North Carolina was three outs from its first College World Series finals appearance since 2007 after Gavin Kelly drove a slider over 420 feet for a home run that made it 12-7 against West Virginia in the semifinal. The Tar Heels had built enough of a cushion to survive the late swing, at least for the moment.
That score line is why people are searching Unc Baseball now: North Carolina came into the night 2-0 in Omaha and West Virginia needed two wins to reach the championship series in its first CWS appearance. The Tar Heels had already put West Virginia into the loser’s bracket on Day 3 in Omaha, and they were again on the brink of closing the door on a team that had fought its way back by beating Troy to reach the semifinals.
The game had been lopsided before it tightened. North Carolina led 12-1 after Carter French tripled in Macon Winslow and Jake Schaffner drove him in, then West Virginia chipped away in the seventh as Gavin Gallaher picked up his fourth hit of the game before a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play ended the threat. A clean inning from Ben McDougal followed after that, but the pressure kept building because North Carolina still led only 12-3 entering the seventh when West Virginia started its rally.
What made the night uncomfortable was how quickly that comfort vanished. Scott Forbes went to Caden Glauber after just six pitches from Padgett, and a passed ball brought in another run to make it 12-6. West Virginia then scored five runs in the eighth inning, trimming what had been a 12-1 hole to a game that no longer felt finished. Armani Guzman reached on what looked like a routine ground ball to short, and West Virginia kept getting the extra outs and loose balls it needed to stay alive.
Gavin Kelly’s homer did more than add another run. It came after he worked the count full on Glauber, and it restored a little breathing room to a game that had turned tense in a hurry. North Carolina was still chasing its first ever College World Series win, and its last appearance before this year had come in 2007, when it finished runner-up for a second straight season after 2006. West Virginia, in its first CWS, still needed two wins to reach the championship series, but the late scoring left the semifinal balanced between a closeout and a comeback no one could finish yet.
