Can Carolina do it one more time?
Four other times this season they opened a three game series with a loss. Three times in a row they’ve completed the “reverse sweep,” including a couple of weeks ago against USC. They look to make it four for five today.
The Tar Heels got their first win the Men’s College World Series in 20 years yesterday, and did so thanks to the hard work of two pitchers. Ryan Lynch was shaky in the first inning but recovered for a 1-2-3 second, and from that point forward the Tar Heels controlled the game. Even when Lynch came out for an injury Caden Glauber came in fresh from the bullpen after not pitching for several days and just shut the door with just 65 pitches and struck out eight batters. The only trouble he was in was the bottom of the ninth after walking two, but managed to induce a game-ending double play.
Just like that the fire streak that Oklahoma was on had been put out, and the two teams now play a winner-take-all contest tonight. The winner is the NCAA Men’s Baseball National Champion, and the loser goes home.
The pitching does set up well for both teams in this situation. For Carolina, they’ll be able to start a rested Folger Boaz. They’ll also have Jackson Rose who hasn’t pitched this weekend, Walker McDuffie who didn’t pitch on Sunday, Jason DeCaro who only went about 80 pitches on Saturday, and Glauber could likely throw an inning or two as with just 65 pitches under his belt on Sunday he would still have something left. Even Ryan Lynch could be available if whatever caused him to leave Sunday’s game early feels better after a night’s sleep.
The fact that Sunday is an earlier game and the Tar Heels don’t have to play until this evening should help as well.
On the Oklahoma side they’ll once again roll out freshman on the mound in Nick Wesloki. He pitched on Wednesday against Georgia, going 5 2/3, throwing 90 pitches, and is technically going on short rest but his appearance on Wednesday followed a two week layoff where he threw for 100 pitches against The Citadel. Considering OU won their game 11-4 in that start, they’ll once again have confidence in the arm on the mound. They’ll also have LJ Mercurius and Jackson Cleveland who hasn’t pitched in a week.
In short—expect this game to take a while as both pitchers will be on short leashes.
There really isn’t much else to say. It’s one game for a national championship. It’s the reason why we watch sports, and it’s the weight of a program finally getting that first ring after so many tries.
If you aren’t going to be in Omaha tonight, here’s how you can catch the action: