While you can’t always point to a single moment when a game turns, it was pretty obvious when that moment was in Game 1 of UNC’s Super Regional appearance. UNC was cruising along heading into the sixth inning; they had a 5-1 lead, and starter Ryan Lynch was rolling through the USC lineup up to that point. Lynch wobbled a bit in the sixth; he allowed a run and had runners on second and third with one out. Lynch struck out Jack Basser before Scott Forbes decided to replace him with Walker McDuffie.
While it was a perfectly logical move (the next Trojan batter up had homered off of Lynch, and McDuffie has been the Tar Heels best reliever all season) the game promptly unraveled from there. McDuffie walked his first batter before giving up a grand slam home run to Dean Carpenter. The Heels would go the next three innings without so much as a single baserunner and ultimately UNC lost the game, 9-5.
Carolina will have to regroup quickly if they don’t want their season to end today. The Heels will start Jason DeCaro, who has nominally been UNC’s best starting pitcher this season but struggled in his last start against East Carolina. DeCaro only lasted 3.2 innings against the Pirates, allowing six hits, three runs and walking three. USC will counter with Grant Govel, who’s been excellent for the Trojans this season. Govel owns a 2.93 ERA and a 10-2 record. Govel pitched twice in the regionals; in his last outing, he threw four innings of one run ball in the winner-take-all game against Texas A&M.
The Heels and Trojans will start at 2pm EST; feel free to join us in the comments below. Go Heels!
