OMAHA, Neb. — The care package arrived from Haribo after the Oral Roberts baseball team clinched its spot as Cinderella in the College World Series with a Super Regional series win at Oregon.

It contained a generous supply of Twin Snakes, the sweet and sour gummy treats that first-base coach and volunteer assistant Jimmy Turk feeds to the Golden Eagles after their base hits.

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There have been 732 this season, including 11 more hits Friday in Oral Roberts’ thrilling 6-5 win against TCU that featured a three-run homer by Blaze Brothers as the highlight of a four-run ninth inning.

If you think the gummies had something to do with it, you’re not alone.

Here is your gummy! 🪱#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @ORUBaseball

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 16, 2023

“It’s taken on a life of its own,” Oral Roberts coach Ryan Folmar said. “And if that’s the way people identify our team, having a little fun, eating a Twin Snake, I love it.”

Of course, there’s more at work here than gummy magic.

ORU is 52-12 with 24 wins in 25 games since April 23. Seeded fourth of four teams at the Stillwater Regional two weeks ago, the Golden Eagles are 5-1 against Big 12 and Pac-12 competition during the postseason. And they’re set to play Florida, the No. 2 seed in the 64-team tournament, Sunday night for an inside track to the CWS finals set to begin June 24 at Charles Schwab Field.

The gummy tradition began in 2021 on an April trip to Fargo, N.D. Oral Roberts was into a Sea Shanty TikTok singalong craze. The Golden Eagles decided to ditch the pirate theme for sugary snacks.

Turk took command of the operation.

“It’s something fun we do to keep it loose,” he said. “Honestly, it goes with the characters we have.”

When Turk considered putting an end to the gummy tradition at the start of this season, the players insisted that it stay.

He rewards all base hits. After a single, Turk, 40, sticks the dual-headed snake into the mouths of the Oral Roberts baserunners. For extra-base hits, he usually has to wait until he and the Golden Eagles reconvene in the dugout at the end of the half inning.

But almost never does Turk forget to pay up.

“He’s gotta keep the world right with everybody’s Twin Snakes,” senior first baseman Jake McMurray said.

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For more than two years, Turk bought the gummy snakes himself, usually at a QuikTrip convenience store situated between his apartment in Tulsa and J.L. Johnson Stadium, the Golden Eagles’ home field.  If he ran low on candy while on the road, the search was on for Twin Snakes. Running dry was not an option.

He paid it no mind, Turk said, that the school did not pay him a salary for his job beyond the opportunity to stay in coaching.

“I’m blessed to be where I am,” he said Saturday in Omaha. “Money is of no means to me. It’s not what runs me.”

Turk played at ORU in 2005. He finished his career with a handful of regrets and took a job in finance. In 2008, he wanted back in. So he coached at the high school level in Colorado and spent five seasons at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix.

He worked a series of coaching jobs in summer collegiate leagues, including a stint in 2020 with the Macon Bacon of the Coastal Plains League. Less than a year later, the chance to return to his home state and Oral Roberts arrived.

Turk jumped. The gummy fun started soon after his arrival.

“Baseball is very superstitious,” Turk said. “Guys have all these different things they do. This is one of those things that has been a part of our program. But it wasn’t something that we were trying to make a big deal about. It happened organically. It’s just something we do.

“We weren’t looking for any publicity.”

When the Golden Eagles made a run this month, people noticed. ESPN viewers saw Turk feeding his base runners. Folmar, the 11th-year head coach who is in his 20th season overall at ORU, hardly noticed. He hasn’t paid attention to the tasty interactions at first base.

“The biggest thing for me is, I want the guys to have fun,” Folmar said. “I want them to enjoy playing. If that helps them enjoy what they’re doing, I’m all for it. It’s as simple as that.”

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When the college baseball world started to notice, ORU director of athletic communications Kyle Stafford helped spread the word. Haribo saw it and wanted to get involved. The German-founded candy company included a note of support for the team with the delivery of the care package to the ORU campus.

In Omaha, the Summit League joined the fun, repackaging Twin Snakes in small bags and distributing them to fans around the CWS. The Golden Eagles never imagined their antics would turn into this.

“It’s just something that keeps it a little light,” McMurray said. “Especially when your game is centered around so much failure, it’s nice to have a little reward to keep a smile on your face when you do something good.”

The CWS appearance marks Oral Roberts’ second in 30 NCAA Tournament bids since 1973.

The quest continues Sunday to advance as the third fourth-seeded Regional team ever to make this event. Stony Brook in 2012 went 0-2 at the CWS. In 2008, Fresno State won the whole thing.

Why not ORU? Folmar played in Omaha with Oklahoma State in 1996 and returned with the Cowboys as director of baseball operations in 1999. He vowed never to come back as a spectator. It has made this visit that much sweeter for the 48-year-old coach.

As for Turk, he’s set to get a promotion to a full-time assistant, thanks to the long-awaited NCAA approval to convert the volunteer coaching position into a paid job as of July 1.

Finally, some repayment for those hundreds of Twin Snakes he has purchased.

(Top photo of Jimmy Turk, right, and Mac McCroskey courtesy of Oral Roberts)