Ryan Folmar assesses Oral Roberts' offensive struggles against Hurston Waldrep

Oral Roberts head coach Ryan Folmar acknowledge his team’s struggles against Hurston Waldrep, who had a banner day for Florida.

The Gators won 5-4 in the latest game of the College World Series. After beating TCU 6-5 in the opening game, the Golden Eagles have another date with the Horned Frogs Tuesday.

In a tight game, Folmar broke down Waldrep was ready for the moment.

“First and foremost, it’s good,” Folmar said. “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 revealed some of the game plan against Waldrep, but couldn’t quite break through over six innings.

“We knew coming in a couple of things,” Folmar said. “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.”

Also, situations changed for Folmar and Oral Roberts. Going into the bottom of the 7th inning, Florida led 5-1 in the latter stages of the game.

“And the score got a little lopsided early,” Folmar said. “So it takes some of that out of play a little bit. And we weren’t able to do that. We had some opportunities early. First couple of innings I thought our guys had good at-bats through those first couple of innings. But in the middle of the game he settled in and he was really good. 

“When you start landing the breaking ball and the changeup for a called strike it’s a game-changer. When he was able to do that and settle in, that’s as good as it gets.”

Waldrep went six innings, gave up seven hits, but just one run (earned), issued three walks and had an outstanding 12 strikeouts.

Safe to say, the Golden Eagles need a better performance at the plate in a rematch with TCU. If Oral Roberts finds itself down early, it could be more of the same and the end of the season.

Folmar and Oral Roberts take on TCU Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. ET in the next game of the College World Series.