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The Diamond Heels capitalized on a pair of West Virginia errors to score three runs in the seventh inning on their way to a 5-2 win against the No. 16 Mountaineers at the College World Series Sunday night. UNC is now 2-0 in Omaha for the first time since 2006 and into the national semifinals for the first time since 2013.
“Great game. Two really good teams,” head coach Scott Forbes said afterward. “West Virginia’s tough to defend against. They’re dynamic in a lot of ways offensively.”
Going against Mountaineer ace and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Maxx Yehl, UNC took an early lead after it loaded the bases in the first inning and scored two runs on a walk and a groundout. But that lead didn’t last long, as West Virginia put constant pressure on Carolina starter Ryan Lynch and scored runs in the third and fourth innings to tie the game at 2-2. Yehl locked in after that, not allowing a UNC hitter past first base until the decisive seventh inning.
“He settled in,” Forbes said of Yehl. “We got two early, but he was on.”
While Yehl continued to mow down Carolina hitters, Lynch was pulled before making it out of the fifth inning. He labored through 73 pitches, with only 43 of them being called for strikes. Walker McDuffie entered the game for Lynch, making his College World Series debut. He provided critical stability in the middle innings, including an inning-ending double play in the sixth inning after the Mountaineers had put men on first and second base with one out.
“[My] last few outings, they weren’t great,” McDuffie said. “But it’s not gonna determine how I pitch in this next outing, because I can’t carry it in there. Those outings right there, if anything they prepared me for today. We take failure as a learning opportunity, and all it did was make me better.”
UNC finally got the break it needed in the bottom of the seventh, as Colin Hynek reached base on an error by third baseman Tyrus Hall to lead off the inning. It was the first time the leadoff man had reached for Carolina since the first inning.
“It’s one of those things I probably shouldn’t talk about to the hitters, because I don’t want to jinx it,” Forbes said. “But we would like to do that more, I can tell you that.”
After Hynek was forced out at second base on a Carter French fielder’s choice, another West Virginia error by second baseman Brodie Kresser allowed Jake Schaffner to reach, putting men on first and second base with one out. That set the stage for Gavin Gallaher, who sent a 1-2 pitch into the right-center field gap for a two-RBI triple to put UNC back in the lead. Gallaher would come home to score after Owen Hull singled, pushing the advantage to 5-2.
“When other teams make those mistakes, it’s important that you capitalize,” Gallaher said. “Because when you get to this point in the season, you’re not gonna get many chances like that.”
McDuffie cruised through the eighth inning and recorded the first out in the ninth, but ran into trouble after a walk and a single allowed the tying run to come to the plate for West Virginia. Forbes called on Caden Glauber to slam the door, and the freshman did just that with consecutive strikeouts.
“We all have confidence in ourselves. Even if they tied the game up, we knew we were gonna go into extras and win that game,” Glauber said. “But you’re not thinking about that. You’re coming in thinking that Walker McDuffie and Ryan Lynch just shoved it down their throats tonight. Them setting the tone, and coming in to pick them up, was awesome.”
Carolina is now 27-0 this season in games Glauber pitches, and 48-0 this season when leading in the seventh inning or later. UNC’s 52 total wins so far are its most in a single season since 2013, when it won 59.
Up next, the Diamond Heels will face the winner of West Virginia and Troy, who will face off in an elimination game Tuesday. Carolina’s next game is scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Vera Nieuwenhuis
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