No. 5 overall seed North Carolina beats Oklahoma 14-4 to win Chapel Hill Regional

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Gavin Gallaher went 4 for 6 with two home runs and four RBIs to help No. 5 overall seed North Carolina beat Oklahoma 14-4 on Monday to win the Chapel Hill Regional.

The Tar Heels (45-13) move on to host a best-of-3 super regional as one of the top eight remaining seeds.

Hunter Stokely had a two-run double in the top of the first inning, and Alex Madera singled in a run as North Carolina scored three unearned runs off Reid Hensley (4-2) and never trailed.

Drew Dickerson hit a two-run homer off Ryan Lynch in the second to get the Sooners within a run. That was it for Oklahoma until Jason Walk hit a solo shot in the seventh off reliever Walker McDuffie.

North Carolina answered with four runs in the third behind RBI singles from Madera, Sam Angelo and Carter French for a 7-2 lead. Jackson Van De Brake had a two-run homer and Gallaher hit a solo shot in the eighth. Gallaher capped the scoring with a three-run homer in the ninth.

Lynch (5-1) allowed two runs on five hits in five innings. McDuffie allowed two runs on two hits over the final four for his seventh save.

North Carolina is making its 36th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels have advanced to the College World Series 12 times — including last season — with back-to-back championships in 2006-07.

Oklahoma (38-22) was making its 41st appearance in the tournament.

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports