By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina will hand the baseball to its young pitching star with a trip to the College World Series on the line.
The Tar Heels have not lost a game this season (22–0) when ACC Freshman of the Year Caden Glauber (10–0, 2.05 ERA) pitches, and the sensational right-hander will start Sunday’s 3:06 p.m. winner-take-all Game 3 (ESPN) against USC in Boshamer Stadium.
UNC forced a deciding game in the Chapel Hill Super Regional when junior right-hander Jason DeCaro pitched a two-hit shutout in a 4–0 Game 2 win Saturday over the Trojans.
DeCaro’s masterpiece gave Coach Scott Forbes plenty of flexibility with his pitching Sunday because he didn’t have to use Glauber. The pitcher, who should be finishing his senior year in high school, hasn’t pitched since going 4⅓ innings and throwing 67 pitches eight days ago on May 30 against East Carolina in the Chapel Hill Regional.
After Saturday’s win, Forbes said he planned to take the night and early morning to sort through the matchup before deciding between Glauber and junior Folger Boaz (3–3, 7.03 ERA).
“When you get a big game like this, it’s going to take more than just Caden Glauber and Folger Boaz,” Forbes said. “Other guys are going to need to pitch, and other guys are going to have to pitch well. One of those guys who could be out there and throw really well is Walker McDuffie. It’s just a matter of who we start, and I’ll probably make that decision in the morning after about four cups of coffee.”
By Sunday morning, his caffeinated decision was to go with Glauber.
Glauber, who turned 18 in January, leads the ACC in wins (fifth in the country) and ERA (fifth in the country), is ninth in the country in hits per nine innings (5.57), and sixth in the ACC in WHIP at 1.12. He is a finalist for Baseball America‘s Freshman of the Year award, an honor no UNC pitcher has won.
If Glauber is on his game, he’s shown the ability to produce a lengthy outing. He’s topped 90 pitches twice this season, tossing 97 against Boston College on April 3 and 90 against Virginia Tech on May 22 in the ACC tournament.
Boaz has only come out of the bullpen twice this season and has been the No. 3 starter since the season started. In his last two starts, he pitched well the first time through the opponent’s order but lost command after that: 2⅔ innings against Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament championship game on May 24 and over 3⅓ innings against East Carolina last Sunday in the Chapel Hill Regional.
What Carolina needs now is not necessarily nine innings from Glauber. Forbes all but said Saturday that this will be a game pieced together with urgency, matchup by matchup if needed. That puts even more focus on the opening stretch.
If Glauber can settle USC’s lineup early, Carolina can begin building the game around the rested arms behind him, including McDuffie. Saturday showed what that formula can look like when the Tar Heels keep the Trojans from stringing together the kind of big inning that flipped Game 1.
McDuffie is rested after only throwing 22 pitches in Game 1 on Friday. Freshman Jackson Rose should also be good for at least an inning or two after throwing 29 pitches on Friday. The only other reliever who has pitched in the series for UNC is Matthew Matthijs, who threw 12 pitches Friday.
UNC is trying to return to Omaha for what would be the program’s 13th College World Series appearance and second in three seasons, while USC is chasing its first trip since 2001.
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Chapel Hill Super Regional
No. 4-ranked and No. 5-seed North Carolina (49–12–1) vs. Southern Cal (48–17)
Best-of-3 series
Boshamer Stadium
Game 1: USC 9, UNC 5
Game 2: UNC 4, USC 0; series tied at 1
Game 3: Sunday, 3:06 p.m., ESPN
The Chapel Hill Super Regional winner opens the College World Series on Friday or Saturday against No. 18 and unseeded Ole Miss (41–21), which swept No. 5 Auburn in the Auburn Super Regional, winning 6–4 on Friday and 5–3 on Saturday. The other two teams in the double-elimination four-team field on the left side of the bracket are Troy (38–30) and No. 16-seed West Virginia (45–15).
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record/ TV * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 13–14 | Fri., Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11) | vs. Indiana | 3–0 |
| 17 | Tuesday | W, 10–0 (7) | vs. Richmond | 4–0 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 5–3 | vs. Longwood | 5–0 |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun | W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3 | vs. East Carolina | 6–1–1 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. N.C. A&T | 7–1–1 |
| 25 | Wednesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. VCU | 8–1–1 |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 10–1–1 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 21–1 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 11–1–1 |
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 5–1 | vs. Elon | 12–1–1 |
| 6–7 | Fri., Sat | L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12) | vs. Virginia | 13–3–1, 1–2 ACC |
| 10 | Tuesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. Bucknell | 14–3–1 |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2 | at California | 17–3–1, 4–2 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 8–2 | vs. UNCG | 18–3–1 |
| 20–22 | Fri.–Sun. | W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6 | vs. Louisville | 20–4–1, 6–3 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 21–4–1 |
| 28, 29 | Sat., Sun | W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10 | at Notre Dame | 24–4–1, 9–3 |
| 31 | Tuesday | W, 5–4 (14) | vs. Campbell | 25–4–1 |
| April | ||||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | L, 6–1; W, 5–2; W, 8–7 | vs. Boston College | 27–5–1, 11–4 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 8–4 | vs. Charlotte | 28–5–1 |
| 10–12 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 6–4 (14); W, 12–5 | at Clemson | 30–6–1, 13–5 |
| 14 | Tuesday | W, 14–5 | vs. UNCW | 31–6–1 |
| 17–19 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–2; W, 14–4 (8); L, 5–2 | vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech | 33–7–1, 15–6 |
| 21 | Tuesday | W, 9–2 | vs. High Point | 34–7–1 |
| 23–25 | Thur.–Sat. | W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7) | at Duke | 36–8–1, 17–7 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 12–2 | vs. Coastal Carolina | 36–9–1 |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | 37–9–1 |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3 | vs. Pittsburgh | 40–9–1, 20–7 |
| 12 | Tuesday | W, 13–7 | at UNCW | 41–9–1 |
| 14–16 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2 | at N.C. State | 43–10–1, 22–8 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | W, 10–4 | Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech | 44–10–1 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 13–5 | Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh | 45–10–1 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 13–6 | Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech | 45–11–1 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 8–0 | VCU | 46–11–1 |
| 30 | Saturday | W, 7–5 | East Carolina | 47–11–1 |
| 31 | Sunday | W, 9–3 | East Carolina | 48–11–1 |
| June | ||||
| Chapel Hill Super Regionals | ||||
| 5 | Friday | L, 9–5 | Southern Cal | 48–12–1 |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 4–0 | Southern Cal | 49–12–1 |
| 7 | Sunday | 3:06 p.m. | Southern Cal | ESPN |
| (with Sun. win) | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. | ||
| 12 or 13 | Fri. or Sat. | 2 or 7 (Fri.) 3 or 8 (Sat.) | No. 18 Ole Miss | ESPN |
| 14 or 15 | Sun. or Mon. | 2 p.m. or 7 p.m. | Troy or West Virginia | ESPN |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
