North Carolina forces winner-take-all CWS final after Lynch, Glauber cool off Oklahoma's hot offense
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — North Carolina coach Scott Forbes had to make a quick pitching change when starter Ryan Lynch tweaked his left oblique midway through Game 2 of the College World Series finals.
No worries.
Forbes called on freshman Caden Glauber for the 29th time this season, and for the 29th time he's pitched, the Tar Heels won.
Their 6-2 victory over Oklahoma kept alive their pursuit of the school's first national championship in baseball. The winner-take-all Game 3 is Monday night.
“This is what it’s all about,” Forbes said. “This is why you work so hard — to play in a night game, national championship game. So we’re excited about that opportunity.”
Lynch and Glauber cooled off Oklahoma’s bats, Owen Hull and Cooper Nicholson homered, and North Carolina (54-13-1) bounced back from a 9-3 loss in Game 1.
The Sooners (42-23) scored twice in the first inning and then had two hits and a total of five baserunners the rest of the way. Lynch injured his lower left side throwing his second pitch of the fifth. Glauber (12-0) came on and struck out the side and fanned a total of eight over five innings.
“When you play for the best team in college baseball, it’s pretty easy to go out there with the defense you have and the offense you have,” said Glauber, who has allowed one run in 10 1/3 CWS innings.
Glauber graduated from high school a year early and was 17 when he enrolled at Carolina last fall. He's the only pitcher in Division I with 12 wins and five saves and is pitching to a 2.05 ERA over 92 innings, with all but three of his appearances in relief.
He's been comfortable on stages big and small all season. Sunday he faced an OU team that had been averaging 9.4 runs per game in the postseason and 8.25 in the CWS.
“The preparation takes over the fear,” he said. “We work so hard on it. You know, you’ve got to have the right mindset, and you know that you’re made for the moment, whatever moment you’re in.”
The Sooners were held to their fewest runs since a May 19 loss to LSU. They hadn't been held scoreless over eight straight innings since a 3-0 loss to Southeastern Louisiana on March 17. Their four hits were their fewest since a March 19 loss to LSU.
“Obviously, tough loss today,” OU's Trey Gambill said. “But I don’t think we overly care. We know that we still have the opportunity to win the national championship. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere. We’re excited. Have a good meal tonight, good shower and be ready for tomorrow.”
OU freshman starter Xander Mercurius (1-3) struck out six of the first seven batters he faced but encountered trouble when Carolina's first two batters reached base in the third inning. Jake Schaffner pulled a ball into the right-field corner for a two-run triple and scored on a wild pitch to put the Tar Heels up 3-2. Mercurius began laboring in the third and left after Hull's second homer of the CWS and ninth of the season leading off the fifth.
“The trick in baseball is to not get away from your game plan and start trying to punch guys out,” OU coach Skip Johnson said, “and he kind of lost it a little bit. Instead of just trying to throw the ball to the target, he’s trying to punch people out.”
Nicholson's team-leading 16th homer, off Nate Smithburg in the seventh, made it 6-2.
Glauber walked consecutive batters with one out in the ninth. The game ended when Dasan Harris grounded to second and Gavin Gallaher turned an unassisted double play that was confirmed after Oklahoma challenged the call.
Johnson said Nick Wesloski (2-1) would start for the Sooners on Monday. Wesloski pitched 5 2/3 innings in an 11-4 win over Georgia last Wednesday. Forbes said he was undecided on a starter.
“It will be all hands on deck,” he said. “I feel like we’ve got about seven options to start tomorrow, and I like every one of them.”
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