Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
Lucas: Oklahoma Rapid Reactions
May 31, 2025 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways as Carolina goes 2-0 in the Chapel Hill Regional.
By Adam Lucas
1. One of the most impressive wins in a season full of impressive wins, as Carolina put runs on the board early against Kyson Witherspoon and cruised to an 11-5 win. The Tar Heels will now play Sunday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the 1 p.m. Nebraska-Oklahoma game. If Carolina wins that 6 p.m. game, they advance to the super regional round. A loss would mean a winner-take-all rematch on Monday.
2. Carolina took control of the game with a first inning that featured six runs, the team's most in a first inning so far this season. And they did it both with a great gameplan…and with something for which they couldn't have gameplanned.
3. The offensive strategy very clearly featured a desire to attack Witherspoon early in counts. The Oklahoma ace—held by the Sooners specifically for this matchup—had only 20 walks in 91 innings pitched coming into the game. Based on those numbers, the Tar Heels decided there was no reason to get deep into counts against him and risk strikeouts (of which he had 120 in those same 91 innings). The first four balls in play in that first inning came on the following counts: 1-1, first pitch, first pitch, 1-0. That sequence put two on with two out and set the stage for four straight two-out hits.Â
4. There was also an element of the first inning that wasn't part of the gameplan. That came when Kane Kepley reached on an error leading off the game. At this time of year, the best teams find ways to make opponents regret mistakes like that, and the Tar Heels did it by putting up six unearned runs. Oklahoma entered the game 13th in fielding in the SEC. It cost them an early deficit and turned what otherwise would have been a 1-2-3 inning into a Tar Heel explosion.
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5. Scott Forbes has made so many solid decisions to guide Carolina to this point in the season. One of the best is the season-long way he's handled the designated hitter slot. No one has firmly grabbed that spot, so he's rotated a series of players in that role. In the NCAA Tournament, it's been Sam Angelo, who hadn't started in the month of May prior to yesterday. He got the start Friday and responded by driving in a run, and then smacked two homers on Saturday. Both blasts were impressive: the first was an opposite field three-run homer in the first inning--on a ball away that was actually a good pitch from Witherspoon. The second cleared the fence in the deepest part of the park, dead center field. By not choosing one player, Forbes has kept multiple Tar Heels fresh and locked in, and they've responded.
6. By the way, there was another starting pitcher in the game besides Witherspoon: Carolina's Jason DeCaro. The UNC sophomore was great against a good Oklahoma offense, pitching into the seventh and allowing just three runs. It's a little scary that the Heels are still slated to have DeCaro for another season. But he's already plenty good this year. Combined with 13-0 Jake Knapp at the top of the rotation, Carolina has two very formidable starters. The duo has chewed up 14.1 innings in the first two games and allowed just two runs.Â
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7. Two-out hits were enormous. The Tar Heels went 7-11 at the plate with two outs in the first four innings, an incredible .636 batting average. The first seven Tar Heel runs scored with two outs, punctuated by a Gavin Gallaher RBI single that made it 7-0 after four. They finished with eight two-out runs in the game.
8. Saturday's crowd was even better than the Friday version. After waiting out a 96-minute weather delay, the sold-out Boshamer Stadium crowd came back loud and even a little rowdy. They'll need to be more of the same on Sunday with a trip to the next round at stake.
9. The Carolina offense might not have the marquee player that they had last year in Vance Honeycutt. But they put 11 runs on the board Saturday against some very good arms with plenty of velocity. That's a notable performance as the quality of opposing pitching will continue to increase as the games progress. He won't be the headliner because there have been plenty of homers, but Gallaher is stinging the ball this weekend; he has four balls in play of more than 100 miles per hour off the bat in these two games. The sophomore has six hits, including a double and triple, in the NCAA Tournament.
10. Saturday's win doesn't guarantee anything. But it does put the Tar Heels in very good position. In this format, 81 percent of eventual regional winners started the weekend 2-0.Â
1. One of the most impressive wins in a season full of impressive wins, as Carolina put runs on the board early against Kyson Witherspoon and cruised to an 11-5 win. The Tar Heels will now play Sunday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the 1 p.m. Nebraska-Oklahoma game. If Carolina wins that 6 p.m. game, they advance to the super regional round. A loss would mean a winner-take-all rematch on Monday.
2. Carolina took control of the game with a first inning that featured six runs, the team's most in a first inning so far this season. And they did it both with a great gameplan…and with something for which they couldn't have gameplanned.
3. The offensive strategy very clearly featured a desire to attack Witherspoon early in counts. The Oklahoma ace—held by the Sooners specifically for this matchup—had only 20 walks in 91 innings pitched coming into the game. Based on those numbers, the Tar Heels decided there was no reason to get deep into counts against him and risk strikeouts (of which he had 120 in those same 91 innings). The first four balls in play in that first inning came on the following counts: 1-1, first pitch, first pitch, 1-0. That sequence put two on with two out and set the stage for four straight two-out hits.Â
4. There was also an element of the first inning that wasn't part of the gameplan. That came when Kane Kepley reached on an error leading off the game. At this time of year, the best teams find ways to make opponents regret mistakes like that, and the Tar Heels did it by putting up six unearned runs. Oklahoma entered the game 13th in fielding in the SEC. It cost them an early deficit and turned what otherwise would have been a 1-2-3 inning into a Tar Heel explosion.
Â
5. Scott Forbes has made so many solid decisions to guide Carolina to this point in the season. One of the best is the season-long way he's handled the designated hitter slot. No one has firmly grabbed that spot, so he's rotated a series of players in that role. In the NCAA Tournament, it's been Sam Angelo, who hadn't started in the month of May prior to yesterday. He got the start Friday and responded by driving in a run, and then smacked two homers on Saturday. Both blasts were impressive: the first was an opposite field three-run homer in the first inning--on a ball away that was actually a good pitch from Witherspoon. The second cleared the fence in the deepest part of the park, dead center field. By not choosing one player, Forbes has kept multiple Tar Heels fresh and locked in, and they've responded.
6. By the way, there was another starting pitcher in the game besides Witherspoon: Carolina's Jason DeCaro. The UNC sophomore was great against a good Oklahoma offense, pitching into the seventh and allowing just three runs. It's a little scary that the Heels are still slated to have DeCaro for another season. But he's already plenty good this year. Combined with 13-0 Jake Knapp at the top of the rotation, Carolina has two very formidable starters. The duo has chewed up 14.1 innings in the first two games and allowed just two runs.Â
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7. Two-out hits were enormous. The Tar Heels went 7-11 at the plate with two outs in the first four innings, an incredible .636 batting average. The first seven Tar Heel runs scored with two outs, punctuated by a Gavin Gallaher RBI single that made it 7-0 after four. They finished with eight two-out runs in the game.
8. Saturday's crowd was even better than the Friday version. After waiting out a 96-minute weather delay, the sold-out Boshamer Stadium crowd came back loud and even a little rowdy. They'll need to be more of the same on Sunday with a trip to the next round at stake.
9. The Carolina offense might not have the marquee player that they had last year in Vance Honeycutt. But they put 11 runs on the board Saturday against some very good arms with plenty of velocity. That's a notable performance as the quality of opposing pitching will continue to increase as the games progress. He won't be the headliner because there have been plenty of homers, but Gallaher is stinging the ball this weekend; he has four balls in play of more than 100 miles per hour off the bat in these two games. The sophomore has six hits, including a double and triple, in the NCAA Tournament.
10. Saturday's win doesn't guarantee anything. But it does put the Tar Heels in very good position. In this format, 81 percent of eventual regional winners started the weekend 2-0.Â
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