UNC baseball blows by Oklahoma, advances to Chapel Hill Regional

UNC baseball blows by Oklahoma, advances to Chapel Hill Regional
After running past the No. 4 seed Holy Cross in the opening game of the Chapel Hill Regional, the UNC baseball team took to the diamond again on Saturday at Boshamer Stadium. The team met up with Southeastern Conference opponent Oklahoma, the No. 2 seed in the regional. The Tar Heels pulled away to a monstrous 11-5 win to advance to the championship game of the regional.
After a brief rain delay that postponed the start of the game by roughly an hour and a half, the first pitch was thrown out, and Jason DeCaro started his dominant performance. The Tar Heels sprinted out to a massive start, scoring six runs in the first inning of the game. Hunter Stokely, Alex Madera, and Tyson Bass all hit RBIs nearly back-to-back.
Sam Angelo finished out the inning with a capstone three-run shot that scored Madera and Bass.
Oklahoma had its ace pitcher on the mound to start this game, Kyson Witherspoon. A projected high, first-round MLB Draft pick, Witherspoon was dismantled, giving up more runs in the first inning than he has given up in any entire game this season. Witherspoon ended his day giving up 10 hits in 4.0 innings with only four strikeouts.
Even after Witherspoon left, the runs kept coming. Gallaher scored an RBI single in the fourth inning, followed by two solo home runs in the fifth inning from Bass and Angelo, his second of the night. The Sooners finally got on the board in the sixth inning, but it was too little, too late.
DeCaro threw a lights-out game with 6.0 innings, despite giving up three earned runs on seven hits. He also ended with eight strikeouts in 101 pitches. Three other pitchers finished the game for the Tar Heels.
Madera would go on to add a 10th run for UNC in the sixth inning, followed by Carter French getting in on the action with an RBI in the seventh inning to make it 11-3. Oklahoma scored the last runs, though futile, in the eighth and ninth innings, losing 11-5.
North Carolina will take its home field for the third time in as many days on Sunday night at 6:00 pm against the winner of the rematch between Nebraska and Oklahoma at noon on Sunday. If UNC wins that game, the Tar Heels will be champions of the Chapel Hill Regional and advance to the Chapel Hill Super Regional. If North Carolina loses on Sunday night, a championship rematch will happen on Monday to name a champion.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

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