Collegiate Baseball continues to grow, and it is amazing to see! One of the biggest examples of the sport’s growth has been the NCAA Baseball gambling market. CWS games begin today at 1 PM Central. In this article, I’ll list my College World Series Picks 6/18 and College Baseball betting odds on the two games, how to handicap them, and what side to be on.
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College World Series Picks 6/18 – College Baseball Betting Odds
All College Baseball Bets Are To Win 1 Unit
1 PM CT -130 Florida State vs. North Carolina +100
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Florida State: TBA
North Carolina: Aidan Haugh JR RHP: 4-2, 4.53 ERA, 58 K, 24 BB, 51.2 IP, 3.66 SIERA
Outside of Tennessee, Florida State’s offense has looked better than the rest of the Omaha attendees. The Seminoles have a huge question on the mound, though.
Their third starting pitcher this year was Cam Leiter. He suffered a midseason injury and has flirted with a return, but that has yet to happen. Head Coach Link Jarrett has a few options that he could consider, but none of them will give the Noles an advantage on the mound in this matchup.
Andrew Armstrong has made 8 starts this year, but he has a 6.98 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched. John Abraham is another option. He has a 4.24 ERA in 34 innings (2 starts), but he is a Freshman who has only appeared once in the postseason and hasn’t pitched in Omaha yet.
Or Jarrett could opt for Connor Hults, who has a 4.54 ERA in 30.1 IP. All three of those guys may toe the rubber on Tuesday. We just don’t know in what order. Brennen Oxford has already thrown 59 pitches in 2 Omaha appearances. He could maybe come in for a handful of outs.
One of North Carolina’s strengths entering the College World Series was their pitching depth. Aidan Haugh will start this game. Haugh has not been great lately (8.12 ERA in last 3 appearances), but UNC doesn’t need him to be great.
The Tar Heels are just asking for 3-to-5 innings. Then, they can hand the ball off to their excellent bullpen (3.94 ERA). Head Scott Forbes has not burned any of those back end arms so far, he can mix and match all he wants.
In these types of matchups, my trump card is always, “Good pitching beats good hitting.” Even though the Tar Heels haven’t put up a ton of runs in the postseason, they have come up with the clutch hit. That should be enough to get a win on what will be a very windy day, favoring pitchers.
The Bet: +100 North Carolina ML (BetRivers)
6 PM CT -130 Kentucky vs. Florida +100
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Kentucky: TBA, Dominic Niman JR RHP: 8-4, 6.24 ERA, 66 K, 25 BB, 70.2 IP, 3.99 SIERA
Florida: Pierce Coppola JR LHP: 0-4, 9.16 ERA, 26 K, 9 BB, 18.2 IP, 3.16 SIERA
I mean this in the nicest way: these two starting pitchers have been trainwrecks lately. Pierce Coppola has a 10.80 ERA in his last 4 starts, and Dominic Niman has a 13.54 ERA in his last 4 starts. If I had to pick one of these guys to have a better outing, I’d lean Coppola.
He has plenty of talent but came back from Tommy John surgery in the final quarter of the regular season. Coppola is a crossfire lefty who has already seen the Wildcats once this season. It was his best start so far this season (2.2 IP, 3 K, 1 BB, 0 ER, 1 R).
Florida’s Brandon Neely has been elite in the NCAA Tournament. However, he has already thrown 68 pitches in a three-day span. The Gators will have to lean hard on Fisher Jameson. In his Junior season, the RHP is 5-0 with a 4.14 ERA and 74 K in 63 innings. Jameson has been in a groove lately. His last three outings have been some of his longest this season.
UK has more options out of the pen. Robert Hogan’s 2.09 ERA, Johnny Hummel’s 3.30 ERA, and Jackson Nove’s 5.40 ERA are the three names to know.
On the podcast, I picked Florida. I am benedicting that pick. Kentucky has more arms to mix and match with on the mound. Plus, the Cats’ offense doesn’t only rely on the long ball. They can create offense in many ways. In an environment that may include some bad weather (likely strong wind from the outfield and thunderstorms), I like an offense like the Wildcats’ rather than the Gators’ slugging first-on-base second approach.
The Bet: -130 Kentucky ML (BetRivers)
College World Series Picks 6/18 – College Baseball Betting Odds
For more analysis and entertainment on NCAA Baseball gambling, make sure you tune into The College Baseball Experience. During the season, Colby Dant and Noah Bieniek will talk about and pick the winners of each weekend’s biggest series.
