By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Scott Forbes played the long game with beautiful results for his top-ranked Tar Heels.
In Sunday’s loss to Oklahoma, the North Carolina coach saved his best two bullpen arms, knowing that Monday’s winner-take-all game would be the Sooners’ fifth of the Chapel Hill Regional and their pitching staff would be depleted.
It all came together on a sunny spring afternoon before 3,914 fans at Boshamer Stadium as UNC rolled up a six-run lead and coasted to a 14–4 victory to win the regional for the second consecutive season.
Carolina (45–13) will host No. 21-ranked Arizona (42–18) in the best-of-three Super Regionals starting Friday. The Wildcats beat Cal Poly 14–0 Sunday night to win the Eugene Regional.
The timely hitting that was lacking in Sunday’s 9–5 loss to the Sooners returned with nine two-out runs to give UNC 22 for the regional as the Heels pounded out 15 hits
Gavin Gallaher capped an outstanding weekend performance, going 4 for 6 with homers in the eighth and ninth innings, the latter a three-run shot, and four runs to finish the regional 13 of 18 with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 10 RBI.
Freshman UNC right-hander Ryan Lynch (winner, 5–1), who pitched a scoreless Saturday inning against Oklahoma (38–22), was masterful, mixing a terrific slider and a fastball in the 90s.
Lynch, who hurled four strong innings in starting the ACC tournament championship game against Clemson, gave up five hits, two runs and three walks while striking out six in throwing 82 pitches in a season-high 5+ innings.
Fellow freshman right-hander Walker McDuffie took over after Lynch issued a leadoff walk in the sixth inning and struck out seven in four innings to earn his seventh save. McDuffie got five called strikes and four swings and misses as he struck out the side swinging on three breaking balls in the fifth. After McDuffie’s fourth straight strikeout, Jason Walk drove a solo homer over the right-center field wall, but McDuffie rebounded with another strikeout on another breaking ball.
Oklahoma’s pitching situation was so dire that junior right-hander Dylan Tate, who had pitched one inning in his only previous appearance all season, went 4+ innings as the third of seven Sooners pitchers.
The Sooners got 10 of 17 leadoff batters on base entering Monday (including 6 of 8 in their win Sunday over UNC), but only did it four times Monday, and only one scored.
Hunter Stokely had no RBI in nine NCAA tournament games coming into Monday, but drove in three Monday, including a two-run double. Jackson Van De Brake was 2 for 13 in the regional before going 3 for 6, including a two-run home run to left field in the eighth inning.
With two outs in the first inning, Luke Stevenson drew a walk and Gallaher reached on second baseman Kyle Branch’s throwing error. Stokely followed with an opposite-field sinking liner to left center for a two-run double, and scored on Alex Madera’s single to left field.
Drew Dickerson launched a Lynch offering 376 feet over the right-center field fence for a two-run homer, his third homer of the regional, in the second inning after Dasan Harris beat out an infield single with one out. That trimmed UNC’s lead to 3–2.
Oklahoma’s overworked staff went through three pitchers in the four-run UNC third inning, including Tate.
One out singles by Stevenson (who ended an 0-for-16 skid) and Gallaher ended the day for Oklahoma starter Reid Hensley (loser, 4–2; 2⅓ innings, 5 hits, 5 runs, 2 earned, 1 walk, 1 strikeout). Reliever Gavyn Jones (who threw two innings Saturday) walked Stokely to load the bases. UNC notched four runs on a Madera infield single, a Tyson Bass groundout, and singles from Sam Angelo and Carter French, ending Jones’ outing (⅓ of an inning, 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk) to bring on Tate.
Stokely made it 8–2 when Van De Brake, who led off the fourth inning with a single to right-center, hustled home on his sacrifice fly to short left field.
In the fifth inning, center fielder Kane Kepley and Van De Brake, the second baseman, collided, with Van De Brake’s leg hitting Kepley’s shoulder. The ball fell, and Easton Carmichael had a one-out double. Lynch struck out Sam Christiansen with a slider and induced an inning-ending fly out.
Oklahoma got a second run off McDuffie with a Carmichael RBI single in the ninth inning.
NOTES — This was the second consecutive season that UNC has won a deciding Monday game after losing Sunday night. Last season, LSU beat the Tar Heels 8–4 on Sunday night, but UNC earned a dramatic 4–3 win in 10 innings on Monday night. … Carolina has only lost consecutive games once this season — 5–0 at Louisville on March 16 and 5–1 on March 19 against UConn. … Madera is 5 for 13 this season with the bases loaded. … Angelo was UNC’s starting DH for the fourth consecutive game. That’s the first time he’s started that many games in a row since starting nine in a row in a stretch that ended on April 1. … Harris struck out for the third out of the eighth inning when he got a pitch-clock violation with two strikes. … UNC has double-digit hits in three of its last five games. … Seth Trimble was at the game.
No. 1 UNC 14, Oklahoma 4
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 begins Friday at Boshamer Stadium.
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Time/ score | Opponent (current rank) | TV/ 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 |
| Super Regional | Chapel Hill | |||
| 6–8 | Fri.–Sun. | No. 21 Arizona | TBD | |
| 18–30 | Wed.–Mon. | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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