North Carolina’s magical season comes to an end after it lost in Game 3 of the College World Series Championship Final to Oklahoma 13-2 on Monday night at Charles Scwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Tar Heels (54-14-1) have now lost all three championship series appearances, including consecutive losses in the final in 2006 and 2007. The Sooners (43-23) secured their third national title, their first since 1994.
Here are the five takeaways.
North Carolina’s magical season ends with rout in CWS final
North Carolina’s magical season came to an end after it lost Game 3 of the Men’s College World Series championship final to Oklahoma 13-2 on Monday night at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Tar Heels (54-14-1) have now lost all three championship series appearances, including consecutive losses in the final in 2006 and 2007. The Sooners (43-23) secured their third national title and first since 1994.
Déjà vu all over again
On June 26, 2006, North Carolina lost 3-2 in heartbreaking fashion to Oregon State in the rubber match of the national championship series. Less than four days from the 20th anniversary of that loss, North Carolina again fell in Game 3 of the national championship series — but instead of heartbreak, it was anguish from the first pitch to the last.
Monday’s result makes it 13 College World Series appearances without a title, second most of any school. It’s also the third time North Carolina has reached the national championship series but lost.
Starting pitching didn’t help
In the last quarter of the season, UNC’s starting rotation was a major concern. While the Tar Heels had their moments throughout the postseason — including Jason DeCaro’s complete-game shutout in Game 2 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional and Caden Glauber’s 11 strikeouts in a rare start for the freshman in that same Super Regional — the issues showed up again at the worst possible time.
Between DeCaro, Max Carlson (if you intended Lynch here, keep Lynch) and Jackson Rose, the Tar Heels’ starting rotation gave up 12 runs (all earned) on 16 hits in 9 1/3 innings. That’s an ERA of 11.57. While the bullpen did struggle, the starting rotation never found its groove and couldn’t deliver early, as in all three games the Tar Heels fell behind 2-0 before the start of the third inning.
Kyle Branch’s bat breaks UNC’s pitching
While he wasn’t the only reason, Kyle Branch was a major factor in the Sooners’ blowout of the Diamond Heels. Oklahoma’s second baseman went 3-for-4 with a home run and six RBIs — four more than Carolina had as a team.
The game-changing play
With North Carolina down 2-0 in the bottom of the second, the Tar Heels had Erik Paulsen in scoring position at second base and Carter French at first with two outs.
Rom Kellis V stepped to the plate, made contact and blooped a single into right field. The ball was hit deep enough for Paulsen to round third and head home. However, French got a little too aggressive, and right fielder Dasan Harris rifled a throw to third that got French thrown out before Paulsen touched the plate, so the run was waved off and the inning was over.
This play altered the game because it was a wasted opportunity in the biggest game in program history, let alone this season. When that happens, things can spiral, and given the result, it sure did.
North Carolina runs into a runaway train
As good as North Carolina has been all season, it’s about getting hot at the right moment, and unfortunately for the Tar Heels, they ran into the hottest team in the country.
Oklahoma defeated three power-conference champions: No. 2 overall seed Georgia Tech of the ACC in the Atlanta Regional, No. 15 overall seed Kansas of the Big 12 in the Lawrence Super Regional and No. 3 overall seed Georgia of the SEC in the College World Series semifinals. With the win, Oklahoma earned its ninth victory over a national seed, the most by any team in a single NCAA baseball tournament.
If you confirm whether “Lynch” is the starter you want named in that rotation paragraph, I can lock that line to match your box score and UNC’s roster exactly.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Five takeaways from UNC’s national championship loss to Oklahoma
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