University of North Carolina Athletics
Omaha Reading List: Friday, June 20
June 20, 2008 | Baseball
June 20, 2008
By Adam Lucas
The pace at the College World Series slows considerably from typical regular-season games, when three hours is usually enough to finish most games. But Carolina and LSU may have set a new record Thursday night by spending four hours at the ballpark...and completing just one-third of an inning. LSU finds themselves in a familiar position: down 2-0. The Tigers will have a pitching choice to make when the game resumes. One possibility might be to replace starter Blake Martin with Ryan Verdugo. That name should sound familiar, because he also started Sunday's Carolina-LSU matchup.
The Tar Heels will also have a choice to make, as Mike Fox will decide whether to stay with Matt Harvey--who hasn't thrown an official pitch yet but is on the lineup card--or go with a different starter. That wasn't the topic of choice in the UNC dugout during the delay, however. Instead, the players found more creative ways to amuse themselves. Hopefully, Chase Jones's next postcard from Omaha will explain the mechanics of how to wear your uniform upside down. Fans also had to figure out ways to entertain themselves during the long wait. Head coaches Fox and Paul Mainieri, meanwhile, had a long chat during the break and tried to "solve some of the world's problems."
The beneficiary of this delay? No question, it's Fresno State, which will have two games to beat the winner just once and now gets another day to rest its pitching.
