OMAHA, Neb. (AP) 鈥� North Carolina coach Scott Forbes had to make a quick pitching change when starter Ryan Lynch tweaked his left oblique midway through Game 2 of the College World Series finals.
No worries.
Forbes called on freshman Caden Glauber for the 29th time this season, and for the 29th time he’s pitched, the Tar Heels won.
Their 6-2 victory over Oklahoma kept alive their pursuit of the school’s first national championship in baseball. The winner-take-all Game 3 is Monday night.
鈥淭his is what it鈥檚 all about,鈥� Forbes said. 鈥淭his is why you work so hard 鈥� to play in a night game, national championship game. So we鈥檙e excited about that opportunity.鈥�
Lynch and Glauber cooled off Oklahoma鈥檚 bats, Owen Hull and Cooper Nicholson homered, and North Carolina (54-13-1) bounced back from a
The Sooners (42-23) scored twice in the first inning and then had two hits and a total of five baserunners the rest of the way. Lynch injured his lower left side throwing his second pitch of the fifth. Glauber (12-0) came on and struck out the side and fanned a total of eight over five innings.
鈥淲hen you play for the best team in college baseball, it鈥檚 pretty easy to go out there with the defense you have and the offense you have,鈥� said Glauber, who has allowed one run in 10 1/3 CWS innings.
Glauber graduated from high school a year early and was 17 when he enrolled at Carolina last fall. He’s the only pitcher in Division I with 12 wins and five saves and is pitching to a 2.05 ERA over 92 innings, with all but three of his appearances in relief.
He’s been comfortable on stages big and small all season. Sunday he faced an OU team that had been averaging 9.4 runs per game in the postseason and 8.25 in the CWS.
鈥淭he preparation takes over the fear,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e work so hard on it. You know, you鈥檝e got to have the right mindset, and you know that you鈥檙e made for the moment, whatever moment you鈥檙e in.鈥�
The Sooners were held to their fewest runs since a May 19 loss to LSU. They hadn’t been held scoreless over eight straight innings since a 3-0 loss to Southeastern Louisiana on March 17. Their four hits were their fewest since a March 19 loss to LSU.
鈥淥bviously, tough loss today,鈥� OU’s Trey Gambill said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think we overly care. We know that we still have the opportunity to win the national championship. It鈥檚 going to be a fun atmosphere. We鈥檙e excited. Have a good meal tonight, good shower and be ready for tomorrow.鈥�
OU freshman starter Xander Mercurius (1-3) struck out six of the first seven batters he faced but encountered trouble when Carolina’s first two batters reached base in the third inning. Jake Schaffner pulled a ball into the right-field corner for a two-run triple and scored on a wild pitch to put the Tar Heels up 3-2. Mercurius began laboring in the third and left after Hull’s second homer of the CWS and ninth of the season leading off the fifth.
鈥淭he trick in baseball is to not get away from your game plan and start trying to punch guys out,鈥� OU coach Skip Johnson said, 鈥渁nd he kind of lost it a little bit. Instead of just trying to throw the ball to the target, he鈥檚 trying to punch people out.鈥�
Nicholson’s team-leading 16th homer, off Nate Smithburg in the seventh, made it 6-2.
Glauber walked consecutive batters with one out in the ninth. The game ended when Dasan Harris grounded to second and Gavin Gallaher turned an unassisted double play that was confirmed after Oklahoma challenged the call.
Johnson said Nick Wesloski (2-1) would start for the Sooners on Monday. Wesloski pitched 5 2/3 innings in an 11-4 win over Georgia last Wednesday. Forbes said he was undecided on a starter.
鈥淚t will be all hands on deck,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 feel like we鈥檝e got about seven options to start tomorrow, and I like every one of them.鈥�
___
AP college sports:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
