UNC ousts LSU with 4-2 win
OMAHA, Neb. — Brian Holberton homered, freshman Trent Thornton pitched a strong seven innings and No. 1 national seed North Carolina extended its stay at the College World Series with a 4-2 victory over LSU on Tuesday.
The Tar Heels (58-11) play North Carolina State or UCLA in an elimination game Thursday. The No. 4-seeded Tigers (57-11) went 0-2 in their first CWS appearance since winning the 2009 national title.
Holberton’s 12th homer of the season staked the Tar Heels to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against LSU starter Cody Glenn (7-3), and Colin Moran singled to make it 3-0 in the third.
Thornton (12-1) worked around two singles and three walks to hold the Tigers scoreless until the fifth. Leading 4-2, Thornton walked Christian Ibarra to start the eighth and was relieved by Chris McCue.
McCue hit Sean McMullen in the arm with 2-2 pitch to load the bases with two out. That brought up Mark Laird, who had a double and four singles in his first eight CWS at-bats. But McCue got Laird to fly out to short left field and keep it a two-run game.
McCue worked a perfect ninth for his second save.
Carolina, which lost 8-1 to North Carolina State in its CWS opener, remains the only team in the country to not lose back-toback games this season. The Tar Heels are outscoring opponents 85-30 after losses, and their 58 wins are a school record.
LSU scored only three runs in two CWS games. National freshman of the year Alex Bregman, who was batting a team-leading .374, was hitless in eight at-bats. Raph Rhymes, batting .337, was 0 for 9 in Omaha and stranded eight base runners against the Tar Heels. Christian Ibarra, batting .311, finished the season hitless in his last 22 at-bats.
Thornton, who has served in every capacity on the Carolina pitching staff, was making sixth start in 29 appearances but first since March 27.