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UNC to play surging LSU
North Carolina will begin play in College World Series tonight at 7
AP Photo
Coach Mike Fox has led North Carolina to the College World Series for the third season in a row. UNC was runner-up the past two seasons.
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Published: June 15, 2008
Seth Williams said he feels very fortunate that he and his North Carolina teammates have now reached the College World Series three times in the past three seasons.
But sometimes he wonders if the Tar Heels might be jinxed, since they have advanced to the national-championship series in each of the past two seasons, only to lose.
North Carolina will begin its third try at winning the national title tonight in Omaha, Neb., at Rosenblatt Stadium. It will face red-hot LSU, which has won 25 of its past 26 games, at 7.
Williams, a center fielder, said he senses more determination on his team for this College World Series.
"It's definitely changed," Williams said. "Our goal (initially) was to get there. It seemed like that was the only thing at first: we want to get there. We've done that for the past two years.
"We've gone to the finals twice. So anything less than a national championship is not going to cut it."
The Tar Heels, the No. 2 seed, are 51-12 and won all five of their Cary Regional and Super Regional games to win its berth in the CWS.
The Tigers are 48-17-1 and the No. 7 seed. The Tigers won 23 consecutive games starting April 22 before suffering an 11-5 loss to Cal-Irvine in the Baton Rouge Super Regional's opening game.
Coach Mike Fox of North Carolina started his scouting of LSU by watching last Monday's Super Regional championship game, which LSU won 21-7. LSU exploded for six runs in the first inning behind three straight home runs and added seven runs in the fifth.
"I cut the game off after about the fifth home run," Fox said, starting to laugh. "It was depressing to watch it. If you let them hit the ball out of the ballpark and give them big innings (they're trouble). They've been on a roll."
Sophomore right-hander Alex White, with a 10-3 record, will likely be the Tar Heels' starting pitcher.
He has had two consecutive strong outings, including the Tar Heels' only complete game of the season in the Cary Regional. He will try to contain an offense that has 738 hits, 476 runs and 97 homers and a .309 average.
Blake Dean, a sophomore designated hitter, is batting .359 to lead the Tigers for the second consecutive season. He batted .316 as a freshman. His 70 RBIs lead the team and his 20 home runs rank No. 2.
Matt Clark, a junior first baseman, is batting .347, second on the team, and he leads LSU with 26 home runs and is No. 2 in RBIs with 61. He's in his first year in the program after transferring from junior college.
Dean, Clark and Micah Gibbs hit the consecutive home runs in the first inning against Cal-Irvine.
White struggled in four NCAA Tournament games last season as a freshman, losing three times with one no-decision. He didn't last longer than the fifth inning in any of the games. He lost both of his College World Series starts, to Rice and Oregon State, but is confident that he is better prepared this time.
"I definitely struggled last year, but I'm hoping that the past two starts have kind of answered some questions for some people," White said of his wins against Coastal Carolina in the Super Regional and UNC Wilmington in the Regional. "I'm not questioning myself at all going out there.
"Even if I struggle in the first game, maybe our team can get me a second start out there…. What I can do to help us win would be getting deep into a game and keeping their offense down as much as possible."
Fox knows his team is hungry, and he thought that it was sharp and motivated in winning all of its regional games.
"To me, the most exciting part of it was how well we played defensively," Fox said. "We got contributions from everybody…. It was pretty typical that our starting pitching was good. And I think that's the key to winning."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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