While there are no local schools competing in the College World Series this year, Mid-Nebraska is well represented by a pair of SEC pitchers.
Kearney’s Cal Higgins is with the Texas Longhorns. The graduate student transferred to the 40 acres after last summer, having spent time at Iowa Western Community College and Western Kentucky University. He’s appeared in 11 games for the Longhorns and has a 1-1 record, pitching 11.1 innings, striking out 16 in a relief position.
Grand Island’s Tyler Fay is also a pitcher, but for SEC foe Alabama. As the Friday night starter for the Crimson Tide, he sports an 11-4 record in 17 appearances. Fay has a 4.37 ERA and pitched seven scoreless innings in Alabama’s Game 1 Super Regional win over St. John’s.
Both teams are in bracket 2 and take on SEC opponents in their opening games Saturday at Omaha’s Charles Schwab Field. Alabama will play Oklahoma at 2PM Saturday, while Texas takes on Georgia at 7PM Saturday. Both games will be televised on ESPN.
In the regular season, Alabama won two of three games against Oklahoma, while Texas and Georgia did not meet. Both teams lost in the opening round of the SEC Tournament to teams not in the CWS. Texas lost to Arkansas and Alabama lost to Florida.
Alabama is at the College World Series for the first time since 1999, while Texas was last at the CWS in 2022.
Today’s College World Series slate starts at 1PM with the only game without an SEC team. West Virginia/Troy is at 1PM followed by North Carolina/Ole Miss at 6PM. The full schedule for the opening two rounds is below.
OPENING ROUNDS CWS SCHEDULE (CENTRAL TIME):
FRIDAY
1PM: West Virginia (45-15) vs. Troy (38-30)
6PM: North Carolina (50-12-1) vs Ole Miss (41-21)
SATURDAY
2PM: Alabama (42-19) vs Oklahoma (38-22)
7PM: Georgia (51-12) vs Texas (45-13)
SUNDAY
1PM: West Virginia/Troy loser vs North Carolina/Ole Miss loser
6PM: West Virginia/Troy winner vs North Carolina/Ole Miss winner
MONDAY
1PM: Alabama/Oklahoma loser vs Georgia/Texas loser
6PM: Alabama/Oklahoma winner vs Georgia/Texas winner
