College World Series 2018: TV Schedule, Pick for Arkansas v. Oregon State Game 1

The matchup is set for the 2018 College World Series title as Arkansas and Oregon State are set to battle it out for the national championship.

Arkansas has gone 8-1 this postseason, with their only loss coming in Game 2 of their Super Regionals matchup with South Carolina. They outscored opponents 23-11 in their three College World Series wins to advance to this point.

The road has been a bit bumpier for Oregon State.

While they too have only lost one game this postseason, it came in the form of an 8-6 loss to North Carolina in their College World Series opener. That meant playing their way through the elimination bracket and beating Mississippi State twice in a row to get to this point.

Ahead is a look at the TV schedule for this year's finals, along with some analysis and a predicted winner for Game 1 of the best-of-three series.

2018 College World Series Schedule

Game 1: Monday, June 25, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 2: Tuesday, June 26, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 3 (if necessary): Wednesday, June 27, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 1 Analysis and Pick

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Both teams will have their aces available on full rest for the series opener.

Junior right-hander Blaine Knight (18 GS, 13-0, 2.88 ERA, 96 K, 106.1 IP) has been the guy all season for the Razorbacks. He earned Third-Team All-American honors and was selected in the third round of the 2018 draft by the Baltimore Orioles.

His last start came on June 17 when he allowed four hits and two earned runs in five innings against Texas, so he should be plenty rested for this one.

He'll be opposed by senior Luke Heimlich (19 GS, 16-2, 2.80 ERA, 154 K, 125.1 IP), who will look to right the ship after a rough showing so far this postseason.

Nati Harnik/Associated Press/Associated Press

After going 16-1 with a 2.32 ERA during the regular season, he's failed to make it out of the third inning in each of his last two starts—both of which came against North Carolina. 

That said, he was dominant in the Super Regionals, allowing just seven hits and one earned run while striking out nine in 8.2 innings of work against Minnesota.

Both teams also have excellent closers anchoring strong relief corps.

Sophomore Matt Cronin (23 G, 13 SV, 3.15 ERA, 11.0 K/9) has been a revelation stepping into the closer's role for the Razorbacks. Fellow sophomore Jake Mulholland (30 G, 15 SV, 2.25 ERA, 8.4 K/9) earned Third-Team All-American honors for the Beavers.

Offensively, Oregon State ranks among the national leaders in team batting average (.323, third), while Arkansas was one of the country's leading power-hitting teams (98 HR, third), so both lineups are capable of doing some damage.

Still, it will likely come down to which ace has the better stuff in this one. We'll go with Knight and say Arkansas takes Game 1 of the series.

Stats courtesy of team sites.