from Matt Bowers, at www.goheels.com:
OMAHA, NEB.— Deiten LaChance hit two home runs and had three RBI as Oklahoma defeated fifth-seeded North Carolina, 9-3, in game one of the College World Series championship series on Saturday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field.
Oklahoma improved to 42-22 and won its ninth consecutive game. The Tar Heels’ five-game winning streak came to an end as they fell to 53-13-1.
Game two of the best-of-three series for the NCAA championship is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday on ABC. Game three will be on Monday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN if necessary.
The Sooners scored two runs in the top of the first inning, then allowed Carolina to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first. OU plated a run in the third inning and four more in the top of the fourth inning to take control, then added a score in the sixth and one in the ninth.
UNC went scoreless after its three-run first frame.
“I loved the way our guys competed,” Tar Heel head coach Scott Forbes said. “Loved the way they carried themselves. But, you know, I believe you give credit where credit’s due. And I thought Oklahoma played a pretty complete game. And when they took the lead, they applied some more pressure.”
Five Oklahoma players had multiple hits, including LaChance, who batted 3 for 4, and Dasan Harris, who went 3 for 4 with two doubles. Jason Walk was 2 for 5 with two RBI.
Jake Schaffner went 3 for 4 and Gavin Gallaher drove in a pair to lead the Tar Heels, extending his hitting streak to 14 games and his on-base streak to 26.
Jason DeCaro (11-3) started on the mound and took the loss for the Tar Heels, allowing seven hits and seven earned runs in 3.2 innings while striking out six and walking one.
“I thought Jason was good,” Forbes said. “Now the video will tell me how good he was as far as how bad his mistakes were. I think it’s pretty plain and simple — when a team is feeling that good you can’t make many mistakes, because they’re going to make you pay for it. But he had one walk, six strikeouts. We didn’t get him free passes today. We did strike them out, but they made us pay for those mistakes and they got big hits in big situations, and that’s how you win games. That’s how they’re here.”
Cord Rager (7-3) made the start for Oklahoma, pitching 5.0 innings and allowing three runs and striking out five to pick up the victory.
“This team’s come too far,” said Forbes. “I trust them. We’ve believed in what we’ve believed in all year. I’m going to tell them tonight, we did it all year. When we get back, we’ll shower, we’ll turn in our loops, we’ll have a postgame meal. And I want them to spend time with their families. We’ll meet right before we go to bed. But I’m not going to go in there and try to pump them up. I don’t need to do that with this team. I remind them, man, go to bed and forget about it. Either way — if you win, you’ve got to forget about it because sometimes it can be even harder to get that second one when you win the first one because you know what you’re going to get from the team that lost that first one.
“So we’ll just keep doing exactly what we’ve been doing all year. And I’ll trust that process and I’ll trust our players.”
How It Happened:
• In the top of the first, DeCaro struck out the side but allowed two earned runs. Camden Johnson singled to right before advancing to second on a wild pitch. LaChance then smacked a two-run home run, his 17th of the season, to right-center for a 2-0 Sooner lead.
• Carolina responded with four consecutive hits to start the bottom of the first. Schaffner singled and took third on a double by Owen Hull to begin the frame. Gallaher followed with a two-run single up the middle to tie the score at 2-2, his fifth consecutive hit in five plate appearances over the last two games. Erik Paulsen continued the rally with a double off the left-centerfield wall, sending Gallaher to third. After Tyler Howe’s walk, the bases were loaded. Colin Hynek’s sacrifice fly to right drove in Gallaher and gave Carolina a 3-2 lead.
• In the top of the third, LaChance hit his second homer of the game, this one to left field, to tie the score at 3-3.
• An inning later, Kyle Branch hit a two-out, two-run single up the middle to give OU a 5-3 advantage. He then took third on a DeCaro wild pitch and scored on a single by Walk, making it 6-3 Oklahoma. Walker McDuffie relieved DeCaro and allowed a Walk stolen base, then Camden Johnson singled Walk home to make the score 7-3.
• The Sooners added a run in the top of the sixth and one in the top of the ninth for the final margin.