North Carolina advanced to the winner's bracket of the Men's College World Series by defeating Ole Miss 6-2 on Friday night in Omaha.
A late four-run offensive surge across the seventh and eighth innings flipped the game in favor of the Tar Heels.
Key Plays
The definitive blow arrived in the eighth inning when North Carolina catcher Colin Hynek hit a two-out, three-run home run off All-SEC First Team reliever Walker Hooks.
The 432-foot blast to left center field marked the sixth-longest home run in the history of the Men's College World Series, extending a tight one-run lead into a four-run cushion.
Ole Miss held a 1-0 advantage until the sixth inning when North Carolina center fielder Owen Hull tied the game with a solo home run.
The blast gave the George Mason transfer his 82nd RBI of the season, representing the third-most in the history of the program.
Ole Miss briefly regained the lead at 2-1 in the seventh inning through an RBI single by Judd Utermark.
North Carolina responded immediately in the bottom half of the frame.
Following consecutive walks and a sacrifice bunt by Carter French, Jake Schaffner drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Gavin Gallaher then hit an RBI single up the middle to give North Carolina its first lead of the game at 3-2.
The hit broke an active streak of 15 prior at-bats without a hit for Gallaher in the tournament.
Pitching Duel
The contest began as a strategic pitcher's duel between Ole Miss right-hander Taylor Rabe and North Carolina right-hander Jason DeCaro.
Rabe pitched 5.2 innings, throwing 108 pitches while allowing just two hits and striking out seven batters, which tied for the third-most strikeouts by an Ole Miss pitcher in a tournament game.
DeCaro countered by pitching 6.2 innings for North Carolina, surrendering five hits and striking out nine batters.
His performance marked the second-most strikeouts recorded by a Tar Heels pitcher in a Men's College World Series matchup.
Freshman pitcher Caden Glauber secured the victory for North Carolina after entering the game in the seventh inning.
Glauber limited the Ole Miss offense to a single hit in the eighth inning and closed out the final three outs to prevent a comeback.
With this opening round victory, North Carolina earned a spot in the winner's bracket matchup scheduled for Sunday night.
The Tar Heels will face West Virginia, who advanced earlier in the day by defeating Troy 7-5.
