Pac-12 teams fall in Omaha
Washington loses to Mississippi State, Oregon State to North Carolina.
It took nearly 4 ⁄ hours in 95-degree heat to play the opening game of the College World Series in Omaha.
Time flew for North Carolina coach Mike Fox. He was having fun.
The Tar Heels knocked out Oregon State ace Luke Heimlich during a five-run third inning and held on to win 8-6 on Saturday.
“I liked being in the third base coaching box in the top of the third. Felt I was out there for a while,” Fox said. “For me, the more you’re out there, the better.
“I get it. It was a long game. But they’re not long for me, and they’re not long for the coaches and players. Sometimes it’s agonizing for the people watching. We’re not trying to drag it out by design.”
The Tar Heels (44-18) used six pitchers in a fourhour, 24-minute slog that was the longest nine-inning game in CWS history. They built leads of 6-1 and 8-4, but Oregon State (49-11-1) was poised to go ahead in the seventh after loading the bases with two outs against Josh Hiatt and Steven Kwan coming to bat.
Kwan had reached base on his first four trips to the plate and had struck out only 15 times in 247 at-bats, making him one of the toughest players in the nation to strike out. Cooper Criswell came on and struck him out on three pitches.
The Beavers were uncharacteristically sloppy. Carolina scored on a passed ball, and the Beavers committed three errors after making one in their first five NCAA tournament games.
Then there was Heimlich (16-2), the two-time Pac-12 pitcher of the year who lasted just 21⁄3 innings — his shortest start in two years.
Next up for the Beavers is an elimination game Monday against Washington. The Tar Heels will face Mississippi State in the winners’ bracket.
Mississippi State 1, Washington 0: Luke Alexander’s drive to right field got past Christian Jones in the bottom of the ninth, allowing Hunter Stovall to score from second base to give Mississippi State the victory.
It was the Bulldogs’ third walk-off win, and fourth on their final at-bat, in their last eight NCAA tournament games.
Stovall and Elijah MacNamee singled leading off the ninth against Andy Hardy before Alexander hit an 0-2 pitch deep to right. Jones was playing shallow and gave chase, but he couldn’t catch up to the ball.
Alexander easily scored, prompting players to pour out of the Mississippi State dugout in celebration.
Starters Ethan Small of the Bulldogs (38-27) and Joe DeMers of Washington (3525) traded zeroes through seven fast-paced innings.
Mississippi State pitchers gave up only six hits to a Washington team that had been batting .332 in the NCAA tournament.