Jake Schaffner, Jason DeCaro discuss UNC losing CWS Finals opener

[ASFN Admin]

Saturday afternoon began the pinnacle of college baseball, with UNC and Oklahoma battling in Game 1 of the College World Series Finals.

North Carolina entered a perfect 3-0 in Omaha, while the Sooners entered red-hot with eight consecutive wins. One team had to lose.

Unfortunately, the Diamond Heels suffered that elusive loss, falling 9-3 on a day when offense disappeared after the first inning and pitching struggled immensely.

UNC (53-13-1) starter Jason DeCaro gave up a 2-run home run in the first inning, but the UNC bats responded with a 3-run half of their own. Gavin Gallaher tied the Finals opener with a 2-run single up the middle, scoring Jake Schaffner and Owen Hull, while Colin Hynek broke the tie by scoring Gallaher on a sacrifice fly.

Two innings later, Oklahoma (42-22) tied things on Deiten LaChance's solo home run. The Sooners continued their headstrong charge in fourth-inning action, scoring four runs and tagging DeCaro for seven runs total.

North Carolina continued putting runners on base against the Oklahoma pitching staff, but left 10 runners on base, giving concerning flashbacks to the Chapel Hill Super Regional. Schaffner was the only Diamond Heels with multiple hits (3-for-5), while Hynek was the only 5-9 hitter with a base knock.

Good news: UNC has a golden chance to respond on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch set for 2:30 p.m. ET. What better day to win a championship game than on Father's Day?

While you prepare for Game 2 on Sunday afternoon, take a look at what a few Diamond Heels said after Saturday's loss:

Schaffner on his three hits, seeing the ball well:​

“I think that just sticking to our approach that Coach (Jesse) Wierz(bicki) and Coach (Scott) Jackson gave us. Credit to their pitchers, they pitched a pretty good game. But again, I thought we put some good swings on balls. It just didn’t fall, didn’t go our way today. But we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

Schaffner on Oklahoma's aggressive baserunning:​

“We knew that they liked to steal bases. They’re aggressive on the basepaths. We kind of knew they were going to try and steal some bags. We’ll be ready to get after them tomorrow.”

DeCaro on his Game 1 struggles:​

“I think they just really punished the mistakes. I feel like for the most part, made some pitches and then whenever I did leave the ball over the plate, especially with two strikes, they capitalized and credit to them for that.”

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: College World Series: UNC players discuss losing Game 1 of CWS Finals

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