UNC cools off Arkansas to force decisive Game 3
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- Caden Glauber entered in the fifth inning after Ryan Lynch tweaked his left oblique, striking out 8 over 5 innings to improve to 12-0 — making him the only Division I pitcher this season with 12 wins and 5 saves.
- Jake Schaffner ripped a two-run triple in the third inning to put the Tar Heels ahead 3-2, then scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead after Oklahoma had scored twice in the first.
- Owen Hull and Cooper Nicholson homered — Hull's fifth-inning solo shot his ninth of the season and second of the CWS, and Nicholson's seventh-inning blast a team-leading 16th.
- Oklahoma was held to 4 hits and 2 runs, their fewest runs since a May 19 loss to LSU and fewest hits since a March 19 loss to LSU, after entering averaging 9.4 runs per game in the postseason.
- Nick Wesloski (2-1) will start Game 3 for Oklahoma; UNC coach Scott Forbes declined to name a starter, saying he has 'about seven options' and that it will be 'all hands on deck.'
- North Carolina improved to 54-13-1 in pursuit of the program's first baseball national championship; Oklahoma fell to 42-23.
Why it matters: North Carolina's pitching depth proved decisive, with 17-year-old freshman Caden Glauber delivering five scoreless innings to bail out a bullpen forced into action by Ryan Lynch's oblique injury. Oklahoma — averaging 9.4 postseason runs per game — managed just two hits and five baserunners after the first inning, their lowest offensive output in months. With Forbes listing 'about seven options' to start Game 3, the Tar Heels' rotation depth may determine the national championship.
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