June 15, 2009
OMAHA, Neb. -
After spending Monday afternoon with an extensive tour of Omaha's Offutt Air Force Base, the Diamond Heels got back to work this evening with a workout on the turf of the Creighton University Sports Complex. The Tar Heels (47-17) will meet Southern Miss (40-25) in a College World Series elimination game at 2 p.m. Eastern Tuesday on ESPN2.
While Sunday's loss to Arizona State was Carolina's first in a series-opener since 1989, the Tar Heels have extensive experience in bracket-play elimination games over the last two years, posting a 5-1 record in such contests over the 2007 and 2008 trips to Omaha. UNC was 3-0 en route to the championship series in 2007 and went 2-1 a year ago, finishing in a tie for third.
The winner of Tuesday's afternoon tilt will face the Texas-Arizona State loser at 7 p.m. Eastern Thursday.
Senior right-hander Adam Warren, who is 9-2 with a 3.23 ERA, will start for Carolina against the Golden Eagles. The All-ACC performer is 31-4 in his career, 5-1 in the NCAA Tournament and 2-1 in Omaha. Southern Miss will turn to sophomore righty J.R. Ballinger, who is 6-3 with a 3.89 ERA in 83 1/3 innings.
The Tar Heels and Golden Eagles have never met on the diamond but they have had several common opponents this season. Southern Miss split four meetings with Conference USA foe East Carolina and won the NCAA Atlanta Regional with a 3-1 record against Georgia Tech and Elon.
The Tar Heels were 3-1 versus the Pirates, 2-1 against the Yellow Jackets and won their only meeting with the Phoenix.
Despite scoring just two runs Sunday, Carolina pounded out at least 10 hits for the 11th time in the last 12 games. Junior Kyle Seager led the way with three base hits in the loss.
