Big 12 Notebook: The 2025 College World Series Begins

The Big 12 has been 1/8 of the NCAA Tournament field at all three stages of this postseason. The Big 12 had eight of the 64 teams in the Regionals, two of the 16 teams in the Super Regionals, and now one of the eight teams in Omaha for the College World Series.

Parity among the conferences in Omaha this year is as apparent as it has been in some time. Six conferences are represented in Omaha along with one independent in Oregon State, who is not in a conference at this point. As opposed to 2024 where the field was made up of two conferences, divided equally between the SEC and ACC.

The Arizona Wildcats

The Wildcats are playing in their 19th College World Series and are seeking their first National Championship since 2012.

Arizona will open the College World Series when they face Coastal Carolina at 1pm CT on Friday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field.

RHP Owen Kramkowski (9-6, 5.48) will take the hill for Chip Hale's Arizona team and he will be countered by Chanticleers RHP Riley Eikhoff (6-2, 2.90).

Friday's winner will face the winner of the second game between Louisville and Oregon State, while the Arizona/Coastal loser will face the loser of game two. These four teams will have Saturday off and will resume play on Sunday.

Arizona's chances of reaching Omaha looked bleak last Friday in Chapel Hill in the Super Regional when North Carolina was an easy 18-2 winner in the first game. But the Wildcats rallied to win 10-8 on Saturday and then won a nail-biter deciding game 4-3 on Sunday afternoon to advance.

At a media availability on Thursday in Omaha, Arizona players Mason White and Tony Pluta were asked about a "wow, we're here" moment.

"t's a big park. A lot of seats. It's really cool to see people in the outfield, where you don't really feel that in college as much. But it was definitely a wow, this is real," White said.

"Yeah, I kind of did. But I was surprised. It actually felt a lot like Hi C. We were talking about the dimensions earlier. It's a big park," Pluta added. "Feels like home."

Arizona head coach Chip Hale talked about the nature of college baseball during this time of year when anything can happen and anyone can win.

"When you get into a Regional, when you get into a Super Regional, where it's two out of three, anything can happen. And we proved that. Lose 18-2 and then come back win two really close games," Hale said. "North Carolina was unreal. Very, very good team."

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