Arizona encountered immediate difficulty in the early 9 a.m. start (Tucson time) against No. 5 North Carolina on Friday and never recovered in an 18-2 loss in the opening game of the best-of-three Super Regional at Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina (46-13) tallied a season-high 17 hits, including four home runs.
Owen Kramkowski (9-6) struggled from the start, allowing eight runs on six hits with two walks and a strikeout in his 1 1/3 innings.
ACC Pitcher of the Year Jack Knapp (14-0) did not have one of his most overpowering performances, allowing a season-high nine hits in his seven innings of work but the 8-1 lead after the first two innings was big enough of a cushion. Knapp did not walk a batter and struck out three.
Chip Hale's main message to the team after the game: "Flush it."
— Michael Lev (@MichaelJLev) June 6, 2025
Arizona (42-19) and North Carolina will meet in Game 2 of the Super Regional on Saturday at 9 a.m., Tucson time. Right-handers Raul Garayzar (2-0, 2.54 ERA) of Arizona and Jason DeCaro (9-3, 3.50) are the expected starting pitchers.
North Carolina is a game away from advancing to the College World Series in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2008-09.
Arizona will try to rally back in the series and advance to Omaha, Neb., for the first time since 2021.
Gavin Gallaher, the Most Outstanding Player in consecutive regionals for North Carolina, went 4 for 5 with three runs, a double and two RBIs against Arizona.
Luke Stevenson had one of North Carolina’s home runs and produced four RBIs on a 2-for-5 day. Hunter Stokely had three hits and five RBIs, including a three-run home run. Sam Angelo had three RBIs, all on a home run..
Adonys Guzman went 4 for 4 with a double and RBI for the Wildcats.
Aaron Walton and Guzman got hits swinging at the first pitch in the top of the first and Guzman’s hit produced a run with two outs, giving Arizona a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
That was the only bright spot of the day for the Wildcats other than Guzman’s hitting and Walton’s spectacular diving catch in left-center field and a leap above the wall in right-center field on consecutive outs to end the second inning.
Walton left the game in the seventh inning because of cramping but is expected to play Saturday.
UNC scored five runs before Arizona even recorded an out in the Super Regional
— Baseball King (@BasebaIlKing) June 6, 2025
The Tar Heels scored five runs on four hits, with a hit by pitch and walk included in the first inning. Stokely’s three-run homer was the highlight of the rally.
Kramkowski was chased in the second inning after Stevenson hit a three-run home run. Stevenson was coming off a 1-for-15 performance in the Chapel Hill Regional last week, and he got two hits in his first two at-bats with four RBIs against Arizona.
Arizona rallied to load the bases in the second and fourth innings, with its bottom half of the order leading the charge, but the Wildcats managed only one run on a sacrifice fly by Easton Breyfogle in the fourth inning.
By the time Knapp left the game in the eighth inning, the Tar Heels built a 13-2 lead.
Knapp’s 14 wins match the program record set by Greg Norris in 1978. North Carolina is 16-0 when Knapp pitches this season.
Michael Hilker Jr., who relieved Kramkowski with one out in the second inning, pitched well before vomiting while walking back to the dugout following the third inning. He did not allow a hit and struck out two batters without a walk in his brief outing.
The temperature at Chapel Hill was in the mid-80s but the humidity was near 60 percent.
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