In the lone game at the College World Series on Wednesday North Carolina (51-15) takes on Vanderbilt (53-11) at 7pm ET on ESPN2 and streamed online at espn3.com
The Tar Heels and Commodores play this elimination game for the right to play Florida on Friday afternoon if they should win. North Carolina has already survived one elimination game by beating Texas 3-0 on Monday night. Vanderbilt lost to Florida 3-1 in a weather-delayed game Monday-into-Tuesday to find themselves in this game.
North Carolina and Vanderbilt have already squared-off once in this College World Series as it was Vanderbilt who beat North Carolina 7-3 in the first game of this 2011 World Series.
Either of these teams will have to beat Florida twice to win Bracket #1 and advance to the championship series, which consists of a best-of-three series to determine the 2011 national champion.
If you base your views around statistics then Vanderbilt would have the edge in this game. They excel both on the mound and at the plate, where they rank in the top 5 in the country in both categories. But you never know how a team will react when their season is on the line. North Carolina and Vanderbilt are both trying to keep their seasons going and holding out hope for a shot at the 2011 national championship.
North Carolina is sending Greg Holt to the mound on Wednesday. Holt has has 32 appearances on the season but is making just his second start of the season. His first came against Miami in the first game of the ACC tournament where he went 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits. The senior right-hander was an eighth round pick by the Washington Nationals this year.
Vanderbilt is going with Taylor Hill as their starter. He has a 5-2 record this year on 16 starts and a 2.84 ERA. Hill had an impressive 88-22 strikeout to walk ratio this year in his 92 innings of work.
Vanderbilt has been led offensively in the College World Series by leadoff-hitter Tony Kemp, who has gone 4-7 in the tournament so far, including a 3-4 effort in the first game against North Carolina that included a run scored and a RBI. Ben Bunting has led North Carolina going 6-9 in the CWS with two runs scored and a RBI.
The game will be played at 7pm ET and broadcasted on ESPN2 at the brand-new TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.