2023 MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 20, 2023

Ryan Folmar

Jake McMurray

Cade Denton

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

Postgame Press Conference

TCU - 6, Oral Roberts - 1

COACH FOLMAR: Just obviously not the way we want it to end. But a little bit bittersweet in the fact that it does end in Omaha. I think if it's ever going to end, this is where you want it to end.

But, man, proud of the way our guys competed all year long. I don't think today is by any way going to define our season. But, man, what a great run. I'm so thankful to be part of such a historic group that made a run like this.

I'm proud of the way our guys hung in there. It did not go well for us. I thought we played pretty sloppy all the way around.

Again, when you score one run against good clubs, it's not a recipe to win for sure. We left another 12 guys on base today, 13 yesterday or Sunday and just not enough. We could never get that big swing. We couldn't have that big moment today. And it just wasn't our day.

I just don't want it to overshadow what this team has accomplished and what this team has done. Proud to be part of it.

Q. To echo your coach, you guys made it here from the Summit League and you won a ton of games. How would you summarize the season? I'm sure this stings in this moment, but how would you summarize your achievement this year in getting here and winning a game here?

CADE DENTON: The way I'd summarize it is this team is probably one of the most gelled-together teams I think I've ever played on. Like we said many times going into the fall we knew we had a talented team, but none of us knew it would gel the way it did.

And the way that we performed out on the field every single day and especially in that last half of the season during the win streak, I mean I've never seen baseball played so fundamentally well. And just it was exciting baseball and obviously to get here and win a game -- didn't go the way we wanted it the last two games -- but I can't fault any of these guys. They've had a great year and it's been fun.

JAKE MCMURRAY: Not obviously how we wanted it to end, but if you're going to play the last game somewhere it might as well be at Charles Schwab Field.

It's a historic year for our program. We have program record in wins. Second time ever being in Omaha, so obviously a very good year overall for us but just ran out of magic at the end.

Q. Being from a smaller conference -- the SEC is here, ACC is here -- everyone knows those schools. Not too many people familiar with Oral Roberts coming in. What do you say about the mark you left with all the fans in general just getting familiar, getting to know you guys and really ultimately rooting for you at various points throughout your time here?

JAKE MCMURRAY: I mean in terms of our conference, not necessarily as big a name as all the other Power Five schools. But in terms of our region, I would say Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, I would say Oral Roberts is very well known and we have a very good track record of the baseball that we've been able to play since our institution was founded.

But in terms of gaining national attention, this is probably something that's going to propel our program for the next 10 to 15 years, I would say. So that's huge. And just for our athletic department in general is just something that is very special.

CADE DENTON: There's good baseball everywhere. You've just got to find it. There's 330-some-odd Division I baseball programs out there. There's definitely a few that didn't make it here to Omaha.

But I think even from the smaller programs that I think could have left a mark here too. I think we were the lucky one to get in this year. And I wouldn't call it luck, but obviously baseball is a game that anybody can win against anybody. And we have proven that in years past and we've proven it this year too.

So obviously the Summit League being a smaller conference and not having the nationwide recognition week-to-week I think we went out and put on a show for the Summit League and especially for our school and the name that we wear on our chest and especially to God. All glory to him. We wouldn't be here without him. I just would like to say thank you to everyone who has gotten us to this point this year, support staff, coaches -- just everybody.

Q. What does it mean to just wear the Golden Eagles uniform across your chest, let alone just about alumni, many close family and friends, alongside former Major League players that have worn the Oral Roberts uniform? What's it mean to just carry that legacy from here on out and what the future holds?

JAKE MCMURRAY: It means everything to me. I grew up going -- I'm from Tulsa, so I'm a local kid. I grew up going to ORU games. I wasn't a highly recruited guy coming out of high school.

Coach Folmar and his staff was the only staff in the country to give me a shot. So to be able to put this uniform on every day and represent this university is very special.

And just in terms of our alumni and everybody that's come before us, we wouldn't be here without the foundation laid by them and the support they've continued to give us throughout the years.

And now, as I'm an alumni, I hope I can keep supporting the guys that come after me. And I'm sure Cade feels the same way as well.

CADE DENTON: I'd like to thank the fans. The support that they showed the past few weeks in Stillwater, Eugene and here in Omaha, it's been amazing. I haven't seen anything like it in my career playing baseball.

I've seen so many people from so many different walks of life come out and support, whether or not they're ORU alum, friends of ORU alum, friends of players from years past, or just people that want to come out and support the school.

So it's been amazing. Like I said, I'd like to thank the fans for their undying support for us this run.

Q. Ryan, I know this is probably not the right time to ask you because the emotions are raw, but what is this group going to mean to you as you think about the run, especially going through your alma mater and getting here? Just seemed like the type of baseball you guys were playing these last couple of weeks was kind of easy to latch on to?

COACH FOLMAR: Yeah, it was. It was a lot of fun to watch, too. I've said this, I've had the best seat in the house all year long. And what a fun group to be able to be a part of.

What it means historically, I don't know yet. We'll take some time and process that now that we're done. But when you're in the moment, I don't think you really think in those terms in the moment.

But when we have a chance to reflect a little bit, I mean, it's been well chronicled the run these guys have been on. We'll see what that means for our program and the university moving forward.

We hope it helps continue to build and continue to get our brand out there. It's something we're very proud of. We're very unique, obviously being a small Christian school with a special value set is extremely important to us as well. Hopefully people get that message.

Q. The fifth inning there seemed like, obviously, a pretty pivotal moment. A lot of weird stuff going on --

COACH FOLMAR: It was a weird game, right, not just that inning. You looked throughout the game and it was just an awkward game. There was no rhythm. There was no flow. There was long breaks, on and on and on.

There was just nothing to the game, couldn't get going, couldn't get any rhythm. You couldn't establish anything.

So it was a strange game. Not just that inning, but I thought it was strange.

For us, we knew coming in we would have to play clean. We were going to have to execute at a high level. And we're going to have to eliminate free passes. And we just weren't able to do that.

Again, offensively Sunday we left 13 on. This afternoon we left 12 on. Walked too many guys. We had balks. It was just a weird game, a crazy game. I don't know how to explain it.

I think when I have a chance to go back watch it it's probably going to be a little bit boring, too, because everything just took so long.

The game was so fast all year long and I don't know what the game time was, but it had to be a three-and-a-half-hour game, had to be. We didn't feel like we could get in rhythm for whatever reason.

Q. I wanted to actually ask you about the length of the game. Today was rare. It was longer than normal. But most of the year, it seems like the games have been a little tighter and most of this CWS games have been shorter. How have you liked some of the changes that have been made in this sport and how did that maybe contribute to the CWS up until this game?

COACH FOLMAR: I think everybody likes it. I don't think there was anything that came out negative about the pace of play in the game.

I think at the beginning of the year, especially those first, oh, probably three to five games, I think it was a little bit different. You felt a little bit more rushed than what you have been.

But at the end of the day I didn't hear one complaint during the season as to games are going too fast. I think that's what the fans wanted. I think it's good for players. I think it's good for student-athlete welfare. I think it's good for the game.

You're seeing it in Major League Baseball now. I think everybody's enjoying that part of it. The pace of play has been better, has improved -- not here this afternoon, but for the most part, I think people enjoy it.