OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Arkansas’ Cam Kozeal was a top 150 prospect for the Major League Baseball amateur draft two years ago, but pro ball was always going to have to wait.

Having grown up in Omaha and been a two-time Nebraska high school player of the year, and with his father a member of the Charles Schwab Field grounds crew, his goal was to play in the College World Series.

Kozeal will accomplish that Saturday night when the No. 3 national seed Razorbacks (48-13) play No. 6 seed LSU (48-15) in the first round.

“It is surreal. It’s a dream come true. It’s a cool journey. It’s very fun. It’s a lot of blessings,” Kozeal said. “Took a lot of people to get here. It wasn’t just me. A lot of coaches throughout the years. My dad, obviously. All my siblings. All the time I spent with them. It’s good to be back in Omaha.”

Kozeal has played a major role in getting Arkansas to this point. His .450 batting average in the NCAA Tournament is best on his team and ranks 11th among players in the CWS. He's batting .346 for the season, and three of his team-best 18 doubles and two of his 15 homers have come in the postseason.

Kozeal became a high-level recruiting target when he was at Millard South High School in Omaha. He led Millard South to a state title in 2021 and hit a monster grand slam in a loss in the 2022 state final.

He began his college career at Vanderbilt last year and hit .284 with five homers while splitting time between second base and designated hitter. The fit wasn't right, so he decided to transfer.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said he knew Kozeal had difficulty making the transition from high school to college, but he also found Kozeal willing to do anything asked of him. Kozeal began this season as the Razorbacks' starting first baseman and began playing more second base after Gabe Fraser was injured at midseason.

“His development is there. The talent has always been there. The strength is there,” Van Horn said. “I think just mentally he had to know that everything was OK. It’s OK. And he’s been great, putting up good numbers.”

The CWS was a big part of Kozeal's childhood. His father, Matt Kozeal, was on the grounds crew at Rosenblatt Stadium, which had been home to the CWS until 2010. Cam was only 5 years old when the last games were played at Rosenblatt, but he made some of his earliest memories at the ballpark.

Before it was torn down, he and brother Carson and their dad spent a couple hours playing ball in the empty stadium. To this day when the Kozeals drive past the Rosenblatt site, Matt exclaims, “Viva Le Rosenblatt!”

By his senior year of high school, Cam made up his mind that college would be his next step. After some rocky times at Vanderbilt, he's made it to the college game's biggest stage.

On Saturday, his father will help prepare Schwab Field for when his son and the Razorbacks square off against their Southeastern Conference rivals. That the game will be played on Father's Day weekend will make it the most cherished of all the Kozeals' CWS memories.

Before Arkansas' practice Thursday, Cam and his dad shared a hug on the warning track. It was a touching sight. But as the embrace ended, Cam jokingly made a request.

“I told him he should have mowed,” he said, “because the grass is really long.”

Big offense and big hearts fuel Murray State Racers as their improbable CWS run is about to begin

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Like Fresno State, Stony Brook and Oral Roberts before them, the Murray State Racers are about to be embraced as the College World Series' lovable underdogs by local fans looking to adopt a team for the week.

Murray State merchandise already is selling fast among folks who are much more likely to identify the southwestern Kentucky school with basketball alums Ja Morant or Popeye Jones than the upstart ballclub making its CWS debut.

As a No. 4 regional seed, the Racers (44-15) beat No. 10 national seed Mississippi of the SEC two out of three times on its home field and also took down the ACC's Georgia Tech. Then they won two of three at Duke in the super regionals. Up next is their CWS opener against No. 15 UCLA (47-16) on Saturday.

“A lot of people are cheering for us, but how many people actually believe in us that we can get it done?” said Dustin Mercer, the team's leading hitter.

There's plenty of belief in the clubhouse. Coach Dan Skirka and his players say their bond is unique for a team made up of eight transfers from four-year schools, 14 from junior colleges and 14 others players who started their careers with the Racers.

The way they see it, their small-budget program has things money can't buy — players' trust in each other, love for each other and grittiness.

“We don’t have all the bells and whistles,” Skirka said.

No, they don't. Murray State doled out $858,107 on baseball in the 2024 fiscal year. That's about one-tenth of the $9 million baseball budgets for the SEC's Arkansas and LSU, the biggest spenders in the CWS. The Racers were just under the 11.7 scholarship limit for this season.

Skirka's most recent salary was listed at $91,000 on the state of Kentucky's transparency website, about 10 times less than the man who will be in the opposite dugout Saturday, UCLA's John Savage.

The Racers ranked in the bottom half of Division I home attendance this season, averaging 375 fans per game at 800-seat Johnny Reagan Field. Contrary to several published reports, Skirka said he does not mow the grass, though his players do shovel snow off the field if necessary before early season practices and games.

The 40-year-old Skirka is straight out of central casting as the Racers’ seventh-year head coach. He grew up in Coldwater, Michigan, population 14,000, and played college ball about 90 minutes away at Division II Grand Valley State.

Before he took over at Murray State, where he had been an assistant from 2009-14, he had been an assistant and head coach at junior colleges and an assistant at Division II Ouachita Baptist in Arkansas.

“Humble beginnings,” Skirka said.

Skirka's mantra is to squeeze everything he can out of his limited resources and then add a personal touch. Skirka said it's about recruiting the right people more than the right players. A lot of his team's success is the result of what has happened off the field. There were the team dinners at Skirka's house, bowling outings, creative conditioning drills and presentations players give in the fall about their lives outside baseball.

"The culture, I know it’s cliché, but that’s the number one thing on my mind 24/7," Skirka said. “That’s what these guys want. That’s what I promised them in the recruiting process.”

The Racers swept the Missouri Valley regular-season and tournament championships and have kept rolling. They're batting .357 and averaging 10.8 runs per game since the start of regionals.

Mercer, in his third season with the Racers since transferring from Virginia Tech, is batting .360 for the season and .552 with seven doubles in the NCAA Tournament.

Leadoff man Jonathan Hogart, who played at a junior college and Louisiana Tech before arriving at Murray State last year, has hit four of his team-best 22 homers in the postseason.

Graham Kelham, who transferred from Division III Saint Francis after last season, has recorded saves in four of the Racers' five tournament wins.

“I think it’s cool what they’ve done,” said Oregon State pitcher Dax Whitney, who watched the Racers' 5-4 win over Duke on Monday. “They obviously earned the opportunity to be here. I don’t think anybody should overlook them.”

Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999, Murray State is just the fourth No. 4 regional seed to make it to Omaha. Fresno State came out of the loser's bracket to win six games on its way to the 2008 national championship. Stony Brook went 0-2 with a pair of lopsided losses in 2012. Oral Roberts went 1-2 in 2023.

Win or lose Saturday, the Racers will face either No. 3 national seed Arkansas or No. 6 LSU in their second game.

The Racers say they're up for anything at this point. Skirka said he's been running on adrenaline and Red Bull since regionals.

“Since we’ve landed it’s been go, go, go,” he said. “You see the smile and look of just pure joy on these guys’ faces. It’s pure. They’re having the time of their lives.”

So is Skirka.

“Thanks to this group of Racers, they helped me get here,” he said. “And it’s been awesome, and we’re looking forward to a little bit of a lengthy stay here.”

Florida State SS Alex Lodise wins the Dick Howser Trophy as the top college player in the nation

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Florida State shortstop Alex Lodise has been named winner of the Dick Howser Trophy as the national player of the year, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association announced Friday.

Lodise is the third player in program history to win the Howser, joining J.D. Drew in 1997 and Buster Posey in 2008. The award has been presented annually since 1987 and is named after former FSU All-American and head coach Dick Howser.

Lodise was named Atlantic Coast Conference player and defensive player of the year, and he also is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur player in the nation and Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s top shortstop.

Lodise ranked among the national leaders with a .394 batting average, 17 home runs, 18 doubles, 68 RBIs and .705 slugging percentage. He committed only five errors on 216 fielding chances (.977) and was part of 34 double plays.

The junior from Jacksonville, Florida, had at least one hit in 48 of his 58 games. He had 31 multi-hit games and 13 games with three or more hits. Among his season highlights was hitting for the cycle in a March 25 game against Florida — finishing it with a walk-off grand slam.