The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles have officially punched their ticket to the Men's College World Series, and lefty pitcher Jacob Widener has been a massive part of the baseball team's success.
Sitting at 51-12 on the season, the Golden Eagles took down the Oregon Ducks in the Eugene Super Regional on Sunday and will now take on the TCU Horned Frogs on Friday, June 16 in Omaha for their first game.
Widener is one of Oral Roberts' more noteworthy players, not only for his performance but also for his shockingly similar frame and delivery to retired Major League Baseball player Randy Johnson. Standing at 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds, the southpaw slings it just like the 6-foot-10 Hall of Famer.
It's uncanny.
We didn?t know Randy Johnson still had college eligibility left ?????. Oral Roberts is moving on to the Supers! pic.twitter.com/IY5hW8EAj5
— Wolfs Den Sports (@wolfs_densports) June 5, 2023
Nahhhh why did I think this was actually Randy Johnson on the mound pic.twitter.com/kSQnTAJCA5
— Paul (@BabbleBronx) June 6, 2023
6/3/01 ? Behind Randy Johnson's ho-hum day of 6inn., 7H, 4R, 3ER, 0BB and 14 K's, the Arizona #DBacks tied the franchise-record with their 9th win in a row w/an 8-4 win over the SD Padres. R. Sanders: 3-run HR in 1st. M. Grace hitting-streak to 12. T. Womack: 3H/3R. #ArizonaBorn pic.twitter.com/vLzHJoBNmC
— Arizona Sports History (@AZSportsHistory) June 3, 2023
I mean, can it get any more similar than that? But who is Widener? And how has he helped the Golden Eagles ascend in college baseball?
The Randy Johnson Doppelgänger for Oral Roberts
Top 7 | Jacob Widener takes over on the mound!#ORUBase 4, SDSU 2 pic.twitter.com/Rtigq0tHPV
— ORU Baseball (@ORUBaseball) April 29, 2023
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Widener is a redshirt sophomore for the Golden Eagles from San Marcos, California. On the verge of turning 22, Widener is 6-foot-7, weighs 235 pounds and throws left-handed.
He has appeared in 29 games this season with the Golden Eagles and had two starts. He has primarily functioned as a relief pitcher. Across his 29 appearances, Widener is 2-2 with a 3.06 ERA, 47 innings pitches and a whopping 76 strikeouts. His 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings would rank third in the NCAA if he had enough innings to qualify. That's how nasty his stuff is.
He started his college baseball career at Palomar College in 2020 and posted a 2-2 record with a 4.73 ERA while striking out 10.58 batters per nine innings. The 2021 season for Palomar College was canceled in 2021 due to COVID-19. Widener then transferred to the Golden Eagles in 2022 as a redshirt freshman. In his first season with the team, he appeared in seven games and earned his first win against Wichita State on March 1, 2022.
He appeared against the Ducks in super regional play on June 9 but received the loss, giving up one earned run and logging two strikeouts.
Widener garnered more attention thanks to his appearance against Dallas Baptist on June 4. He appeared for just two-thirds of an inning but struck out both batters.
Yo nobody told me Randy MF Johnson pitched for Oral Roberts pic.twitter.com/VDo5LONFbH
— Ben Upton (@Ben_Upton5) June 5, 2023
Widener still has years of eligibility. But at 6-foot-7, throwing left-handed, and even having a mustache similar to Randy Johnson's, it's easy to believe multiple big league clubs will be monitoring his play throughout the remainder of his time at Oral Roberts.
At the very least, the entire world will be introduced to this Randy Johnson look-a-like in Omaha.
