it to say the postseason run almost certainly elevated the profile of the program.

Oral Roberts swept its regional, knocking off No. 11 national seed Oklahoma State, along with Washington and Dallas Baptist. Then the program managed to squeeze through the Eugene Super Regional by beating Oregon twice after losing the first game.

That gave the Golden Eagles a chance to experience Omaha.

“It was a lot of fun to watch, too,” Folmar said. “I’ve said this, I’ve had the best seat in the house all year long. And what a fun group to be able to be a part of.”

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The only other team that had won a game in Omaha after being a four-seed in regional play was Fresno State, back in 2008. The Bulldogs would go on to win it all, beating Georgia in the championship series.

The other four-seed to reach Omaha prior to Oral Roberts this year was Stony Brook, back in 2012. They promptly went 0-2 and exited the field.

So Oral Roberts’ achievement was a pretty significant one.

“When we have a chance to reflect a little bit, I mean, it’s been well chronicled the run these guys have been on,” Folmar said. “We’ll see what that means for our program and the university moving forward.

“We hope it helps continue to build and continue to get our brand out there. It’s something we’re very proud of. We’re very unique, obviously being a small Christian school with a special value set that is extremely important to us as well. Hopefully people get that message.”