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Scott Forbes has been to Omaha too many times to let his team get too big for its britches.
The Diamond Heels can clinch a spot in the best-of-three national championship series with a win against either Troy or West Virginia Wednesday. The Trojans and Mountaineers play in Omaha Tuesday, with the winner then needing to beat UNC Wednesday and Thursday to advance. At 2-0, Carolina would only need to win once. UNC has not occupied this position since 2006.
That 2006 team proceeded to win its semifinal at the first time of asking, completing a 3-0 sweep of its Omaha foursome and moving on to the championship series. But Forbes has also seen the other side of the equation: in 2007, UNC dropped its second Omaha game to Rice and fell to the loser’s bracket. The Diamond Heels beat Louisville to stay alive, then exacted revenge on the Owls with consecutive wins to advance to the championship series for the second straight year.
That’s exactly why Forbes hasn’t even begun to discuss any national title implications with his team. From his point of view, Carolina has just one game to play.
“We’re not gonna count outs,” Forbes said Tuesday, “and we’re not gonna listen to the noise. We’re gonna just focus on what we’ve been doing all year.”
The double-edged sword of occupying the driver’s seat in its Men’s College World Series foursome is that UNC will have had two days off since its Sunday win against West Virginia. Those two days provide plenty of time to rest and recover, but also plenty of time to, as Forbes said, listen to the noise. For example: the odds are greatly in Carolina’s favor to at least appear in the championship series.
Updated odds to win championship pic.twitter.com/Ld1dphcVyM
— PEARatings (@PEARatings) June 16, 2026
“I wish we could play today,” said outfielder Carter French. “I think we’re all ready to play. But playing tomorrow’s no big deal, either. We’re gonna be ready to go.”
Forbes also told reporters he plans to start left-hander Folger Boaz, regardless of the result of the West Virginia-Troy game, Wednesday afternoon in Omaha. Boaz (3-3, 7.03 ERA, 56.1 innings) has not appeared in a game in the month of June, last pitching in UNC’s regional final win against East Carolina on May 31. Boaz allowed five hits and one run across 3.1 innings while striking out four Pirate hitters. When Boaz’s normal rotation spot came up in the Super Regional against USC the next week, Forbes instead opted to start relief ace Caden Glauber. With Glauber already having pitched in two games in Omaha, Forbes has decided to trust his veteran southpaw.
“I thought Folger Boaz was outstanding against East Carolina,” Forbes said. “I think he can beat anybody. I think it’s exciting for him too, because he came out here in ’24 as our Friday guy and went down [with an injury] and didn’t get to pitch out here. So I know he’s gonna be extra motivated… I think his confidence is at an all-time high.”
Forbes often speaks highly of Boaz, even disclosing the fact that the junior pitcher was the first recruit whose commitment he earned as head coach. Now, he’ll trust him with a game which Forbes says the Diamond Heels “have to win.”
“I’m gonna focus on Wednesday,” Forbes said. “I’m putting Thursday out of my mind, except potentially the starter that I have in mind. We’re just gonna try to win that game.”
Regardless of opponent, UNC’s game Wednesday is scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern time and will be broadcast on 97.9 The Hill for radio and ESPN for television.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Vera Nieuwenhuis
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