College World Series Day 1 Recap

I am blown away by being in Omaha for the College World Series. It has been built up to be such a destination in my mind and it 100% lives up to the hype! TD Ameritrade Park is gorgeous and downtown Omaha is alive for this thing ESP after covid cancelled the 2020 CWS. 

I was in the heart of the North Carolina State section for the opening game yesterday. The Wolfpack brought a lot of fans and the section was rocking the entire game. 

Their star OF Jonny Butler hit a 2 run homer in the first and I immediately knew my Stanford/Vandy parlay was dead on arrival. I am an idiot for going against one of the hottest teams in the country anyway. NC State has been on fire since starting 1-8 in ACC and showed championship mettle knocking out #1 seed Arkansas last weekend after losing the opening game 21-2. I backed Stanford because I liked their ace Brendan Beck who was 9-1. NC State dominated most of the game but I still had a shot at Under 10.5 until they exploded for 4 more runs in the 9th. The Wolf Pack move on to play in the Winners Bracket Monday night at 6pm in the double elimination format.

Dave Portnoy has NC State to win it all at 15-1 and did this video from the pool on vacation talking about the game and his bet. No matter how much heat I rightfully take, I love seeing Dave get involved with college baseball!

Dave then continued the onslaught with this Tweet showing a text message between him and Big Cat about my college baseball knowledge. If I were a lesser man my feelings might be hurt but I am lucky to be at Barstool Sports so gotta roll with the punches.

After the early game, I hopped around tailgating lots and Blatt’s across the street. I got recognized a ton and it was awesome to meet so many Stoolies who are passionate about college baseball. The reception was overwhelmingly positive despite getting a couple funny comments about this gambling cold stretch I am on. The tailgating lot scene is great around the stadium. It is easy to get around and tons of friendly people in Omaha. I plan to hop around the lots more in the coming days. The Mississippi State and Tennessee fans are going to go all out in those spots today.

I went back in the stadium about 5:45 to get ready for the night matchup between Vandy and Arizona. This was a fascinating matchup featuring Vandy Ace Kumar Rocker against one of the top offenses in the country in the Pac 12 Champion Wildcats. I picked Vandy to win it all too so 

Arizona jumped all over Rocker with 3 runs in the first and it felt like deja vu from NC State game as I was in heart of their section. This Arizona lineup is unbelievable ESP Freshmen DH Jacob Berry. He is an MLB level hitter already. Vandy bounced back with 1 run in the bottom of the 1st to cut lead to 3-1.

Rocker then settled down the next 4 innings and mowed the Wildcats down. Vandy tied the game on this two run homer by 3B Jayson Gonzalez in the bottom of the 4th.

Arizona RF Ryan Holgate hit this two run bomb in the 6th to chase Rocker with Arizona leading 5-3. Their fans were rocking again and I felt kind of nautious thinking Vandy was about to go down. 

Vandy mounted a rally in the 7th with lead off hitter Enrique Bradfield’s RBI single. Then Vandy SS Carter Young crushed this 2 run homer to give the ‘Dories a 6-5 lead! This was turning into a helluva game and felt like a back and forth heavyweight slugfest.

Arizona was not going down without a fight and tied the game on a sacrifice fly by lead off hitter Donta Williams in the 9th. The Wildcats held Vandy and to extra innings we went. 

Vandy closer Luke Murphy did a fantastic job getting through both the 10th and 11th throwing gas in the high 90s against the potent Wildcats. Vandy had a monster threat in the 11th but was unable to get a runner home from 3rd with 1 out. When Arizona got out of that jam their fans were going wild and I thought the ‘Dories were dead.

Vandy had to change pitchers in the 12th and put Chris McElvain in the game against the top of the Arizona lineup. Donta Williams immediately ripped a double into the right center gap. Then McElvain became a hero forcing superstar Berry to pop out then striking out their stud 1st baseman Branden Boissiere and 3rd Baseman Tony Bullard to escape the jam!

Vandy caught a big break on on error by the Arizona 1st baseman and finally ended this marathon 12 inning game on this Jayson Gonzalez single with the bases loaded when Arizona had infield in to win 7-6 in a heart stopping thriller! Considering the high stakes at the CWS, this was one of my favorite college baseball games I have ever attended. It had it all. It was a great atmosphere in beautiful ballpark on a gorgeous night, back and forth between two stud teams for over 4.5 hours. As a college baseball fan, there’s no way I could ask for anything more on my 1st trip to the CWS!

I did this SEC parlay on the Barstool Sportsbook App for today’s games. You can place a $25 min parlay anytime during the CWS and get a Barstool In Omaha shirt.

The Mississippi State fans are THRILLED I took them in their matchup vs. Texas. I see Twitter melts everywhere already. It is too funny. I will be sitting in the heart of the Mississippi State section with Brandon Walker tonight which promises to be more than interesting. Texas has a strong ace in Ty Madden but I like the Bulldogs at the solid +130 price as an underdog.

I am about to head back to TD Ameritrade for Virginia/Tennessee today at 1pm. Tennessee is a fairly big favorite with a low total of 7.5. I am going to put a small play on the over at that low total. Virginia has a good ace in Andrew Abbot but I think Tennessee can score 5 runs. UVA is not that strong on offense and TD Ameritrade is a pitchers park hence the low total. I def may be a sucker but 7.5 runs is awfully low in college baseball with metal bats. Big T arrived in Omaha this morning and it will be fun to sit with him during the game.

Tonight I will be going to Andy Frasco’s show at Barnato right after Miss State/Texas. He is one of the funniest and most entertaining performers in the live music game. I guarantee a huge time to all the Stoolies if y’all want to get out and party with me in Omaha tonight after the CWS! The show starts at 9:30 and is about a 15 min Uber away from TD Ameritrade. I promise it will be more than worth it! The man has never let me down and I have seen over 10 shows. He has way more energy than even I do.

We will be doing Picks Central live at DJ’s Dugout sports bar from 11 to Noon Mon-Fri as well with Brandon Walker, Marty Mush, Carl, Big T and myself. Come see us before the 1pm games all week! Time to go to the ballpark for what promises to be a Grateful Sunday!