MCWS 2023 - Blaze Brothers delivers latest dose of magic for Oral Roberts' Cinderella season - ESPN

OMAHA, Neb. — About 2 1/2 months ago, a man from Arizona placed a $25 bet on Oral Roberts to win the Men's College World Series. It did not seem like the most prudent wager; Oral Roberts came into the 2023 season needing to replace its entire starting rotation, welcomed 17 new players, and hadn't been to the MCWS since 1978. But Tom Breeze had a hunch about the Golden Eagles.

His nephew, Holden Breeze, plays third base for Oral Roberts.

«They're really confident,» Tom Breeze said Friday morning, as about 100 people gathered on the cobblestone road outside of the downtown Omaha Hyatt to send the team off before its MCWS opener. «I think they're walking into this thinking they can win it. They play for each other. They don't want to let each other down.»

Before Friday afternoon, the number of Oral Roberts believers may have been limited to Summit League observers, the 32 members of the team, the coaches and the 100 or so people outside of the Hyatt.

Not anymore. Not after Blaze Brothers' three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning rallied Oral Roberts to a 6-5 victory over TCU.

Brothers doesn't just embrace the Golden Eagles' Cinderella label. He embodies it — a fifth-year senior who went from junior college to Division II baseball to ORU last fall. Brothers said that one of the reasons the team has clicked so well is because many of its players have taken similar nondescript paths to Omaha.

Oral Roberts is a four seed, the lowest to make it to the MCWS in 11 years. It lost two All-America pitchers to the MLB draft in 2022, and had to replace half of its starting position players.

The disparities between the two teams playing Friday were notable. TCU, a blueblood in college baseball, spent about $34,000 per player last