“They had traffic (on the bases) the whole night,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said.
Oklahoma will be playing its fifth regional game here across four days.
The Tar Heels got within 7-5 of Oklahoma’s lead in the top of the seventh inning on Luke Stevenson’s run-scoring groundout and Gavin Gallaher’s RBI double.
But the Tar Heels now have suffered losses in Haugh’s last five starting assignments.
CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL Friday’s results at Boshamer Stadium North Carolina 4, Holy Cross 0 Oklahoma 7, Nebraska 4 Saturday’s results Nebraska 4, Holy Cross 1 (Holy Cross eliminated) UNC 11, Oklahoma 5 Sunday’s results Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 1 (Nebraska eliminated) Oklahoma 9, UNC 5 Monday’s game UNC vs. Oklahoma, 3 p.m.
N. Chapel Hill. A. — North Carolina failed to stay undefeated in the NCAA baseball tournament on Sunday night, unable to shake an unwelcome feeling of déjà vu.
The Tar Heels’ first defeat of the regional, a 9-5 loss to Oklahoma at Boshamer Stadium, sets up a winner-take-all championship game against these Sooners here at 3 p.m. A. Monday.
The same situation from last postseason is happening again, where UNC had to put in extra effort and persevere to win the 2024 regional final on a Monday night in order to move on to the tournament.
Oklahoma avoided elimination twice here on Sunday, first in a decisive 17-1 thumping of Nebraska in the afternoon and then in front of Carolina with a five-run explosion in the sixth inning. A two-run homer by Drew Dickerson put the Sooners ahead 3-2, and a two-run double with two outs by Jaxon Willits increased the Oklahoma lead to 6-3.
After loading the bases with no outs in the top of the eighth inning, Carolina lost a big opportunity and fell behind 8-5. In order to maintain the Oklahoma lead, Dylan Crooks, the Sooners’ bullpen stopper, got Kane Kepley to pop out, retired Jackson Van De Brake on a flyout, and struck out Carter French of the Tar Heels. A rally didn’t happen, but some members of the UNC home crowd were standing and cheering in expectation. Crooks recorded his 15th save of the season by pitching a scoreless final two innings.
Scott Forbes, the coach at UNC, stated, “They had traffic (on the bases) the whole night.”. We didn’t have a one-two-three inning, in my opinion. Our typical defensive plays were not made. It is difficult to win those games against a very good team if you do not pitch and defend at a high level.
“But our guys continued to play and fight.”. A few runners were left on base. After the game, though, I told our guys, “Everyone got after it.”. Simply put, it wasn’t our night. We’re eager to play again tomorrow, so we’re going to flush it quickly. “.
With outstanding opening pitching performances by Jason DeCaro against Oklahoma on Saturday night and Jake Knapp against Holy Cross in Friday’s tournament opener, Carolina was 2-0 in this double-elimination regional and poised to advance to the super regional round. However, the No. The tournament’s fifth national seed will advance, meaning the decisive win will have to wait another day.
After Sunday’s defeat, Forbes stated that UNC will probably start freshman pitcher Ryan Lynch in Monday night’s regional final, which will be the third meeting between the Tar Heels (44-13) and Sooners (38-21) in as many nights. Over the course of four days, Oklahoma will play its fifth regional game here.
The best arms out of the bullpen for Carolina this season have been Lynch and Walker McDuffie, a fellow freshman. However, Lynch started his first game of the season last weekend in the ACC Tournament championship game, and the Tar Heels easily defeated Clemson thanks to four shutout innings and seven strikeouts.
Forbes stated, “They’ll be ready to go,” in reference to Lynch and McDuffie’s availability for Monday night. “They’ll have had plenty of rest, and Ryan Lynch will probably start. “,”.
After winning the ACC Tournament before the NCAA Tournament, UNC entered Sunday night with a five-game winning streak. The run-scoring groundout by Luke Stevenson and the RBI double by Gavin Gallaher in the top of the seventh inning brought the Tar Heels within 7-5 of Oklahoma’s lead.
All together, Carolina’s batting performance that evening was 7-for-34. Gallaher and Kepley were the producers of five of those hits. Gallaher persisted in using an incendiary bat. In the top of the fourth inning, he hit a solo home run that was 397 feet long and traveled 107 miles per hour to center field, tying the score at one. His two-run double to the wall with two outs in the top of the fifth gave Carolina its lone lead of the evening, 3-2. Gallaher is batting a scorching 9-for-12 in three games of the regional after finishing 3-for-5.
The seventh, eighth, and ninth positions at the bottom of the Sooners’ batting order—Dawan Willis, Dickerson, and Dasan Harris—all hit home runs. In the bottom of the third inning, Willis got Oklahoma ahead 1-0 early when he hit a solo home run the other way out to left field off UNC starting pitcher Aidan Haugh. Each of Willits, Harris, and Willis contributed two hits.
Last season, right-hander Haugh found himself in this exact circumstance when he started the possible 2024 regional final against LSU on a Sunday night. In that game a year ago, he only pitched three innings and lost. In this instance, he pitched three and a half innings against Oklahoma, striking out six while allowing four hits and four walks. He threw 102 pitches, many of which went deep into counts, but he never advanced past the bottom of the fourth inning. Against Haugh, seven of Oklahoma’s first twelve batters worked the count full on Sunday night.
When UNC defeated Florida State in the ACC Tournament semifinals, Haugh came in from the bullpen and was the winning pitcher. Haugh has started five games for the Tar Heels, but they have now lost. Since April 12, he has not received a start. Cale Bolton, Camron Seagraves, Folger Boaz, Olin Johnson, and Tom Chmielewski replaced Haugh for Carolina on Sunday night.
As Forbes put it, “You can’t give a team that talented that many base runners, but our guys competed.”. Base runner after base runner was on the field. Additionally, Bryant Gaines, our pitching coach, put it best. They only managed four earned runs, despite the fact that we pitched it as poorly as we believed. Therefore, you also need to make big plays. Additionally, our guys will make those big plays tomorrow night, just as they have throughout the year. “..”.
Following the win, Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson stated that the Sooners had hoped that the Tar Heels’ lineup would allow freshman lefty Jaden Barfield to make it through once on Sunday night. Barfield was effective in his only three starts of the season. Against UNC, he pitched four innings while dishing out two hits and a walk. After Barfield left, the Sooners’ relief responsibilities were taken on by James Hitt, Jason Bodin, and Crooks.
Regional Chapelle Hill.
The outcome at Boshamer Stadium on Friday.
Holy Cross zero, North Carolina four.
Nebraska 4; Oklahoma 7.
Findings from Saturday.
Holy Cross 1, Nebraska 4, (Holy Cross eliminated).
Oklahoma 5; UNC 11.
The outcomes on Sunday.
Nebraska 1, Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 1 (Nebraska is out).
UNC 5, Oklahoma 9.
The game on Monday.
UNC versus. Oklahoma at 3 p.m. m.
