Photo courtesy of worldbaseball.com
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Carolina Beats Ole Miss Late
We have seen it before and we will probably see it again. Cardiac Carolina and Bosh Magic have become staples of the UNC baseball program under 6th year skipper Scott Forbes. Ole Miss starting pitcher Taylor Rabe put on an absolute clinic against the Diamond Heels. Rabe was able to completely stifle the Carolina offense until he was pulled after 5.2 innings. Despite getting the off-pitch start for his low walk count, Rabe still walked 4 Tar Heel batters during this outing.
Ole Miss struck first with an RBI double in the 3rd by Dom Decker, and things were quiet until the 6th. The Diamond Heels responded with a home run out to left from Super Regional hero Owen Hull, continuing his hitting hot streak. The Rebels responded with an RBI single from Judd Uttermark in the top of the 7th, but Carolina took the lead in the bottom half with RBIs Schaffner and Gallaher. This was notable for the Carolina captain Gallaher as it broke a 16-at-bat hitless streak, which the Heels needed. Colin Hynek then put a 3 run shot over the left-center wall and that was all she wrote.
The Tar Heel pitching staff is going to be the key to success in Omaha, and they got off to an almost perfect start. Carolina only used 2 pitchers against Ole Miss, and phenom Caden Glauber only threw about 35 pitches. This means that Glauber could play again as soon as today against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Jason Decaro put on his second consecutive incredible start, tossing six and two thirds innings with 9 strikeouts, 3 walks, 5 hits, and 2 runs. If this was the final time we have seen Decaro in Carolina blue, you couldn’t ask for a better performance.
The Mountaineers used three pitchers in their opening matchup against the Troy Trojans. Chansen Cole got the start but was chased after two and two thirds innings. Chansen gave up 4 runs on 7 hits with only 2 strikeouts, and was given the loss. Ian Korn came in for six innings of long relief, and was phenomenal against a hot-hitting Troy squad. Korn only gave up 1 run on 2 hits with 4 strikeouts. Ben Mcdougal then came in to shut the door for West Virginia.
As is usually the case with college baseball, this one will likely come down to which pitching staff has the better day. On paper, the Tar Heels are head and shoulders above the rest of the remaining field in Omaha. The Mountaineers will be looking for payback from being knocked out by the Heels two years ago in the Supers. Maxx Yehl will get the start for West Virginia, while Ryan Lynch takes the bump for UNC. Yehl has had a great year for the Neers, with a 9-2 record and a 2.10 and a WHIP of 1.056 and was a finalist for the national pitcher of the year award. Neither team relies heavily on home runs, so it will be interesting to see how these two similar offenses matchup.
I think this will end up being another close game, likely with more late heroics from both teams due to their offensive style. Get past the starting pitcher and do damage late once you’re into the bullpen. This has all the makings of another phenomenal pitchers duel, and regardless should be a great game. First pitch is at 7pm EST on ESPN.
Video courtesy of Inside Carolina
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