After taking down Troy in their opening game in Omaha, the West Virginia Mountaineers faced a red-hot North Carolina in game two on Sunday. Both teams were coming off big wins on Friday, but only one could walk away with a win. It was a battle until the very end, but North Carolina got the best of West Virginia with a 5-2 win. Here are my three takeaways from Sunday’s game.
The Pitching Battle Was as Good as Advertised
Coming into this game, all the talk was about the two starting pitchers. West Virginia started Big 12 pitcher of the year, Maxx Yehl, while North Carolina started All-ACC pitcher Ryan Lynch.
To my surprise, Lynch didn’t stay in the game for very long. In fact, he didn’t even make it to the fifth inning before being pulled, as he gave up two runs on five hits while striking out just two batters.
Meanwhile, Yehl was able to go seven full innings and also gave up just two earned runs while striking out seven. However, he ended up getting pulled after giving up a few hits, and the errors behind him didn’t help.
One of the things that makes North Carolina so good is the depth they have in the bullpen. The Tar Heels brought in Walker McDuffie, who was lights out, before they brought in Caden Glauber to close it out.
As good as Yehl was, it just felt like North Carolina was able to bring in quality fresh arms and the Mountaineers had no answer for them offensively. The Tar Heels’ bullpen is extremely deep compared to the other teams they have faced this postseason.
The Seventh Inning from Hell
Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the game was tied at two. With Maxx Yehl still on the mound, things were going great until they collapsed. Things started off with an error to get a Tar Heel on base. Just two batters later, another error put two runners on with just one out.
Then came the big blow as North Carolina’s Gavin Gallaher tripled to bring in both runs to give them a two-run lead. Another hit gave Carolina another run, and by the time the inning was over, the Tar Heels had a 5-2 lead.
I know that the bats for West Virginia went cold as the game went on, but those two errors were extremely costly in the seventh inning. I am not saying they would have won this game without them, but there was a good chance they could have escaped the seventh inning if not for those two mistakes.
What’s Next?
The bad news is that West Virginia lost and blew a big opportunity to get ahead in their bracket. Now the Mountaineers will have to win three straight games in Omaha just to advance to the finals.
The good news is that they will face Troy on Tuesday afternoon in an elimination game, which they have already beaten once. It took a big effort for the Trojans to take down Ole Miss, and I just wonder how many arms they have left after that game.
It will not be easy, but it’s always nice to see a familiar opponent when you play in these elimination games. It’s now win-or-go-home for West Virginia, and I don’t know about you, but I am not ready for them to leave Omaha just yet.
