UPDATE: Tar Heels-Bulldogs Pushed To Tuesday Morning

UPDATE: Due to a lengthy delay to Monday's elimination game between Oregon State and Washington and the potential for more severe weather later in the evening, No. 6 North Carolina's game against Mississippi State has been postponed. The game is now slated for an 11 a.m. ET start on Tuesday.

After winning Saturday's first game of the College World Series against No. 3 Oregon State, 8-6, No. 6 North Carolina will face Mississippi State in the winners bracket Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN2.

Austin Bergner (7-2, 4.28 ERA), who did not throw for the Heels Saturday, will get the start against the Bulldogs. In 75.2 innings pitched this season, the sophomore has struck out 76 batters and has held opposing offenses to a .248 average against.

The winner of Tuesday's matchup will face the winner of Wednesday's elimination game on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.

A Look at the Bulldogs

After losing to LSU in the SEC tournament and dropping its first game to Oklahoma 20-10 in the NCAA regional, Mississippi State (38-27, 15-15 SEC) has gone on quite a run to advance to Omaha.

The team won four straight in the regional, including two games against Oklahoma to advance to a NCAA Super Regional matchup against Vanderbilt. It took three games, but the Bulldogs won their fifth straight elimination game 10-8 in game three over the Commodores to punch their ticket to the College World Series.

Left-hander Konnor Pilkington will get the start against the Tar Heels. He has pitched 96.2 innings, allowing 100 hits and a 4.56 ERA with an opponent batting average of .270. He has struck out 103 hitters on the season and walked 31.

Pilkington, a member of the 2017 USA Collegiate National Team, has pitched twice this postseason. He worked 3.1 innings against Oklahoma on June 1, allowing six runs, five earned, and four walks in the team's opening-game loss. He bounced back on June 9 against Vanderbilt in the second game of the NCAA Super Regional, allowing two runs over five innings.

On offense, it's leadoff hitter Jake Mangum who leads the way. He entered the College World Series hitting .353 with a .432 on-base percentage. He was 2-3 with a double and a walk in the team's win over Washington on Saturday.

Freshman Rowdey Jordan has provided the most pop for the Bulldogs offense this year, hitting seven home runs and 15 doubles for a team-high .548 slugging percentage. He entered the CWS second on the team in batting average with a .333 mark.

Elsewhere on the Bracket

Today's first game at 2 p.m. ET will be an elimination game between Oregon State and Washington, both dropping their opening-round games on Saturday.

On the other side of the bracket, Texas Tech beat Florida on Sunday night to advance into the winner's bracket against Arkansas, which defeated Texas in the afternoon game Sunday.

The Red Raiders put up nine hits against Florida starter Brady Singer, capitalizing on a strong performance from the lineup to collect a 6-3 opening round win.

Arkansas used an eight-run sixth inning – one that featured a lengthy rain delay – to get past the Longhorns in Sunday's first game. The Razorbacks had just one player go hitless, seeing six of their nine members of the lineup collect multi-hit performances.

On Tuesday, Florida and Texas will play at 2 p.m. ET followed by the 7 p.m. ET nightcap between Arkansas and Texas Tech.

Quick Notes

• After starting 7-7, UNC went 37-11 overall and 19-3 between March 27 and May 8.

• Over the last 11 games, the Tar Heels are 10-1 and have outscored its opponents 95-38.

• This is the 15th time in 20 seasons that Carolina has won 40+ games under Mike Fox.

• UNC's 6 home runs so far in the NCAA Championships are the most for an entire tournament since the 2009 team hit seven during an eight game stretch.

• UNC starters: 283.1 IP, 4.19 ERA, 283 SO and 101 BB

• UNC bullpen: 272.2 IP, 3.07 ERA, 318 SO and 142 BB

•UNC is 37-0 when scoring 6+ runs, and 37-0 when leading after 7 innnings.

• The Heels have a +39 run differential in the 1st inning this year (55-16).

• Carolina is now 6-0 in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008. Saturday's win was also UNC's first in the opening game of the CWS since the 2008 team beat LSU 8-4.

• With his first-inning HBP, Michael Busch extended his reached-base streak to a career-best 34 games.

• Busch reached base twice on Saturday. Through six NCAA tournament games, Busch has reached safely 20 times (10 hits, seven walks, three HBPs) and has a slash line of .476/.645/.810.

• With his second-inning single, Zack Gahagan extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games. He is 10 for 22 through six games in the NCAA tournament.

• Freshman Ben Casparius returned to the lineup for the first time since May 11 and drove in the Tar Heels' first run of the game with an RBI groundout in the second inning.

• With three hits Saturday, Ike Freeman has now recorded five straight multi-hit games in the postseason. Through six NCAA tournament games, Freeman is hitting a team-best .500 (13 for 26).

• Senior RHP Brett Daniels made his team-high 38th appearance of the season Saturday, moving him into a tie for seventh all-time at UNC for a single season. With 93 career appearances, Daniels is one game shy of the UNC career top 10 for pitchers.

• At four hours, 24 minutes, Saturday's game was the longest nine-inning game in College World Series history. It was the longest CWS game for the Tar Heels since 2006, when Carolina beat Cal State Fullerton 7-5 in 13 innings in its opening-round game. That game took four hours, 53 minutes.

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Austin Bergner

Michael Busch

Ben Casparius

Brett Daniels

Ike Freeman

Zack Gahagan

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