It’s here! After covering the Regionals and Super Regionals for you, we’ve finally reached the 2022 College World series. The top eight college baseball programs in the nation will compete for the chance to hoist the trophy.
The format of the 2022 College World series is two separate four-team brackets which are both played at the same location, Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. Both brackets compete in a double-elimination tournament until the winner of each bracket meet in the Finals.
How to Watch:
- Friday, June 17th, 2 p.m. on ESPN – Oklahoma vs Texas A&M
- Friday, June 17th, 7 p.m. on ESPN – Notre Dame vs Texas
How to Bet:
For each game, you can bet as you would any normal baseball game: straight up, against the spread, or the over/run on the run total. If you’re not familiar with betting on baseball, you should read our beginner’s guide to baseball betting, which will explain all the bets.
Since this is a tournament, you’re also able to cast bets on who will win each bracket and who will ultimately win the entire tournament.
If you’re new to betting and want to get involved in casting the bets we give you below, Caesar’s has a great risk-free first bet promo for any new users.
Predictions and Players to Watch
Oklahoma vs #5 Texas A&M
- Friday, June 17th, 2 p.m.
- ESPN
The Oklahoma Sooners are one of two unseeded teams to make the 2022 College World Series. In this format, that means Oklahoma was not one of the 16 best teams who were awarded home-field advantage in the Regional round, back when there were 64 teams. Oklahoma has played a slightly harder schedule than Texas A&M, but the Aggies are better in almost every statistical category this year.
Oklahoma should have an advantage when it comes to their starting pitching, especially with Jake Bennett on the mound. The left-hander is a big boy at 6’6″ and 235 pounds. His fastball sits in the low 90s, but he can run it up to the mid-90s when he needs to. The fastball might be a bit too hittable at the next level, but Bennett is a big frame with a workable slider and change-up that could intrigue major league teams.
However, Texas A&M also has a massive weapon in lefty closer Jacob Palisch. The transfer from Stanford has a 2.60 ERA in In 52 innings with 60 strikeouts to just nine walks.
Prospects to Watch:
- Jacob Palisch – Closer, Texas A&M: See stats above
- Jake Bennett – LHP, Oklahoma: see above
- Peyton Graham – SS, Oklahoma: Hit .336 this year with 20 HR, 70 RBI, and 32 SBs. Made a change to his swing in the middle of the season, which led to success but may have too much swing and miss to be an MLB starter.
Best Bet: Texas A&M +1.5 runs (-165) The Sooner have been the better team in the postseason, and the Aggies starting pitching simply hasn’t performed the way you want it to in order to lay money down, but I have a bit more confidence in this Texas A&M offense and think the Aggie bullpen can keep this game close. They may be worn down for future games, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
Notre Dame vs #9 Texas
- Friday, June 17th, 7 p.m.
- ESPN
For a while, it looked like we weren’t going to see Texas here. Both of their elite starting pitchers got hit hard in the Super Regional against East Carolina, and the Pirates were just six outs away from eliminating Texas and moving onto their first-ever college world series.
Then the Texas offense woke up and did what they do best: hit home runs. The Longhorns are 9th in the nation in home runs per game and 4th in the nation in slugging, so controlling their offense will be tough. However, Notre Dame has the 4th-best team ERA in the nation and 10th-best WHIP, so this game is a little bit of strength versus strength.
The Fighting Irish will send out John Michael Bertrand who has been the steadying presence of their staff all season. However, he got tagged for six earned runs against number one seed Tennessee in the Super Regionals. With Longhorns starter Pete Hansen also getting roughed up in the Super Regionals, it’s hard to feel supremely confident that Texas will come in here and dominate.
Prospects to Watch:
- Jack Brannigan – 3B, Notre Dame: Hit .296 with 12 home runs and 46 RBI. A bit of a free swinger, but has a tremendous arm (also pitches for ND) and would likely be an above-average defensive third baseman at the major league level.
- Ivan Melendez – 1B, Texas: Hit .396 with 32 home runs, 94 RBI and a 52:48 BB:K rate. The “Hispanic Titanic” is pure power. His defense is limited to first base, and he could realistically be a DH at the next level, but the power in his bat is for real.
- Silas Ardoin – C, Texas: Hit .276 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI, but his defense is what will carry him. He’s one of the best defensive catchers in the draft. A plus defender with a plus arm, he’s likely a #2 catcher at the big league level.
Best Bet: Over 9.5 (-115) With Texas throwing their ace and Notre Dame having one of the best pitching staffs in the country, the over/under has dropped from 11.5 down to 9.5. To me, this is too low for college baseball and for an offense as powerful as Texas. Especially since we’ve seen both of these pitchers get hit hard.
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