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The Diamond Heels aren’t done yet.
UNC recovered from an early deficit to beat Oklahoma 6-2 in Game 2 of the national championship series in Omaha Sunday, forcing a winner-take-all game Monday night.
“Great game against a very, very good team,” head coach Scott Forbes said after the game. “Very well-coached. They give you a lot of challenges on both sides of the ball.”
UNC’s championship dream appeared to be on life support in the game’s opening stages, as the hot Sooner offense plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a Colin Hynek throwing error – his second in as many games – and an RBI double from shortstop Jaxon Willits. That 2-0 deficit seemed even larger after Oklahoma starting pitcher Xander Mercurius recorded each of the game’s first outs via strikeout, with his only blemish coming on an Erik Paulsen single in the second inning.
But Carolina stole back the momentum in the third inning, as Carter French and Rom Kellis (starting in place of Macon Winslow at designated hitter) each reached base to lead off the frame. Both would come home on a game-tying triple down the line from Jake Schaffner, and the UNC shortstop scampered home himself after Mercurius fired a wild pitch. The triple was Schaffner’s eighth of the season, tying a program record.
UNC extended that 3-2 lead on an Owen Hull solo home run in the fifth, which proved to be Mercurius’ final pitch of the day.
“A big, big swing of the bat,” Forbes said of the 414-foot blast.
The gameplan got murkier for Carolina in the bottom of the inning, as starter Ryan Lynch was pulled after two pitches with an apparent oblique injury. Caden Glauber relieved Lynch out of the bullpen and proceeded to strike out the side.
“Hopefully he can get that thing better and pitch for us tomorrow,” Forbes said of Lynch’s injury. “I don’t think it’s too serious, but I didn’t want to gamble.”
Lynch threw only 56 pitches, and Forbes left open the possibility of the sophomore even starting Monday night’s game. Glauber went the rest of the way Sunday, firing five shutout innings and not allowing a Sooner to advance past first base until the bottom of the ninth, when he issued back-to-back one-out walks. The threat was neutralized quickly, as Dasan Harris grounded into a double play to end the game.
Lynch and Glauber’s collective effort held the red-hot Oklahoma offense off the board for the game’s final eight innings. Even more impressively, UNC held the Sooners without a home run for the first time since May 19 — Oklahoma’s final game before the start of the NCAA Tournament. Carolina is 29-0 in games in which Glauber has pitched.
“When you play for the best team in college baseball, it’s pretty easy to go out there with the defense you have, the offense you have,” Glauber said. “It looked pretty challenging, I guess, but with the defense we have and the team that we have, it was pretty easy.”
“He doesn’t take any outing for granted,” UNC pitching coach Bryant Gaines said of Glauber. “He’s not asking us to start, asking us to close. He’s just asking us to give him the ball. And when players are like that, usually they end up being successful.”
Sunday’s win also guarantees UNC will not have lost consecutive games this season since March 6-7 against Virginia. Game 3 of the national championship series against Oklahoma is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
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Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
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