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Oklahoma capitalized on UNC mistakes to score four runs in the top of the fourth inning, breaking a 3-3 tie and sending the Sooners on their way to a 9-3 win in Game 1 of the national championship series in Omaha Saturday.
“Congrats to Oklahoma. They played really well, I thought, in all phases,” UNC head coach Scott Forbes said after the game. “The great thing about baseball, when you’re playing a weekend series, is you move on quickly. That’s what our team will do.”
Oklahoma had taken a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a two-run home run from Deiten LaChance, but Carolina answered just as quickly with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-2 lead. The first four UNC hitters all recorded hits, but Macon Winslow struck out with men on first and third base to end the threat.
Carolina carried that lead into the third inning, but LaChance struck again with a titanic, two-out, two-strike solo home run off UNC starter Jason DeCaro to even the score. It set the stage for the decisive fourth, when Oklahoma’s four-run rally might not have happened had catcher Colin Hynek hung on to a foul tip with two strikes. But the pitch slipped out of his glove, and the Sooners’ Brendan Brock eventually worked a walk out of the at bat. After he advanced to second on a Dasan Harris double and Dayton Tockey struck out, DeCaro worked a two-strike count on Oklahoma’s Kyle Branch. Branch had not recorded a hit in Omaha, but he broke the 3-3 tie with a two-RBI single and gave Oklahoma a 5-3 lead.
Branch would come around to score himself after stealing second base, advancing to third on a wild pitch and trotting home on a single from the Sooners’ Jason Walk which went off the glove of Jake Schaffner at shortstop. Walk proceeded to steal second and then score on a Camden Johnson single in Oklahoma’s next at bat.
“We knew that they like to steal bases,” Schaffner said. “They’re aggressive on the basepaths. We knew they were gonna try to steal some bags. But we’ll be ready to get them tomorrow.”
The four-run rally knocked out DeCaro after just 3.2 innings and forced head coach Scott Forbes to call on Walker McDuffie, who allowed Johnson’s single which scored Walk. The relentless Sooner offense supported starting pitcher Cord Rager, who hung in after his bumpy first inning and posted four shutout innings afterward, allowing Oklahoma to build its lead. Carolina managed just three hits after its four-hit first inning. On the other side, UNC’s 14 hits allowed as a pitching staff were its most of the NCAA Tournament.
“They really punished the mistakes,” DeCaro said. “I feel like for the most part, I made some pitches. And then whenever I did leave a ball over the plate, especially with two strikes, they capitalized. Credit to them for that.”
The Diamond Heels will look to save their championship bid in Game 2 of the series Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. Oklahoma can win the national championship with a victory.
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Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
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