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UNC Baseball: Tar Heels fall to Bulldogs, face elimination game

By Zack Pearson

Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: Baseball fans gather outside TD Ameritrade Park prior to game one of the College World Series Championship Series, between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators on June 26, 2017 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: Baseball fans gather outside TD Ameritrade Park prior to game one of the College World Series Championship Series, between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators on June 26, 2017 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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The Tar Heels fall to Mississippi State in the College World Series on Tuesday and now face an elimination game against the No. 3 overall seed

It just wasn’t the Diamond Heels’ day in Omaha on Tuesday.

After Monday night’s game was postponed due to delays in the Oregon State-Washington game, North Carolina and Mississippi State were pushed to Tuesday morning. Things got off to a great start for the Tar Heels as they plated a run on a sac fly in the bottom of the first inning.

But after that? Well, it was all Mississippi State.

The game was a pitcher’s duel for most of it with UNC starter Austin Bergner and Mississippi State starter Konnor Pilkington were dealing early on. Bergner got into some trouble in the top of the second allowing a bloop single, followed by an error and then a sharp hit ball to first base that got through and loaded the bases with two outs.

Then on a 1-2 pitch with two outs, Bergner made a big mistake. A curveball was crushed by DH Jordan Westburg into the left field bleachers for a grand slam. The Bulldogs had a 4-1 lead and wouldn’t look back.

Following that, Bergner settled down by retiring 16-straight batters and keeping the Tar Heels in it. Unfortunately, UNC’s offense couldn’t solve Pilkington.

The Mississippi State starter got into some trouble allowing runners on in innings but was able to escape the jams. UNC would plate a run in the bottom of the seventh with a triple from Ashton McGee to leadoff the inning, followed by a sac fly to make it 4-2. That’s as close as the Heels would get.

The Bulldogs put up an eight spot in the top of the eighth inning, loading the bases with no one out as they knocked Bergner out of the ball game. The eight-run inning capped off an implosion by UNC’s defense which made a few errors in the inning.

With the loss, UNC falls into the loser’s bracket and will play Oregon State at 7 p.m. EST with the winner advancing to face Mississippi State and the loser being eliminated.

The Beavers are considered one of the top teams in the College World Series but dropped their opener to UNC with ace Luke Heimlich on the mound. The starters for tomorrow’s game haven’t been announced yet.

UNC has decided to go with Cooper Criswell for Wednesday’s start against Oregon State after he threw 34 pitches in Saturday’s win.

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