NOTE: The live scoreboard for Game 2 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional on Saturday night can be found here.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — On the brink of seeing their season — and their stellar year at Boshamer Stadium — come to an end, North Carolina’s baseball team came from behind Monday night to knock out the defending NCAA champion LSU Tigers in extra innings and win the Chapel Hill Regional.
Now the Tar Heels (45-14), the No. 4 team in the country, will play their final games at home this year as they host the Chapel Hill Super Regional. Standing in their way of a ticket to Omaha are the West Virginia Mountaineers (36-22), the winners of the Tucson Regional.
First pitch for Game 1 is set for 6 p.m. Friday. Shea Sprague is set to start for UNC and Derek Clark will start on the mound for WVU in a battle of left-handed pitchers. The Tar Heels are the designated home team for this contest.
This is the first trip to the Super Regionals for West Virginia, who swept through all their games in Tucson as the No. 3 seed in that bracket. North Carolina, meanwhile, advanced to this round for the 11th time and is hosting for the ninth time.
The Tar Heels and Mountaineers have met nine previous times on the baseball diamond, but not since 2014, when West Virginia won 5-1. UNC, however, leads the all-time series with by a record of 7-2, including a 6-2 record at Boshamer Stadium.
The second game in the best-of-three super regional round is tomorrow night at 8 p.m. West Virginia will be the home team in that game. The winner of the series earns a spot in the College World Series, which starts on June 14 in Omaha.
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. West Virginia Mountaineers
The live scoreboard for Game 2 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional on Saturday night can be found here.