Ryan Folmar previews elimination game vs. TCU in College World Series

Oral Roberts is set to face TCU for the second time in the College World Series — but this time, both team’s seasons are on the line.

The Golden Eagles defeated the Horned Frogs 6-5 to open CWS action in Omaha on Friday, but would go on to lose a 5-4 heartbreaker to Florida and was dropped to the consolation bracket. They were ready to play the victor of Virginia and TCU, which so happened to be the latter in a 4-3 victory.

They’re 1-2 overall in one-score games this season with their only win coming against the Horned Frogs on Friday. Despite the close-scoring games the CWS has produced, head coach Ryan Folmar isn’t worried about adjusting his gameplan at this point in the season.

“What we do is not going to change. You get to this point because of what you do to get here. Regardless of what they do, as you said, everybody here is good. Everybody here is playing well at the right time of year,” Folmar said. “So I think more than any scouting report or matchups or anything you want to cover, we’ve got to play well. And if we play well, we’re going to have a chance. If we don’t, we’re probably going to come up a little short.

“We have to find a way tomorrow in our workout to get sharp and get ready mentally to go and come out and play well on Tuesday.”

Oral Roberts will be relying on their bats to take care of things on Tuesday, especially with the way slugger Jake McMurray has been hitting the ball this postseason. He’s 13-for-22 with two doubles and eight RBIs while logging a .591/.667/.682 slash line. Right fielder Matt Hogan and center fielder Jonah Cox are also batting about .350 this postseason.

In the Golden Eagles’ last matchup vs. Florida, McMurray logged two hits and two walks in five at-bats while Cox went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts. Hogan joined McMurray in his hot night at the plate, hitting a two-run inside-the-park home run when his team needed it the most.

They’ll be needed that and then some if Oral Roberts expects to keep its season alive past Tuesday. The first irst pitch between Oral Roberts and the Horned Frogs is set for 2 p.m. ET live on ESPN and ESPN+.

Despite losing in the first matchup, TCU enters Tuesday as the betting favorites (-150) over the Golden Eagles, according to Caesars Sportsbook. The over/under total is set a 11.5.