University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: ISABEL O. SWINDALL
Lucas: One Game
June 11, 2026 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
It's a busy week with a formidable field in Omaha, but Scott Forbes' experience has taught him that only one thing matters: winning game one.
By Adam Lucas
This year's Diamond Heels have spent this week excited for endless festivities in Omaha. They received a bounty of new Nike swag on Wednesday afternoon at the team hotel. Position players had an early meeting Thursday morning to be fitted for new EvoShield protective gear. The rest of the day will feature a practice at Charles Schwab Field, plenty of media obligations, and the College World Series opening ceremonies.
Tickets to this weekend's games in Omaha are some of the hottest baseball tickets in Carolina history. Every player knows someone who needs an extra ticket or two. Everyone's family has flights to plan and there are whiskey ribeyes to eat and seven new opponents to research.Â
And yet finding success amid all the distractions essentially comes down to one very simple quest: winning one baseball game.
Success in Omaha very often comes down to which team can compartmentalize the carnival and find a way to play their best baseball in an unfamiliar setting for ten days. But teams also realize they have very little chance at extending their stay over a week if they don't win the first game.Â
History supports that belief. It's been almost two decades since a team advanced to the championship series after losing their first game in Omaha. That was South Carolina in 2010. The Gamecocks lost the opener 4-3 to Oklahoma and then battled all the way back to beat UCLA for the national title. Of the 44 teams to advance to the finals since the format went to best two-of-three in 2003, only two lost their first game in Omaha, with the other the 2006 Oregon State squad that beat Carolina.
Those are improbable championship comeback stories, but they were also so long ago that the event was played at Rosenblatt Stadium, which is now mostly a parking lot for the zoo. Tar Heel freshman pitcher Caden Glauber was two years old the summer the Gamecocks won it and wasn't born when the Beavers did it. The 0-1 comeback has never happened since the CWS moved downtown to Charles Schwab Field.Â
The Tar Heels know that "never" isn't always decisive. After all, the program had never won a super regional after losing the first game…until last weekend, when they lost game one to Southern Cal and then fought back to win the next two.
But it's very difficult to make a habit out of defying history, which is why Scott Forbes was so certain this week about the importance of game one, a Friday night tilt against SEC foe Ole Miss.Â
It helps that the Rebels present plenty of problems that naturally require focus. They have a pitcher, Hunter Elliott, who started game three of the 2022 championship series and joins Taylor Rabe at the top of a staff that ranks fourth in the country in strikeout rate. Offensively, they're 18th nationally in home runs per game, but they'll also take a walk, as they tied with the patient Tar Heels in walks per game this season. They're going to work deep in counts; in addition to their big walk numbers, they also strike out more than any team in Omaha. They're looking for the exact pitch they want to try and drive it somewhere with power.
As you'd expect with only eight teams left in the field, tomorrow presents a formidable opponent. Which makes it even more important that after two weekends of daily games, Omaha comes with a day of rest between the first two games. That changes the equation.
"That day off is huge, especially for the bullpen," Forbes said on Wednesday. "You're not thinking about winning a series going into Friday's game. You're thinking about how to beat Ole Miss and nothing else. If that takes Jason DeCaro and Ryan Lynch and start Glauber on Sunday, or Jason DeCaro and Glauber and Jackson Rose and start Lynch (on Sunday), we'll use whoever we need to. We have a second starter prepared but if we need to use him out of the bullpen, we will use him because we have that depth. And we have that day as well with more rest."
That approach is where Forbes' experience pays huge dividends. This is his ninth trip to Omaha, and he's experienced everything from the 2006 team winning three straight games to move directly into the championship series to other teams that have gone 1-2 and made an early trip home.Â
Part of the challenge of winning game one is that every team is naturally excited just to be here. It's something most people on every roster have dreamed about since they first picked up a bat. But the competition in Omaha is so good that even giving away one inning being starry-eyed can determine the outcome. The game is played at too high a level at this stage and every pitch could be determinative. Every at-bat could be one that changes the entire bracket. The combined UNC coaching staff has so much CWS experience that they know part of preparation is enjoying it…and then getting focused on playing the game.
As different as all the Carolina runs have been, they've still taught Forbes one important lesson: after all the hoopla, after all the heightened attention, after all the excitement over earning a spot in the sport's ultimate showcase, there's still no substitute for winning that first game.
Â
This year's Diamond Heels have spent this week excited for endless festivities in Omaha. They received a bounty of new Nike swag on Wednesday afternoon at the team hotel. Position players had an early meeting Thursday morning to be fitted for new EvoShield protective gear. The rest of the day will feature a practice at Charles Schwab Field, plenty of media obligations, and the College World Series opening ceremonies.
Tickets to this weekend's games in Omaha are some of the hottest baseball tickets in Carolina history. Every player knows someone who needs an extra ticket or two. Everyone's family has flights to plan and there are whiskey ribeyes to eat and seven new opponents to research.Â
And yet finding success amid all the distractions essentially comes down to one very simple quest: winning one baseball game.
Success in Omaha very often comes down to which team can compartmentalize the carnival and find a way to play their best baseball in an unfamiliar setting for ten days. But teams also realize they have very little chance at extending their stay over a week if they don't win the first game.Â
History supports that belief. It's been almost two decades since a team advanced to the championship series after losing their first game in Omaha. That was South Carolina in 2010. The Gamecocks lost the opener 4-3 to Oklahoma and then battled all the way back to beat UCLA for the national title. Of the 44 teams to advance to the finals since the format went to best two-of-three in 2003, only two lost their first game in Omaha, with the other the 2006 Oregon State squad that beat Carolina.
Those are improbable championship comeback stories, but they were also so long ago that the event was played at Rosenblatt Stadium, which is now mostly a parking lot for the zoo. Tar Heel freshman pitcher Caden Glauber was two years old the summer the Gamecocks won it and wasn't born when the Beavers did it. The 0-1 comeback has never happened since the CWS moved downtown to Charles Schwab Field.Â
The Tar Heels know that "never" isn't always decisive. After all, the program had never won a super regional after losing the first game…until last weekend, when they lost game one to Southern Cal and then fought back to win the next two.
But it's very difficult to make a habit out of defying history, which is why Scott Forbes was so certain this week about the importance of game one, a Friday night tilt against SEC foe Ole Miss.Â
It helps that the Rebels present plenty of problems that naturally require focus. They have a pitcher, Hunter Elliott, who started game three of the 2022 championship series and joins Taylor Rabe at the top of a staff that ranks fourth in the country in strikeout rate. Offensively, they're 18th nationally in home runs per game, but they'll also take a walk, as they tied with the patient Tar Heels in walks per game this season. They're going to work deep in counts; in addition to their big walk numbers, they also strike out more than any team in Omaha. They're looking for the exact pitch they want to try and drive it somewhere with power.
As you'd expect with only eight teams left in the field, tomorrow presents a formidable opponent. Which makes it even more important that after two weekends of daily games, Omaha comes with a day of rest between the first two games. That changes the equation.
"That day off is huge, especially for the bullpen," Forbes said on Wednesday. "You're not thinking about winning a series going into Friday's game. You're thinking about how to beat Ole Miss and nothing else. If that takes Jason DeCaro and Ryan Lynch and start Glauber on Sunday, or Jason DeCaro and Glauber and Jackson Rose and start Lynch (on Sunday), we'll use whoever we need to. We have a second starter prepared but if we need to use him out of the bullpen, we will use him because we have that depth. And we have that day as well with more rest."
That approach is where Forbes' experience pays huge dividends. This is his ninth trip to Omaha, and he's experienced everything from the 2006 team winning three straight games to move directly into the championship series to other teams that have gone 1-2 and made an early trip home.Â
Part of the challenge of winning game one is that every team is naturally excited just to be here. It's something most people on every roster have dreamed about since they first picked up a bat. But the competition in Omaha is so good that even giving away one inning being starry-eyed can determine the outcome. The game is played at too high a level at this stage and every pitch could be determinative. Every at-bat could be one that changes the entire bracket. The combined UNC coaching staff has so much CWS experience that they know part of preparation is enjoying it…and then getting focused on playing the game.
As different as all the Carolina runs have been, they've still taught Forbes one important lesson: after all the hoopla, after all the heightened attention, after all the excitement over earning a spot in the sport's ultimate showcase, there's still no substitute for winning that first game.
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Players Mentioned
Sunday, June 07
Sunday, June 07
Sunday, June 07
Sunday, June 07