CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) – The University of North Carolina baseball team is just one game away from booking its second consecutive trip to the College World Series.
No. 5 national seed UNC (46-13) took care of business in Game 1 of the NCAA Super Regional at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon, routing Arizona (42-19) in a lopsided 18-2 win.
Hunter Stokely drove in five runs while Luke Stevenson drove in four runs of his own during the Tar Heels’ blowout victory. Jake Knapp allowed two runs on nine hits in seven innings. He improved to 14-0 with a 2.02 ERA. Tom Chmielewski finished with two scoreless innings.
The top-ranked scored eight runs in the first two innings, three on Stokely’s home run that made it a 5-1 game in the first inning. Stevenson’s three-run home run in the second made it 8-1.
Stokely added an RBI-single in the fourth and another in the eighth inning. Stevenson drove in North Carolina’s first run back in the first inning.
Sam Angelo hit a three-run home run in the eighth and Kane Kepley’s solo home run later in the inning made it 18-2.
Gavin Gallaher had four hits and scored three runs. Kepley and Jackson Van De Brake each scored four times for the Tar Heels. The first five batters in the order had 13 hits and drove in 12 runs. They scored 15 runs.
Adonys Guzman drove in a run with a single in the first inning and Easton Breyfogle added a sacrifice fly in the fourth for Arizona’s two runs.
Owen Kramkowski (9-6) allowed eight runs in an inning and a third.
The Tar Heels will have an opportunity to clinch their berth to Omaha on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for noon.
UNC needed to go the full distance in the Chapel Hill Regional to secure their spot in supers, but they did so by handily defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in a 14-4 victory on Monday. Gavin Gallaher hit two home runs — including a three-run shot in the ninth inning — and Jackson Van de Brake blasted a two-run homer in the win. Hunter Stokely also drove in three runs.
The Wildcats swept through the Eugene Regional to earn their trip to Chapel Hill. Arizona dominated Cal Poly, winning 14-0 in the regional-clinching game, with center field Aaron Walton hitting three home runs and driving in six runs.