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Jun 12, 2026; Omaha, NE, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels left fielder Tyler Howe (12) and right fielder Carter French (18) greet catcher Colin Hynek (23) after a three run home run against the Mississippi Rebels during the eighth inning at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images
If you’ve been following UNC baseball for a while, this is where your guard is up.
The last two times Carolina has made the Men’s College World Series they got off to a great start with wins in the opening game. Both times it was their last win.
Arguably they’ve never been in as good a position to change that as this year, though. West Virginia is absolutely a strong team, and they’ll have the power of their alumni and fans behind them in Omaha. However, the Tar Heels’ pitching is arguably the best it’s ever been at this juncture, and this particular squad seems to just have a “keep battling” mentality that is tailor-made for this time of year.
Ryan Lynch, who hasn’t pitched since his 5 2/3 inning effort against USC last Friday, is expected to start tonight. He was in control of the game until a couple of runners got in, Scott Forbes made the change to Walker McDuffie and before everyone knew it the Tar Heels were down. Still, he pitched seven strong against VCU to start the tournament, and there’s little doubt the Tar Heels are in a great position pitching as Jason DeCaro once again gave an amazing effort Friday night. The only other pitcher to throw Friday was Caden Glauber, who just tossed 30 pitches in 2 1/3, so with the day off you’d have to expect everyone but DeCaro is available to go tonight.
They should be—the importance of winning this game is evident in just how quickly the Tar Heels crashed out once they lost this game the last two times. Losing tonight means having to win three in a row to advance to the championship series. Win tonight, and you just have to win once, and you don’t have to play again until Wednesday. Yes, you read that right, the winner tonight is off until Wednesday. Thanks to the way the tournament was set up, the other bracket will play their winners/losers side tomorrow, then the four remaining teams in both losers’ brackets face off Tuesday.
It is a ridiculously good advantage for the team that wins , and if you’re Carolina you have the bonus of knowing that if you make it and then lose Wednesday, you’ll likely be able to toss DeCaro on “normal” rest on Thursday. Both squads know that to have the best shot of winning the whole thing, they HAVE to win tonight.
On the other side West Virginia is showing the importance of this game by tossing Big XII Pitcher of the Year, Maxx Yehl. He has nasty stuff, to the tune of throwing 105 strikeouts on the year which is just an insane number. That said, he missed all of last season with an injury, and there are signs that he could be showing the wear of the work. He hasn’t pitched more than six innings since the end of the Big XII season, only went 2/3 of an inning in their NCAA opener, and just tossed five in his last two games. Still, he didn’t surrender many baserunners during those outings, and with the early offensive struggles for the Tar Heels he has a chance to get momentum quick.
West Virginia is also, arguably, the strongest offensive team that the Tar Heels have faced so far in this tournament. They are averaging an absurd 10.5 runs per game this tournament, and remember in order to get here they had to fight out of the losers’ bracket in their own regional. They defeated Wake Forest and then downed Kentucky twice in order to get to the Supers. Tar Heel Blog writer Thomas Blackington wrote a preview of the Mountaineers before the start, so make sure you check it out to get more info.
There’s also a hockey game of local interest tonight that’ll face off about halfway into this one, so no doubt there’ll be a lot of dual-screen action going on. If you aren’t able to be in Omaha to see this in person, here’s how you can catch the action no matter where you are:
- Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Charles Schwab Field, Omaha, NE
- TV: ESPN. Karl Ravech will be handling play-by-play with Chris Burke and Kyle Peterson doing color and Kris Budden handling the field reports.
- Streaming: ESPN Unlimited. If you subscribe to a cable service, some now have agreements with ESPN to have access already included.
- Radio: WCHL 97.9 in Chapel Hill as well as online and through the Varsity app. Dave Nathan will take you through the game for the Tar Heels, and it’s free.
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