Eight of the nation’s top teams made the trip to Omaha in search of the 2013 College World Series title, but now only two remain and they’re just two wins away from reaching their ultimate goal.
The 2013 CWS National Championship series between the UCLA Bruins and the Mississippi State Bulldogs will throw out its first pitch tonight and after the best-of-three series is complete, we will have a first-time national champion in baseball.
Of course, the Bruins are well-known for their excellence in team sports. In fact, UCLA is the most winningest school in history when it comes to team sports, with 108 national titles in all. However, interestingly enough, not one of those 108 is in baseball.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have never won a national championship in any team sport. Mississippi State has never even made it this far, so history has already been made, but the the baseball squad would love nothing more than to breakthrough as the first national title winner for its school.
As vastly different as the schools’ athletic pasts are, their 2013 baseball teams differ just as much from one another on the diamond. The Bruins have pitched their way to the championship series – as their starting staff has allowed just two earned runs in their last 20 innings of work – while the Bulldogs have relied on clutch hitting to earn their trip to the championship, scoring at least four runs in every game since June 1. With a solid pitching team clashing against a powerful hitting squad, something will obviously have to give.
Although, so far during their Omaha stays, neither team has given up much to their opponents. Both teams enter tonight’s game one with undefeated postseason marks. Of course, that will all change tonight.
Who will take game one of this best-of-three National Championship series? Tune in to ESPN at 8:00 p.m. EST. to find out, but let us know who you like to win it all via our poll below!