Ryan Lynch and Caden Glauber shut down Oklahoma’s bats as North Carolina rebounded with a 6-2 win in Game 2 Sunday, forcing a winner-take-all College World Series final Monday night.
OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina didn’t just win Game 2. It snapped back, regrouped, and turned the College World Series finals into a one-game swing when the Tar Heels beat Oklahoma 6-2 on Sunday.
Ryan Lynch and Caden Glauber cooled off Oklahoma’s lineup. with Owen Hull and Cooper Nicholson delivering the kind of damage that changes a title series. North Carolina. sitting at 54-13-1. bounced back from a 9-3 loss in Game 1 to force a winner-take-all game Monday night after Oklahoma’s early burst gave the Sooners a lead in this one.
Oklahoma scored twice in the first inning, and after that it managed only two more hits while reaching base for five baserunners in total the rest of the way. The Tar Heels, who haven’t lost consecutive games since early March, carried the momentum from there.
The pitching story turned in the fifth. Lynch injured his lower left side throwing a pitch and gave way to Glauber (12-0). Glauber struck out the side and finished with eight total strikeouts over five innings, taking the Tar Heels to 29-0 when he pitches.
Oklahoma entered the finals averaging 9.4 runs per game in the postseason and 8.25 in the CWS. Instead, it was held to its fewest runs since a May 19 loss to LSU. The Sooners also hadn’t been scoreless over eight straight innings since a 3-0 defeat to Southeastern Louisiana on March 17. Offensively, Oklahoma collected four hits, its fewest since a March 19 loss to LSU.
Freshman starter Xander Mercurius struck out six of the first seven batters he faced. but the third inning turned into trouble when North Carolina’s first two batters reached base. Jake Schaffner sent a ball into the right-field corner for a two-run triple. then scored on a wild pitch to put the Tar Heels up 3-2.
Mercurius stayed in only briefly after that. He left after Hull’s second homer of the CWS and ninth of the season leading off the fifth, extending the lead.
Nicholson’s power sealed the separation. His team-leading 16th homer came in the seventh, off Nate Smithburg, making it 6-2.
When the game reached the ninth, Glauber walked consecutive batters with one out, bringing Oklahoma closer than North Carolina wanted. The end still belonged to the Tar Heels. Dasan Harris grounded to second and Gavin Gallaher turned an unassisted double play, later confirmed after Oklahoma challenged the call.
Hull and Nicholson did the damage early and late. Glauber steadied everything in the middle after Lynch’s injury. By the time the final out was recorded in Omaha, the series had flipped from Oklahoma’s advantage to North Carolina’s answer—setting up Monday night’s winner-take-all decision.
North Carolina Oklahoma College World Series Game 2 Ryan Lynch Caden Glauber Owen Hull Cooper Nicholson Xander Mercurius Omaha NCAA baseball finals