Tar Heels, Owls meet to advance to championship round

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The only remaining national seeds in the College World Series meet tonight with the winner moving on to face defending champs Oregon State starting Saturday.

Third-seeded North Carolina evened the score with second-seeded Rice on Wednesday, forcing an elimination game tonight in Omaha.

North Carolina's pitchers have been stellar the last two games after some shaky starts this postseason. The Tar Heels held the series' two hottest hitting teams — Rice and Louisville — to just one run apiece.

Robert Woodard came off the shortest start of his career to shut down the Owls for six-plus innings Wednesday, leading the Tar Heels to the 6-to-1 win.

Rice had 29 runs and 33 hits in its first two College World Series games, one of which was a 14-4 victory over the Tar Heels on Sunday.

Dustin Ackley broke open the game with a three-run homer to help the Tar Heels.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)