Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
Lucas: Oklahoma Rapid Reactions (3)
June 2, 2025 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from the winner-take-all regional final.
By Adam Lucas
1. Dominant performance in a must-win game, as Carolina got it done in every possible way in thumping Oklahoma, 14-4.Â
2. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. In beating the Sooners, Carolina did what it has largely done consistently this year. The Tar Heels lost their first two series-deciding games of the year, falling at home to Stanford and on the road at Louisville. But then they beat Boston College in a series-deciding game, the first of four straight series-deciding victories they posted. Maybe this isn't a powerhouse team that blows opponents away (although Clemson, and now maybe even Oklahoma, might disagree). But at minimum, you have to admit they are tough when they need to be.
3. And to win games like this, you have to make every single little play. That started for the Tar Heels in the top of the first. With two outs, Gavin Gallaher reached on what looked like a simple throwing error. It was actually more than that. The throw was high, but not high enough to get away. It was very possible that the OU first baseman might've come down with it and swiped the tag onto an upright runner. But Gallaher slid into first--the one time to slide into first is on a high throw--to avoid the tag, which made him safe. That extended the inning for Hunter Stokely to swat a two-run double and Alex Madera to hit an RBI single to provide an early 3-0 lead.
4. It's pretty nice when your player who is making little plays is also making big ones. Gallaher, who seems certain to be the regional MVP, finished the weekend 13-for-18 at the plate, a cool .722 batting average. He punctuated it with eighth-inning and ninth-inning home runs, giving him four homers and ten RBI in the weekend.
5. And then there was also the UNC performance on the mound, as Scott Forbes and Bryant Gaines went to their freshmen and watched them excel. Ryan Lynch pitched into the sixth in the second start of his career and essentially made just one bad pitch that turned into a two-run homer. Otherwise, he struck out six and allowed just four other hits. Then the Heels turned to Walker McDuffie, who did what is very difficult at this level of baseball: threw a slider/sweeper that everyone knew was coming, and they still couldn't hit it. Six of the first seven outs he recorded were by strikeout on the way to seven in his four innings, and he racked up ten swinging strikes with the Sooners waving through his pitches. And remember that stat from yesterday about the Heels throwing just 52 percent of pitches for strikes on Sunday? They were up to 60 percent on Monday. Oklahoma burned through seven pitchers and never found one who could deliver the Lynch/McDuffie quality of performance.
6. That was the second time against Oklahoma that Carolina put up multiple unearned runs in the first inning and it completely changed the feel of the game. The Sooners made just the one error, but it was important. The Heels, meanwhile, played an error-free game and had a handful of very nice plays, highlighted by Hunter Stokely racing back to make an over the shoulder basket catch in foul territory in the late innings.
7. It's not just Gallaher making those little plays. Luke Stevenson went hard from first to third on a single in the third, which helped open up a four-run third. That inning included the Sooners going to a left-handed pitcher to face lefties Stokely, Madera, Sam Angelo and Carter French. The move didn't work. Stokely walked on four pitches, Madera hit a run-scoring infield single, Angelo hit an RBI single and French finally chased Gavyn Jones with an RBI single. At this time of year, you have to win those left-on-left (or right-on-right) matchups in special situations, and Carolina definitely won it in the third inning while building a 7-2 lead.
8. Thank goodness the Heels took care of business so we can mention this without it sounding sour: the "fairness" rule that allowed 2 seed Oklahoma to be the home team in a winner-take-all game against the 1 seed is ridiculous. There's just no excuse for it in a sport where being the home team actually matters. You play the entire season to earn that privilege. With that said, Carolina has been on the wrong end of that foolishness for two straight years (also the visitor against LSU last year) and won them both, so maybe it's fine.
9. By the way, if you have any doubt about the competitiveness of Jake Knapp: three days after pitching into the ninth in the regional opener, he ran down to the bullpen in the sixth just in case he was needed. Thanks to the youngsters and the UNC bats, he wasn't.Â
10. Attention will now turn to the super-regional pairing against a very hot Arizona squad that blew through the Eugene Regional. But let's take a moment to appreciate what Tar Heel baseball has done in the postseason. Carolina now has 11 super regional appearances in the last 19 NCAA Tournaments. To advance to the final 16 more than once every two seasons is incredible. Ask national one seed Vanderbilt or national two seed Texas how difficult it is to make it out of the first weekend. This is an absolute golden era of UNC baseball.
1. Dominant performance in a must-win game, as Carolina got it done in every possible way in thumping Oklahoma, 14-4.Â
2. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. In beating the Sooners, Carolina did what it has largely done consistently this year. The Tar Heels lost their first two series-deciding games of the year, falling at home to Stanford and on the road at Louisville. But then they beat Boston College in a series-deciding game, the first of four straight series-deciding victories they posted. Maybe this isn't a powerhouse team that blows opponents away (although Clemson, and now maybe even Oklahoma, might disagree). But at minimum, you have to admit they are tough when they need to be.
3. And to win games like this, you have to make every single little play. That started for the Tar Heels in the top of the first. With two outs, Gavin Gallaher reached on what looked like a simple throwing error. It was actually more than that. The throw was high, but not high enough to get away. It was very possible that the OU first baseman might've come down with it and swiped the tag onto an upright runner. But Gallaher slid into first--the one time to slide into first is on a high throw--to avoid the tag, which made him safe. That extended the inning for Hunter Stokely to swat a two-run double and Alex Madera to hit an RBI single to provide an early 3-0 lead.
4. It's pretty nice when your player who is making little plays is also making big ones. Gallaher, who seems certain to be the regional MVP, finished the weekend 13-for-18 at the plate, a cool .722 batting average. He punctuated it with eighth-inning and ninth-inning home runs, giving him four homers and ten RBI in the weekend.
5. And then there was also the UNC performance on the mound, as Scott Forbes and Bryant Gaines went to their freshmen and watched them excel. Ryan Lynch pitched into the sixth in the second start of his career and essentially made just one bad pitch that turned into a two-run homer. Otherwise, he struck out six and allowed just four other hits. Then the Heels turned to Walker McDuffie, who did what is very difficult at this level of baseball: threw a slider/sweeper that everyone knew was coming, and they still couldn't hit it. Six of the first seven outs he recorded were by strikeout on the way to seven in his four innings, and he racked up ten swinging strikes with the Sooners waving through his pitches. And remember that stat from yesterday about the Heels throwing just 52 percent of pitches for strikes on Sunday? They were up to 60 percent on Monday. Oklahoma burned through seven pitchers and never found one who could deliver the Lynch/McDuffie quality of performance.
6. That was the second time against Oklahoma that Carolina put up multiple unearned runs in the first inning and it completely changed the feel of the game. The Sooners made just the one error, but it was important. The Heels, meanwhile, played an error-free game and had a handful of very nice plays, highlighted by Hunter Stokely racing back to make an over the shoulder basket catch in foul territory in the late innings.
7. It's not just Gallaher making those little plays. Luke Stevenson went hard from first to third on a single in the third, which helped open up a four-run third. That inning included the Sooners going to a left-handed pitcher to face lefties Stokely, Madera, Sam Angelo and Carter French. The move didn't work. Stokely walked on four pitches, Madera hit a run-scoring infield single, Angelo hit an RBI single and French finally chased Gavyn Jones with an RBI single. At this time of year, you have to win those left-on-left (or right-on-right) matchups in special situations, and Carolina definitely won it in the third inning while building a 7-2 lead.
8. Thank goodness the Heels took care of business so we can mention this without it sounding sour: the "fairness" rule that allowed 2 seed Oklahoma to be the home team in a winner-take-all game against the 1 seed is ridiculous. There's just no excuse for it in a sport where being the home team actually matters. You play the entire season to earn that privilege. With that said, Carolina has been on the wrong end of that foolishness for two straight years (also the visitor against LSU last year) and won them both, so maybe it's fine.
9. By the way, if you have any doubt about the competitiveness of Jake Knapp: three days after pitching into the ninth in the regional opener, he ran down to the bullpen in the sixth just in case he was needed. Thanks to the youngsters and the UNC bats, he wasn't.Â
10. Attention will now turn to the super-regional pairing against a very hot Arizona squad that blew through the Eugene Regional. But let's take a moment to appreciate what Tar Heel baseball has done in the postseason. Carolina now has 11 super regional appearances in the last 19 NCAA Tournaments. To advance to the final 16 more than once every two seasons is incredible. Ask national one seed Vanderbilt or national two seed Texas how difficult it is to make it out of the first weekend. This is an absolute golden era of UNC baseball.
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballSeth Trimble Preseason Press Conference
Wednesday, September 17
Blue Heaven: 2025 UNC Field Hockey, Episode 2
Wednesday, September 17
Bill Belichick Coach's Corner - Episode 4 - September 17, 2025
Wednesday, September 17
UNC Men's Soccer: Tar Heels Shut Out Memphis, 3-0
Wednesday, September 17