College World Series: 10 things you need to know about the 2023 field (2024)

The 2023 College World Series begins at 2 p.m. ET on Friday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. The field consists of three SEC teams (Florida, LSU and Tennessee), two ACC teams (Virginia and Wake Forest) and one each from the Big 12 (TCU), Pac-12 (Stanford) and Summit League (Oral Roberts).

Tennessee, TCU and Oral Roberts were the only non-national seeds to advance to the CWS.

Here’s what you need to know about the field.

Transfers of influence

It’s no secret that transfers have made a huge impact across the college baseball landscape in 2023. Still, it’s interesting to note just how important the portal has been to most of the teams that reached the College World Series — especially on the mound. All but one team has at least one starting pitcher who was added as a transfer from another four-year school.

Florida: Hurston Waldrep is technically the Gators’ No. 2 pitcher, but you can argue that no one has been better in the postseason than the transfer from Southern Miss. In two NCAA Tournament starts, against UConn and South Carolina, the right-hander from Georgia has allowed one run and eight hits in 15 innings with 25 strikeouts and only four walks.

LSU: Paul Skenes, who was a two-way player at Air Force, was the biggest prize out of the portal in the offseason, but the Tigers also added two former top recruits, Thatcher Hurd from UCLA — who can start or come out of the bullpen — and Christian Little from Vanderbilt. Little has not pitched in the postseason, but he did start Game 2 of the 2021 CWS championship series as a freshman for the Commodores. And Riley Cooper, one of the Tigers’ most reliable bullpen arms, followed head coach Jay Johnson from Arizona after the 2021 season.

Oral Roberts: Left-hander Harley Gollert, who is 10-1 and has started 16 games, is a sixth-year senior who played at Austin Peay from 2018 through 2022.

Stanford: The Cardinal are the rare team in college baseball that does not have a transfer on their entire roster.

TCU:Sam Stoutenborough, a grad transfer from Cal, is 5-0 with a 4.52 ERA and started Game 2 of both the Regionals and Super Regionals. Ryan Vanderhei, one of several Big 12 transplants on the roster, played three years at Kansas before transferring to TCU in the offseason. He has a 4-3 record and has struck out 43 batters in 42 2/3 innings.

Tennessee: Two of the Vols’ three weekend starters arrived via the portal. Andrew Lindsey, who took over the Friday night role midseason, did not play baseball in 2022 after spending the 2021 season at Charlotte. Chase Dollander transferred from Georgia Southern prior to the 2022 season and has been one of the best pitchers in college baseball over the last two years.

Virginia: Connelly Early, a transfer from Army who is in his first season at Virginia, is tied for second nationally with 12 wins and ranks fifth in the ACC (behind four Wake Forest pitchers!) with a 3.06 ERA. Nick Parker, who has started 15 games and is 8-0, transferred from Coastal Carolina in the offseason.

Wake Forest: The Deacons bolstered an already strong staff by adding Sean Sullivan from Northwestern, Cole Roland from Dartmouth and Michael Massey from Tulane. Sullivan was in the rotation for much of the season but has been utilized as a swingman in the postseason. In 64 2/3 innings, he has allowed only 39 hits and has 108 strikeouts and 18 walks.

Players and coaches

Half of the head coaches in the 2023 College World Series also played in the CWS during their collegiate days.

Stanford’s David Esquer is the only one in that group who is coaching at his alma mater. Esquer was the starting shortstop on the Cardinal’s 1987 national championship team and was also on the 1985 team that reached Omaha.

Brian O’Connor is perhaps the most notable. He was a pitcher on the only Creighton team that reached the CWS, in 1991, and is among the players honored on the statue in front of Charles Schwab Stadium.

Oral Roberts coach Ryan Folmar was the starting catcher on the 1996 Oklahoma State team that made the CWS under veteran coach Gary Ward. TCU’s Kirk Saarloos played in the CWS twice while at Cal State Fullerton, in 1999 and 2001, and allowed only two runs in 15 1/3 innings combined at the old Rosenblatt Stadium.

Esquer and LSU’s Jay Johnson are the only two coaches in the 2023 field who have taken more than one team to the CWS. Esquer guided Cal to Omaha in 2011 while Johnson made two trips at Arizona, in 2016 and 2021.

Bounce back Cavs

Virginia went .500 or better in the ACC in each of O’Connor’s first 14 seasons, from 2004 through 2017, with 14 trips to the postseason (including three to the CWS and the 2015 national title). Not bad for a program that did not have a winning ACC record in 15 consecutive seasons before his arrival.

But the program dipped in the late 2010s, missing the postseason in both 2018 (12-18 ACC) and 2019 (14-16). The Cavs bounced back in 2021 and made a surprise run to Omaha as a No. 3 seed. In the last two years, they are 17-13 and 19-11 in league play.

It’s safe to say the program is back on track.

Sunshine State sluggers

The state of Florida is home to some of the best high school baseball in the country. That’s not a surprise. But check out some of the premier hitters from the Sunshine State who will be on display in Omaha.

• Jac Caglianone, Florida (Tampa): 31 home runs and 84 RBIs
• Dylan Crews, LSU (Longwood): .434, 17 HRs, .735 slugging
• Cade Kurland, Florida (Tampa): 16 HRs as a true freshman
• Wyatt Langford, Florida (Trenton): .373, 17 HRs, .769 slugging
• Josh Rivera, Florida (Avon Park): 17 HRs, 58 RBIs
• Tommy White, LSU (St. Pete Beach): .377, 22 HRs, 97 RBIs, .750 slugging
• Brock Wilken, Wake Forest (Valrico): .357, 30 HRs, 80 RBIs

Home runs = wins

On a related note, hitting a lot of home runs has evidently been a good formula for success in 2023. Four of the top six (and five of the top 11) teams nationally in home runs will be playing in Omaha this week. LSU ranks second with 133 followed by Florida and Wake Forest (tied for fourth, 129), Tennessee (sixth, 125), Stanford (tied for 10th, 117), Oral Roberts (33rd, 95), TCU (tied for 51st, 88) and Virginia (tied for 68th, 82).

Special grad transfer

Wake Forest coach Tom Walter has made 181 pitching changes through the first 52 games of the season. Thirteen times, he’s called for a 6-foot-3 right-handed grad transfer from Georgetown: his son, Chase.

“It’s the first time that’s ever happened,” Walter said earlier this spring about coaching his son. “It’s been different having him on the team. It’s added another layer to this.”

Walter spent spent four years at Georgetown, where Tom played from 1988 through 1991, before opting to use his final year of eligibility to play for his dad. And like most of Wake’s pitchers, he has solid numbers. In 13 games, he has allowed only five hits in 9 2/3 innings, with nine strikeouts and seven walks.

Hogan finds a home at Oral Roberts

It didn’t take long for Matt Hogan to find his place at Oral Roberts.. He started in right field and batted fifth in the Golden Eagles’ season-opening win against Northern Illinois and has remained in the middle of the lineup for the majority of the year.

But it hasn’t been a smooth ride for the fifth-year senior from Melville, N.Y.

Hogan signed with Vanderbilt as a top-350 national recruit in the Class of 2018 but did not start a game in three years with the Commodores. He did play on two teams that reached the College World Series, including the 2019 national champions, but was not on the postseason roster in either season.

Hogan transferred to South Carolina in 2022 and earned the opening-day start in center field. He homered and tripled in his first game with the Gameco*cks but managed only five hits the rest of the season and hit .137 in 51 at bats.

Now, in his first season at ORU, Hogan is the starting right fielder on the third No. 4 Regional seed to reach the College World Series. He is second on the team with a .332 average and leads the team with 18 home runs and 70 RBIs.

This stat sums up Hogan’s journey: He has as many hits in the 2023 postseason (nine) as he did in his first four seasons of college baseball.

Tennessee roster turnover

Tennessee coach Tony Vitello has done an impressive job turning over a talented roster in the past few years. Camden Sewell, a fifth-year senior, is the only Volunteer who appeared in the 2021 CWS who is still on the Tennessee roster. Sewell pitched an inning against Virginia and 1 2/3 innings against Texas.

TCU’s impact freshmen

No freshman pitcher will be on a bigger stage in the postseason than TCU’s Kole Klecker. The Arizona native has emerged as the Horned Frogs No. 1 starter in the postseason. He did not allow a run in seven innings in Game 1 of the Super Regional against Indiana State and is 10-4 with a 3.84 ERA for the season.

He is one of several TCU freshman pitchers who have thrown at least 35 innings this year. The others:

• Ben Abeldt: Pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the Game 2 Super Regional win over Indiana State. For the season: 3-3, 3.72 ERA.
• Luis Rodriguez: Started five games and has 49 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings.
• Braeden Sloan: Emerged as the primary midweek starter and went 2-3 with a 6.63 ERA.
• Chase Hoover: Started four games and went 1-1 with a 5.14 ERA

By the numbers

The eight teams in Omaha have combined for 73 appearances in the College World Series and 11 national championships. LSU and Stanford lead the way with 19 CWS appearances each, with LSU in the lead with six national titles. Three other schools have won one title: Wake Forest (1955), Virginia (2015) and Florida (2017). Oral Roberts, Tennessee and TCU are looking for their first national championship.

(Top photo of Jac Caglianone, Wyatt Langford and Josh Rivera: James Gilbert / Getty Images)

Mitch Light is a college sports editor for The Athletic. He previously served as the managing editor for The Athletic Nashville and The Athletic Memphis and prior to that was the managing editor at Athlon Sports for 18 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter @MitchLight