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OMAHA, Neb. — The national title dreams of North Carolina vanished early Monday as the frustrations piled up. After an early baserunning mistake cost the Tar Heels a run, the pitching plan went awry, creating the biggest deficit of the season against the hottest team in the country.
OMAHA, Neb. — The pitching and defense that have carried No. 4 North Carolina all season failed the Tar Heels during key moments on the biggest stage, and the offense faded after the first inning. That last pitch to get out of an inning couldn’t come enough, as Oklahoma plated five two-out runs in a 9–3 victory Saturday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Game 1 of the College World Series Finals.
OMAHA, Neb. — It couldn’t be a more fitting stage for Jason DeCaro to make his final college start. The junior ace of No. 4 North Carolina’s staff will get the ball in Game 1 of the College World Series Finals against Oklahoma with the Tar Heels two wins away from the program’s first national championship.
OMAHA, Neb. — The battle for the national championship is set. On Wednesday night, Oklahoma followed No. 4 North Carolina in rolling into the College World Series Finals, easily eliminating No. 3 Georgia 11–4 after the Tar Heels advanced Wednesday afternoon with a 12–7 victory over West Virginia.
OMAHA, Neb. — With the only team seeded higher than North Carolina one win away from elimination, the path at the College World Series to a national championship for the No. 4-ranked Tar Heels could be getting smoother. The No. 5-seed Tar Heels (52–12–1) are now the favorite to win the national championship after Georgia (52–13), the No. 3 seed and No. 3-ranked, lost 4–3 Monday night in a thriller against SEC rival Oklahoma (40–22).
OMAHA, Neb. — Coming into an intense College World Series game with the potential tying run at the plate would rattle the nerves of some pitchers. The moment could have been too big for a pitcher so young that his high school class in Fort Mill, S.C., graduated late last month while he was pitching in the Chapel Hill Regional.
OMAHA, Neb. — No. 4 North Carolina is three wins away from winning the program’s first national championship after moving to 2–0 for the first time since 2006 and the second time in its history. As a reward for being the only undefeated team in Bracket 1, the Tar Heels (52–12–1) get two days off before playing at 2:07 p.m. Wednesday. UNC will face the winner of Tuesday’s 2:07 p.m. elimination game between Troy (39–31) and No. 9 West Virginia (46–15).
North Carolina fans know the math is simple when one of the Tar Heels’ basketball teams reaches the Elite Eight. Win three more games, and there is a national championship. Baseball is different and much more complicated.
Coach Kim Mulkey and her LSU team will visit North Carolina as part of next season’s ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge. The teams will meet at Carmichael Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the first game between the schools since 2016 and the fourth meeting overall.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina and East Carolina will meet for the fifth time this season, and the Pirates hope for a sixth matchup. The Pirates, the No. 3 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional, earned the latest battle of in-state rivals by rolling to a 10–0 victory over No. 4 seed VCU in an elimination game Sunday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.
CHAPEL HILL — For North Carolina to make a deep tournament run, the Tar Heels will need length from their starting pitchers. Ryan Lynch met that challenge in Friday’s opener of the Chapel Hill Regional.
CHARLOTTE — There have been plenty of home run derbies at the ACC tournament this week, and No. 2 North Carolina joined in the fun Saturday. The Tar Heels belted a season-high six home runs and rolled to a 13–5 victory over No. 14-seed Pittsburgh in the semifinals in front of 6,313 fans at Truist Field. It was the most UNC home runs since they blasted seven at Pittsburgh nearly 13 months ago, and the 22 hits were the most in seven years.
Sayon Keita continued to put up impressive numbers in limited minutes for Barcelona at the NextGen EuroLeague Finals in Athens, Greece. The 7–1, 215-pound incoming UNC freshman only played 15 minutes, 50 seconds in Saturday’s 101–84 victory over Team 3SSB, but still had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, making both free-throw attempts. He pulled down five rebounds and blocked two shots.
CHARLOTTE — No. 2 North Carolina will play a hot team in Pittsburgh in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, but one that comes in with a very taxed pitching staff. The No. 14-seed Panthers were down to their final strike trailing by two in the top of the ninth inning Friday night against No. 11-ranked Florida State when Kai Wagner blasted a three-run home run in an 8–6 quarterfinal win.
Incoming North Carolina freshman Sayon Keita nearly produced a triple-double in his team’s opener of the EuroLeague NextGen Finals on Thursday in Athens, Greece. The 7–0, 215-pound center from Mali collected 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks in 18 minutes as his FC Barcelona team earned a 97–83 victory over Crvena Zvezda Belgrade.
