Don't give North Carolina extra chances.
Ole Miss and West Virginia have both learned that lesson the hard way, as self-inflicted mistakes cost both teams against the Tar Heels. For the Mountaineers, the problems came in the first and seventh innings.
Maxx Yehl, the Big 12 pitcher of the year, had problems early on. After a pair of singles and a fielder's choice, Yehl hit one batter and walked another, handing Carolina its first run. A groundout gave the Heels a second run, and West Virginia had to chase the game the rest of the way.
Yehl was brilliant from there, pitching seven innings and not allowing another earned run. But in the seventh, his fielders let him down. Out of Carolina's first three batters, two reached on errors. That meant two runners were aboard when Gavin Gallaher ripped a triple to right center. Owen Hull followed with a single, and the Heels led 5-2 off the strength of three unearned runs.
That was the final score, leaving the Mountaineers to rue their own mistakes. Maybe Gallaher leads a rally in the eighth anyway if the defense does its job. But West Virginia never got the chance to find out. Now it has to both play for its survival against Troy and find a way to beat Carolina twice to advance.
Carolina Sets Itself Up For Success
This situation could not have played out better for the Tar Heels. They can set their rotation how they like, as any pitcher they throw will go on normal rest.
Ryan Lynch probably won't pitch again in this round. He gutted through 4.2 innings against West Virginia, and the Tar Heels will likely let him rest knowing they have a one-game cushion. Most probably, Carolina will try a bullpen game in the first matchup and come back to ace Jason DeCaro if needed.
The Tar Heels are in this spot in part because of how they used their bullpen. Scott Forbes knew the stakes if his team could win this game, and he trusted ace reliever Walker McDuffie to get the job done.
McDuffie gave the Heels 3.2 innings, getting the game to Caden Glauber for the save. More importantly, he helped Carolina secure two full days to recover before the next game.
That matters, especially under pressure. This squad knows they can get healthy and give themselves the best chance to win. That is often part of how a team claims a title.
Ole Miss Flames Out
There will not be an all-SEC final in Omaha. Ole Miss is out, ending an incredible run of SEC dominance over the past three seasons.
Until the Rebels lost to North Carolina and Troy, Wake Forest was the only non-SEC team to beat an SEC team in Omaha since 2022. Ole Miss is also the first SEC team eliminated in Omaha by a non-SEC program since Oklahoma knocked out Texas A&M in 2022, though that result carries an asterisk given the Sooners are now in the SEC themselves. The last time an SEC team was knocked out of Omaha by a school not currently in the conference was 2019, when Louisville sent Mississippi State home.
Once again, Ole Miss mismanaged the game. The Rebels opted to bring in Walker Hooks in relief despite having already used him against the Tar Heels. Hooks gave up another three runs to Troy, and the Trojans led the rest of the way.
Troy ended up scoring seven runs in the game's final three innings, a testament to both their resiliency and the Rebels' bullpen issues. Ole Miss did an admirable job beating Auburn, but the bullpen arrived in Omaha overworked. Troy, playing with nothing to lose, made them pay.
The Trojans have been operating on house money since winning the regional. Nobody expected them to host a Super Regional or reach Omaha. That freedom made them dangerous, and Ole Miss paid for it.
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