North Carolina took a major step toward the College World Series finals with a 5-2 win over West Virginia on Sunday night, scoring three unearned runs in the seventh inning after Gavin Gallaher delivered a two-run triple.
Omaha, Neb. — When Gavin Gallaher drove a two-run triple into right-center in the seventh inning, it didn’t just put North Carolina in front. It flipped the whole feel of the game.
The Tar Heels scored three unearned runs off Big 12 pitcher of the year Maxx Yehl to break a 2-all tie. then pushed the lead to 4-2 as Gallaher lined a ball deep into the gap for extra bases. He later came home on Owen Hull’s base hit. and North Carolina held on for a 5-2 win over West Virginia in the College World Series on Sunday night.
North Carolina opened its College World Series with two straight wins for the first time in eight appearances since 2006. The team entered Sunday at 52-12-1 and now needs one more victory to reach the best-of-three finals next weekend. They are off until Wednesday. when they will meet the winner of a Tuesday elimination game between the Mountaineers (46-16) and Troy.
The seventh inning was the turning point. West Virginia’s third baseman Tyrus Hall and second baseman Brodie Kresser had chances on the ground and couldn’t come up with the plays that would have kept West Virginia within range. North Carolina had runners on first and second, and Gallaher’s hit stretched the margin. Hull’s base hit brought Gallaher home.
The Tar Heels’ momentum had a different look earlier, too. After scoring only once, Carolina coach Scott Forbes called a team meeting in the dugout. According to ESPN, he told his players they needed to play looser and have more fun. By the sixth inning. North Carolina went three-up. three-down—but the next frame brought a clear shift. with the Tar Heels playing with a sense of ease on a clear and cool evening at Charles Schwab Field. Eric Church, the country music star and North Carolina booster, watched from a suite.
That looseness didn’t last through the ninth, when West Virginia finally threatened again. McDuffie (9-3), who relieved starter Ryan Lynch in the fifth, opened the inning by allowing a walk and a single. Ben Lumsden came to the plate as the potential tying run with one out.
Caden Glauber—who had pitched 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief in a 6-2 win over Mississippi on Friday—was the one who stopped it. He struck out Lumsden and Hall to seal the win and earn his fifth save.
On the mound, Yehl left after facing one batter in the eighth. He finished with eight hits allowed, walked one, and struck out seven.
For North Carolina, the path now narrows to a single win. For West Virginia, the game’s late wobble—walks, singles, and a sequence that almost swung the ninth—shows exactly what it will take to keep their season alive in the elimination bracket.
North Carolina Tar Heels West Virginia Mountaineers College World Series Gavin Gallaher Maxx Yehl Eric Church Charles Schwab Field CWS finals