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Carolina Baseball went from a homefield favorite to a team with an empty bullpen.
The ghosts of Boshamer Stadium will have to debate whether this was either the greatest or most maddening four-hour game ever played there. The Tar Heels were taking on the same Oklahoma team they had beaten Saturday night 11-5 after leading 9-0.
But the Sooners used nine walks from wild UNC pitchers and timely scoring that began with a home run to left field and ended with a solo shot over the right field fence to cap their 9-5 victory before a jam-packed crowd that stayed at the Bosh to see if Carolina could pull off one of its patented comebacks from past NCAA tournaments.
The Okies had 11 hits and three homers after having played an earlier elimination game at noon Sunday, drubbing Nebraska 17-1. In the total 18 innings facing elimination, they scored 26 runs on 18 hits that included five homers.
Carolina plays Oklahoma today for the third straight time, with the first pitch hopefully scheduled late in the afternoon. Think of it as a rubber match of a three-game series with the winner advancing to the NCAA Super Regional next weekend. If the Tar Heels win, that will be back in Chapel Hill.
It will definitely be billed as an “all hands on deck” game for both coaches and teams, either extending or ending a long season that began in February. Carolina has possible starters Ryan Lynch and Jake Knapp. Lynch last pitched in the ACC tournament championship game last Sunday, and Knapp shut out Holy Cross, 4-0, on three hits in the NCAA opener Friday night.
Oklahoma used its celebrated closer Dylan Crooks late in the game, and one of the top relievers in college baseball survived Carolina loading the bases in the eighth without scoring. He got the Heels in order in the ninth.
UNC coach Scott Forbes virtually emptied his bullpen using five relievers to follow starter Aiden Haugh, throwing 220 total pitches trying to keep the suddenly scorching Sooners off the bases and allowed five unearned runs. Seldom-used grad student Cale Bolton worked the final two innings and gave up Oklahoma’s last home run, which was just icing on the cake.
Of the heart of Carolina’s lineup, only Gavin Gallaher produced with a game-tying homer in the fourth inning and three more RBIs on a double and a single. All-ACC catcher Luke Stevenson continued his NCAA tourney slump by going hitless in five at-bats. Leading hitters Alex Madera and Tyson Bass went 0-for-8 at the plate.
The potential heartbreak is now real after a long season that saw UNC ranked as high as No. 1 in the country. A seventh loss in the last 33 games dropped its NCAA regional record to 15-3 in the last 18 post-season games.
Can the Heels, who felt so good about themselves going into Sunday’s first pitch, get their mojo back?
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
