Tar Heels Fall To OSU, 11-6

Wednesday, June 20

Omaha, Neb.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

44-20

Oregon State

51-11-1

Oregon State

North Carolina

Photo by: Nate Olsen

June 21, 2018 | Baseball

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OMAHA, Neb. --- No. 3 Oregon State scored eight runs in the final two innings to top No. 6 North Carolina 11-6 Wednesday night at TD Ameritrade Park. With the loss, the Tar Heels finish their season at 44-20, while the Beavers advance to face Mississippi State in the bracket final on Friday. Kyle Datres had three hits and his seventh home run of the year to lead UNC, which was making its seventh College World Series appearance in 13 seasons and 11th in program history.

Caden O'Brien matched the longest outing of his career with 4.1 stellar innings in relief of Cooper Criswell, and Ike Freeman continued his torrid NCAA tournament with a sixth two-hit game of the event.

Oregon State (51-11-1) started the scoring in the top of the first inning with solo home runs from Cadyn Grenier and Adley Rutschman. A Trevor Larnach RBI single in the third chased starter Criswell from the game after 2.2 innings of work with the Beavers up 3-0.

After Caden O'Brien kept the game at 3-0, the Carolina (44-20) offense came through in a big way to put a three-spot up on the scoreboard to tie things up. After a Cody Roberts RBI groundout, Brandon Riley's two-RBI chopping double over first base plated a pair to make it a brand-new ballgame in the bottom of the third.

With OSU starter Luke Heimlich out of the game in the third for the second straight start, Carolina surged in front against the Beavers bullpen. Ike Freeman's RBI single put UNC in front in the fifth before Datres collected one of the biggest hits of the game in the sixth. With one out following a Brandon Martorano triple, the Tar Heel leadoff hitter homered off the left field foul pole to give Carolina a 6-3 lead.

Oregon State would respond late, however. With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, Rutschman's three-run double off Brett Daniels (6-1) tied the game at 6. Three batters later, Jack Anderson drew a bases-loaded walk to put OSU back in front. Tyler Malone's two-run homer in the ninth was part of another four-run inning that made it 11-6, and Jake Mulholland (2-2) worked his third scoreless frame in the bottom half to close out the contest.