By Jeff Byrd
North Carolina made the plays it needed to put Ole Miss in the losers bracket with a 6-2 win in the opening day of the College World Series in Omaha.
Ole Miss starter Taylor Rabe had trouble but got out of it with no runs allowed through five innings.
Rabe struck out the Tar heels best hitter in Owen Cull. But in the third inning Hull crushed a ball to tie the game a 1.
That started a pattern where it was the Tarheels making the key out or the big hit.
Ole Miss took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh. It did not last long.
UNC got two back in the bottom half to take control of the game. They got a sac fly to tie it and it was followed by a base hit from Grant Gallagher for a 3-2 lead.
Any hope of comeback ended with two out bomb from Colin Hynek.
Tyler Howe was a key for UNC getting his second double of the game that led Ole Miss closer Walker Hooks to face Hynek.
Unlike earlier where Rabe got the big outs, Carolina’s hitters came through in their final two at batting inningsÂ
“It’s a bitter taste in all our mouths, enough blame on what could’ve happened, and at the end of the day we didn’t do enough to win the baseball game. And sometimes you have to give credit to them.”
- Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco on being on the losing side of this game
They scored five of their six runs when the game was on the line late.
The result is a tough loss for the Rebels. They get Troy in a loser go home game Sunday. UNC is now in the driver’s seat of the first pod.
