OMAHA, Neb. — Owen Hull had a triple and two doubles among his four hits, Gavin Gallaher had four hits and four RBIs and North Carolina rolled past West Virginia 12-7 on Wednesday to advance to the Men’s College World Series finals for the first time since 2007.
The Tar Heels went 3-0 in bracket play and will play for the first national championship starting Saturday in the best-of-three finals against Oklahoma or Georgia. UNC is seeking its first national championship in baseball; its 12 MCWS appearances entering this year are tied for the second most by a team without a title.
West Virginia was 2-2 in its first CWS appearance with both losses to the Tar Heels.
A North Carolina offense that batted .217 with only four extra-base hits in its first two MCWS games went into overdrive against the Mountaineers. Carolina was 8-for 10 with runners in scoring position, had five extra-base hits and amassed its most runs and hits (16) in nine NCAA tournament games.
Hull was a home run shy of becoming the second player in three days to hit for the cycle. Texas’ Adrian Rodriguez did it Monday against Alabama. Hull had an RBI double in the first inning, a single in the third, an RBI double in the fourth and a triple in the sixth.
Cooper Nicholson’s two-run triple put the Tar Heels up 5-1 in the third, and they led 12-1 before the Mountaineers began whittling the lead.
Carolina starter Folger Boaz labored through a 28-pitch first inning, giving up two singles and a walk, and he didn’t come out for the second. Jackson Rose (5-0) pitched 4⅓ innings of shutout relief and gave the ball to Matthew Matthijs with a nine-run lead.
West Virginia scored five runs on five hits and two walks in the seventh, all with two outs, and pulled to within 12-6 when catcher Colin Hynek had a pitch by new reliever Caden Glauber get past him. Gavin Kelly homered in the eighth, his second of the CWS and 19th of the season, to make it a five-run game.
Chansen Cole (10-2) started for the Mountaineers on four days’ rest. Cole, who lasted only 2⅔ innings in a 7-5 win over Troy on Friday, made it 2⅓ on Wednesday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
