Do you believe in magic? Well, these Tar Heels sure do scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to send North Carolina to Omaha for the second time in three seasons. Unlike last season where UNC had a chance to win at home and go to the College World Series but came up a run short in a game three loss to Arizona, the Tar Heels rallied this time around to get the 4-3 victory over USC denying the Trojans their first trip to Omaha in 25 years.
Outside of the ninth inning magic, what led to this win?
Freshmen pitching got the job done
Manager Scott Forbes elected to go with the Freshman Caden Glauber over the more experienced Folger Boaz. Glauber, making just his third start of the season and following a gem by star pitcher Jason DeCaro, came out and pitched well enough for the Tar Heels to stay within striking distance and eventually win the game. Glauber pitched 7.1 innings giving up 6 hits and three runs (one on a balk and the other two on solo home runs) but also struck out 11 (58% of his outs) and only walked one batter on an intentional walk. He was replaced by Freshman Jackson Rose, who pitched one shutout inning and also got a strikeout. Sophomore Walker McDuffie finished the game out, but it was the freshmen who got the team in a spot to win to begin with 8.1 solid innings.
North Carolina’s RISP continued to be bad until it wasn’t
As I mentioned yesterday, the Tar Heels had not done well in the Super Regional with runners in scoring position. Going into the bottom of the eighth they were 0 for 5 and had left seven runners on base with the lone run coming off a first to home score in the bottom of the third. That brought the team’s totals to that point up 1 for 23 with runners in scoring position and 28 left on base. So. you can imagine the fans trepidation down two runs with two outs when Owen Hull doubled, but then magic happened.
Micheal Winslow, who had been 1 for 9 at the plate in the Supers including 0 for 4 RISP, stepped up and knocked a double that came up just a few feet short of a game tying home run. It did enough to score Hull and even though Colin Hynek grounded out with the game tying run at third and the go ahead at second to end the inning, it created some hope that maybe they had broken the spell and Owen Hull (more on him below) did just that in the Ninth. For the series, the Tar Heels finished 3 for 26 in RISP and left 30 guys on base. If they want to bring home their first National Championship, this needs to end, because the pitching is good enough to get the team there otherwise.
Owen Hull deserves MVP for this game and the Super Regional as well
The Junior transfer from George Mason had a monster game finishing with four hits in five at bats, all doubles, and knocking in two runs, once to tie the game in the third, and the other to win it in the bottom of the ninth. His double in the eighth put him in position to score a run that brought the game within one and allowed for the ninth inning rally. For the Super Regional, Hull hit 9 for 13 with two walks and only struck out twice all series. He also played great defense in center field. Without Hull, UNC is looking at a second straight season ending series in Chapel Hill.
Up next for the Tar Heels is a trip to Omaha to face the Ole Miss Rebels who defeated the Auburn Tigers in the Auburn Super Regional.
