By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Oklahoma saved Kyson Witherspoon for Saturday, and top-ranked UNC saved its best first-inning run output of the season for the Sooners’ ace.
Witherspoon gave up season-high run and hit totals by the second inning as the Tar Heels jumped on him for six first-inning runs. That propelled UNC to a convincing 11–5 victory behind three home runs — two from Sam Angelo.
The big-time pitching performance was not from Witherspoon, expected to be a top-eight pick in the June draft, but from UNC sophomore right-hander Jason DeCaro (winner, 9–3), who has UNC a win away from hosting Super Regionals.
Carolina (44–12) plays at 6:06 p.m. Sunday (ESPN+) against the winner of the 12:06 p.m. elimination game (SEC Network) between the Sooners (36–21) and Nebraska (33–28), which eliminated Holy Cross 4–1 Saturday afternoon. UNC, which will start Aidan Haugh (5–4, 3.74 ERA), will advance to host a Super Regionals series with a win and would play in a Monday night winner-take-all game with a loss.
DeCaro produced 6+ impressive innings. He scattered seven hits and gave up two runs and no walks, while tying his career high with season-high eight strikeouts. He mixed his fastball well with effective breaking balls to keep the Sooners off-balance.
“Credit to the offense for going out and giving me an early lead to work with,” DeCaro said. “Makes it a lot easier to just go after guys. Credit to them, credit to the defense behind me for being elite all season. I’m able to trust them and that’s pretty special.”
Witherspoon (loser, 10–4) consistently hit the upper-90s with his fastball. But Carolina flourished by attacking that and his breaking ball.
“That’s a really good arm, one of the best, most talented arms we faced all season,” said UNC coach Scott Forbes, who gave credit to assistant coaches Scott Jackson and Jesse Wierzbicki for preparing his team to face Witherspoon. “They work their tails off. I’m so blessed to have the staff that I have with those two guys. They had our hitters prepared.”
Forbes suggested that “a little birdy” said that his team couldn’t hit a 95-mph fastball. He was eager to knock down that premise but not reveal the source of the comment.
“I think the guys took that personally,” Forbes said. “But [they had an] approach, they stuck with it throughout the whole time he was out there. [Wierzbicki] told them where to stand on the plate, choked up right out of the gate and set the tone by just having quality at-bats.”
Forbes said the coaches showed the hitters video of batters who had success against Witherspoon.
“They let the ball come to them,” Forbes said. “You notice some of the balls we hit early were opposite field.”
Witherspoon had allowed only six home runs all season and never more than one in a game before the Heels swatted three. In tying for his shortest outing of the season at four innings, Witherspoon also gave up season-highs in hits (10; previous high was 6) and runs (9, previous high was 4) and tied his season-high in walks (3) and his season-low in strikeouts (4).
Home runs haven’t been a big part of UNC’s game this season. They have had only four games with at least three home runs since March, but two of them have come in the last week (also against Clemson in the ACC tournament championship game).
After DeCaro struck out the side in the first inning with three breaking balls in the low 80s, nine Tar Heels batted in the first inning and all six runs came with two outs.
Angelo hit a 365-foot shot to left field for an opposite-field three-run home run using what Forbes called a new “two-strike stance.”
Angelo said the coaches told them to be on time for the fastball.
“When I walked up there to the plate, I looked over at Coach Forbes, did a nice big breath,” Angelo said. “[He] told me to just relax and be in that moment. And that was really good for me, to be in that moment.”
Angelo started the first two games of the NCAA tournament after not previously starting back-to-back games since early April.
“We felt like [Friday], Sam really matched up well,” Forbes said. “But we also talked today about how his confidence looked like it had gotten back to where it was in the preseason. The matchup wasn’t great on paper, swing-path-wise, but his swing looked as good as it had been. Thank goodness we came up with that decision.”
His first home run followed four consecutive singles, including RBI hits by Hunter Stokely, Alex Madera and Tyson Bass, as the Tar Heels attacked the fastball of Witherspoon, who had previously yielded only two first-inning runs all season.
After Witherspoon retired UNC in order in the third inning, he paid for a leadoff walk to Kane Kepley. Kepley stole second and scored on Gavin Gallaher’s two-out RBI single up the middle.
Witherspoon’s night was done after he gave up back-to-back homers to Bass and Angelo to start the fifth inning.
Oklahoma finally broke through against DeCaro with three consecutive one-out hits in the sixth, with a Sam Christiansen pinch-hit double driving in two and another scoring on a groundout. Madera got a run back with a two-out single in the sixth inning.
DeCaro gave way to Olin Johnson after giving up a leadoff single in the seventh inning to Drew Dickerson, who scored on Trey Gambill’s RBI single.
UNC left fielder Carter French was the only Tar Heels starter who didn’t score, but he drove in a run with a seventh-inning single.
Dasan Harris hit a two-out RBI single for Oklahoma off reliever Cameron Padgett in the eighth inning, who stranded two baserunners with a strikeout to end the inning.
Freshman right-hander Ryan Lynch finished off the game for UNC after Tom Chmielewski, in his first appearance since May 9, gave up two infield singles to start the ninth inning. Lynch gave up an RBI single to Jaxon Willits, but struck out two.
NOTES — The start of the game was rain-delayed by more than 90 minutes. … DeCaro’s other eight-strikeout game was April 26, 2024, against Virginia Tech. … Gallaher’s fourth-inning error was only his second in the last 14 games and eighth of the season. He reached base in his first seven Chapel Hill Regional plate appearances before striking out in the sixth inning. … Kepley, who made an outstanding sliding catch in the eighth inning, stole his third base of the regionals and 41st this season, the fourth-most in program history behind Brian Roberts (47 in 1997 and 63 in 1998) and Russ Adams (45 in 2002). … The Chapel Hill Regional winner will face the winner of the Eugene Regional, which has lost its top seed in No. 12 overall seed Oregon. Cal Poly eliminated the Ducks on Saturday. The other two remaining teams are Arizona and Utah Valley. … UNC is 37–0 when leading after six innings. … UNC earned its first win in three meetings with Oklahoma after the Sooners won 3–2 and 7–6 in 10 innings during the 2010 Norman Regional. … This is the second consecutive season that Carolina has won the first two games of the Chapel Hill Regional. Last season, UNC lost to LSU in the third game but advanced with a Monday victory over the Tigers. … The game drew a standing-room-only crowd of 4,029.
No. 1 UNC 11, Oklahoma 5
Chapel Hill Regional
At Boshamer Stadium
Friday’s results
No. 1 North Carolina 4, Holy Cross 0
No. 2 Oklahoma 7, No. 3 Nebraska 4
Saturday’s results
Nebraska 4, Holy Cross 1; Holy Cross eliminated
North Carolina 11, Oklahoma 5
Sunday’s results
Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 1; Nebraska eliminated
Oklahoma 9, North Carolina 5
Monday’s result
North Carolina 14, Oklahoma 4
UNC (45–13) advances to Super Regional against No. 21-ranked Arizona (42–18), which won the Eugene Regional on Sunday night with a 14–0 win over Cal Poly. Game 1 of the best-of-3 series is Friday at Boshamer Stadium.
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 14–15 | Fri.-Sat. | W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2 | vs. Texas Tech | 3–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 12–9 | vs. Kansas State | 4–0 |
| 22–24 | Sat.-Mon. | W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4 | vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville) | 7–0 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 7–4 | vs. VCU | 8–0 |
| 26 | Wednesday | W, 13–4 | vs. N.C. A&T | 9–0 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 16–2 | vs. Stony Brook | 10–0 |
| March | ||||
| 1–2 | Sat.-Sun. | W, 6–1; W, 9–5 | vs. Stony Brook | 12–0 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 6–4 (11) | vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina | 13–0 |
| 7–9 | Fri.-Sun. | L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0 | vs. Stanford | 14–2, 1–2 ACC |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 7–3 (10) | at UNCW | 15–2 |
| 14, 16 | Fri., Sun. | L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0 | at Louisville | 16–4, 2–4 |
| 19 | Wednesday | L, 5–1 | vs. UConn | 16–5 |
| 21–23 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7) | at Boston College | 18–6, 4–5 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 13–8 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 19–7 |
| 28–30 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2 | vs. Miami | 21–7, 6–6 |
| April | ||||
| 1 | Tuesday | W, 11–1 (7) | vs. Gardner-Webb | 22–7 |
| 3–5 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14) | vs. Duke | 24–8, 8–7 |
| 8 | Tuesday | W, 12–10 | at Elon | 25–8 |
| 11–13 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2 | vs. Wake Forest | 28–8, 11–7 |
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 14–4 (8) | vs. Charlotte | 29–8 |
| 18–20 | Fri-Sun. | W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5 | at Virginia Tech | 31–9, 13–8 |
| 25–27 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0 | at Pittsburgh | 33–10, 15–9 |
| 29 | Tuesday | W, 13–4 | vs. George Mason | 34–10 |
| 30 | Wednesday | W, 14–3 | vs. Queens | 35–10 |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | W, 10–1 | vs. Campbell | 36–10 |
| 8–9 | Thurs.-Fri. | W, 8–1; L, 8–5 | vs. N.C. State | 37–11, 16–10 |
| 15–17 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4 | at No. 7 Florida State | 39–12, 18–11 |
| ACC tournament | Durham | |||
| 23 | Friday | Quarterfinal: W, 7–3 | Boston College | 40–12 |
| 24 | Saturday | Semifinal: W, 7–5 | No. 7 Florida State | 41–12 |
| 25 | Sunday | Final: W, 14–4 | No. 14 Clemson | 42–12 |
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 30 | Friday | W, 4–0 | Holy Cross | 43–12 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 11–5 | Oklahoma | 44–12 |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | L, 9–5 | Oklahoma | 44–13 |
| 2 | Monday | W, 14–4 | Oklahoma | 45–13 |
| Chapel Hill Super Regional | Best-of-3 series | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 18–2 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–13 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 10–8 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–14 |
| 8 | Sunday | L, 4–3 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–15 |
Photos courtesyof UNC Athletics Communications
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