The University of North Carolina Tar Heels baseball team hopes lightening will strike twice as they look for a second 2008 College World Series win against the formidable LSU Tigers at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb at 7 p.m. ET. The loser of this game is eliminated from the CWS. The winner advances to meet Fresno State at 6 p.m. Friday. The LSU-UNC winner must defeat Fresno State on Friday and Saturday to reach the CWS championship series.
Oddsmakers at sportsbook SBGglobal.com have installed the Tar Heels as -120 moneyline favorites with a 12 run total. LSU backers are getting +180 ML odds.
LSU dropped its CWS opener to North Carolina, 8-4, on Sunday before posting a thrilling 6-5 victory over Rice on Tuesday. After defeating the Tigers on Sunday, the Tar Heels fell to Fresno State, 5-3, on Tuesday.
Freshman right-hander Matt Harvey, who is 7-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 17 appearances, will take the mound for the Tar Heels opposite LSU lefty Blake Martin (5-3, 4.89 ERA). Harvey has not pitched since the first game of the NCAA Tournament against Mount St. Mary's May 30. In 60 2/3 innings, the freshman All-America selection has 74 strikeouts, 44 walks and is holding the opposition to a .210 batting average.
The Tar Heels look to bounce back from their first loss of the postseason, a 5-3 defeat at the hands of Fresno State Tuesday, while the Tigers are coming off a walk-off, 6-5 win over Rice in an elimination game Tuesday.
Behind three-hit efforts from Tim Fedroff, Kyle Seager, Seth Williams and Ryan Graepel, the Tar Heels pounded out 17 hits in Sunday's 8-4 win over LSU in the CWS opener for both teams. The victory moved Carolina to 1-2 all-time against the Tigers and 6-1 against the Southeastern Conference in the postseason over the last three seasons.
The winner of Thursday's game will face Fresno State Friday and will have to top the Bulldogs twice to advance to next week's championship series.
