2023 College World Series
The Oral Roberts baseball team compiled one of the most historic seasons in program history in 2023 after reaching the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, for the first time since 1978.
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The Golden Eagles, who became the third No. 4 seed in NCAA history to advance to the College World Series, reached the postseason after claiming their 21st Summit League Championship title. Making its 30th NCAA Regional appearance, 18th since 2001, ORU swept the Stillwater Regional as they defeated No. 11 overall seed Oklahoma State, Washington and Dallas Baptist. The Golden Eagles then rallied to take the final two of three on the road against Oregon in the Eugene Super Regional to punch their ticket to Omaha.
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At the College World Series, a three-run ninth inning homer from Blaze Brothers propelled ORU to a 6-5 victory over TCU in the opening game. The Golden Eagles then fell in a heartbreaker to No. 2 Florida, 5-4, before seeing their 2023 campaign come to a close in an elimination game against TCU.
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Under the guidance of head coach Ryan Folmar, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Mike Martin National Coach of the Year, ORU went 52-14 and recorded a 23-1 mark in Summit League play. The 52 victories were a program record (DI-era) and marked the first 50-win season since 2004. In its final 48 games, ORU went 42-6 and set a program record (DI-era) with 21 consecutive wins from April 23-June 4.
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On a team that was loaded with talent, closer Cade Denton and center fielder Jonah Cox shined the brightest as the duo was recognized as consensus All-Americans. The duo became the first Golden Eagles since Mark Serrano in 2009 to earn multiple All-America honors in a single season. Right fielder Matt Hogan was also tabbed a Third Team All-American by the NCBWA, marking the first time since 1999 that a trio of Golden Eagles garnered All-America honors.
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Denton was also tabbed as the NCBWA Stopper of the Year, which recognized the nation’s top reliever, and the Summit League Pitcher of the Year. The junior, who led the nation and matched a program record with 15 saves, logged a 1.83 ERA and struck out 86 batters in 64 innings of work. In a program-best 35 appearances, Denton held opponents to a .211 batting average.
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Cox, who was named the Summit League Player/Newcomer of the Year, led the nation and set a program/League record with 114 hits. The junior topped the Golden Eagles with a .412 average and also registered 11 homers, 16 doubles, eight triples, 68 RBI and 28 stolen bases. Cox also compiled a 47-game hit streak during the season, which ranked as the third longest in NCAA history.
The Golden Eagles finished the year ranked inside the Top 8 in every national poll, including a No. 5 ranking by Collegiate Baseball, which matched the highest in program history.
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1978 College World Series
The 1978 Oral Roberts University baseball team will forever be etched in ORU athletic history as the first team in school history to advance to the pinnacle of college baseball, the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Under the direction of legendary coach Larry Cochell, the ORU Titans easily advanced through the Midwest Regional, played at recently opened J.L. Johnson Stadium, with a 10-3 victory over Oklahoma State, and back-to-back wins over Southern Illinois, 8-5 and 7-2.
In their first contest in Omaha June 3, the Titans got an outstanding pitching performance by ORU hall of famer Ron Meridith. An All-American in 1978, Meridith pitched a complete game shutout over North Carolina as the Titans rolled to a 11-0 victory. Meridith struck out eight Tar Heels and allowed just four hits in the victory.
Junior Vincent Bienek went 3-5 at the plate with a triple to lead the Titans, driving in four and scoring two times. George Bjorkman, also an All-American in the 1978 season, scored three times in the victory, and Wayne Stone and Buddy Slemp each crossed the plate twice.
The next day, the Titans battled with a powerful Arizona State team that featured future Major League stars Bob Horner, Hubie Brooks and Chris Bando. ORU jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after the first inning of play, highlighted by a grand slam by first team All-American Bill Springman. However, the Sun Devils cut into the Titan lead in the bottom of the third as Horner matched Springman with a grand slam of his own to make it a 5-4 game.
ASU took the lead in the next inning, plating three runs on a bases load walk, a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly to go ahead 7-5. The contest remained 7-5 until the Titans rallied in the top of the ninth inning. Springman and Gary D’Onofrio hit back-to-back doubles to start the inning to cut the lead to 7-6, but Sun Devil reliever Ken Jones sat down the next three Titans in order to close the game.
The Sun Devils reached the championship game, falling to USC 10-3.
On June 5, ORU met Miami in an elimination game. The Hurricanes jumped out to 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the second inning. In the home half of the fourth inning, Aurdie Culbert launched a tworun home run to cut the lead to 3-2. Miami added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend its lead to 5-2. In the bottom of the eighth, Bjorkman hit an RBI triple to cut the lead 5-3, but the Titans were unable to get anything going in the ninth and were eliminated from the tournament.
The 1978 Titans finished the season 45-12 and ranked No. 5 by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Meridith and Bjorkman went on to play in the Major Leagues
