UNC's Game 3 walk-off fueled by clutch walk, ninth-inning single

Still celebrating? We don’t blame you. In Game 3 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional, UNC staged one of its most memorable comebacks in postseason history, walking off USC 4-3 on Owen Hull’s double.

The Diamond Heels, once down two runs in the eighth inning, will now travel to Omaha for their second trip in three seasons.

Hull delivered the heroics on Sunday afternoon, but he doesn’t do so without a pair of teammates near the bottom of North Carolina’s batting order: Cooper Nicholson and Carter French.

Nicholson, who recorded just four hits since UNC’s NCAA Tournament-opening win vs. VCU, started Sunday’s rally by working a walk back from an 0-2 count.

French, typically utilized as a lockdown defensive outfielder and speed threat on the base paths, delivered with a 1-out, full-count, hard ground ball through the infield that moved Nicholson over to third base. French’s blast came after USC swapped pitchers during a 3-0 count.

“Yeah so, they took the guy out, 3-0 count and so I had some time to just hang out,” French said. “I knew I was going to take regardless, whoever was coming in, first pitch for sure. Coach Forbes came over, told me to take ’till two. So I did and he told me that if you get to that point, you’re going to get a heater. “I got a heater and just swung and found a hole through the infield.”

“In that moment, I felt like we were so even-keeled,” French continued. “We just kept on plugging and it ended up working out in our favor for sure. I just think that we’re going to carry that on to Omaha and we’re not done yet. We got a lot more baseball left to play.”

“Yeah so, they took the guy out, 3-0 count and so I had some time to just hang out,” French said. “I knew I was going to take regardless, whoever was coming in, first pitch for sure. Coach Forbes came over, told me to take ’till two. So I did and he told me that if you get to that point, you’re going to get a heater. “I got a heater and just swung and found a hole through the infield.”

“In that moment, I felt like we were so even-keeled,” French continued. “We just kept on plugging and it ended up working out in our favor for sure. I just think that we’re going to carry that on to Omaha and we’re not done yet. We got a lot more baseball left to play.”

Jake Schaffner scored Nicholson on a sac fly to deep right-center, then Hull scored French on his blast to the warning track in left-center.

If the Diamond Heels are going to win their first College World Series in program history, they’ll need more heroics from Hull and Nicholson.

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