When: Friday, June 15th, 7 PM EDT
Where: Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha, NE
TV/Radio: ESPN2, 850 AM(Raleigh/Durham), 1360 AM(Chapel Hill)
Records: UNC 53-13; MSU 38-20
Here is the game capsule from the N&O on the probable starters for tonight:
North Carolina
Robert Woodard Sr., RHP, 10-2, 3.01 ERATonight will mark Woodard's seventh career start in the NCAA tournament; this season, he is 1-0 with a 1.26 ERA in 14 1/3 innings in the NCAAs.
Mississippi State
Justin Pigott, Jr., LHP, 7-6, 4.40 ERA
Pigott got the win in the super regional series clincher against Clemson and will get the start today, coach Ron Polk said, because Carolina has so many left-handed hitters.
Mississippi State lost of eight of 10 before entering the NCAA Tournament then got on a tear and ended up in Omaha. If this were basketball and the Final Four I would say the Bulldogs are certifiable toast but baseball is different and I would expect a good challenge from MSU. The upside for UNC is Robert Woodard is good and experienced which should equate to fewer butterflies and hopefully a lights out performance. In fact the whole team, spare the freshmen, have been here before which should work to their advantage. According to the N&O it takes five wins to take the title, three to get to the title series and then best two of three from there.
Also in the N&O today a nice article about baseball coach Mike Fox and his relationship with Dean Smith. Fox played JV basketball and varsity baseball at UNC in the late 1970s.