ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV

It might have been tears.

That’s how proud Hale was of his Arizona Wildcats on Saturday.

Facing multiple deficits with its season on the line, Arizona rallied to defeat No. 5 national seed North Carolina 10-8 in Game 2 of their Super Regional series at Boshamer Stadium.

The Wildcats and Tar Heels will square off in a deciding Game 3 Sunday. The winner will advance to the College World Series.

The moment that just about made Hale cry happened in the bottom of the seventh inning. That’s when Arizona bounced back after surrendering an 8-6 lead in the top half of the frame. Casey Hintz was one pitch away from ending the inning, but hung a slider that Tyson Bass took over the left field wall for a three-run homer.

It wasn’t a knockout blow. But it felt like a punch to the gut to Hale.

“I’m amazed, to be frank with you, after we gave up the three-run homer,� Hale said. “Because Hintz was rolling. That’s how Casey pitches. He made one bad pitch, and Bass took advantage of it. That’s just great hitting. This is a really, really good ball club we’re playing.

“To match that and come back and score the next inning ... as a head coach, I’m over at third base almost freaking in tears, man. It just makes me really proud.�

ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV overcame deficits of 2-1, 4-2 and 8-6 to stun a near-sellout crowd of 4,032 on another steamy afternoon in Chapel Hill. The Wildcats will play in a deciding Game 3 of a Super Regional for the fourth time. They’re 2-1 in those games.

“This team just wants to keep playing,� said junior closer Tony Pluta, who pitched the final 2⅓ innings without giving up a run to improve to 3-0. “We want to keep going. That dream of Omaha. We’re chasing five (a fifth national championship). We really want to get there. And I think that today showed that.�

“We’re willing to do anything to get there,� said senior first baseman Tommy Splaine, who went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. “We believe in all the guys in the locker room.�

It took a total team effort on a day when Arizona’s starting pitching again faltered. Just like Owen Kramkowski the day before — an 18-2 loss in the Super Regional opener — right-hander Raul Garayzar couldn’t get out of the second inning.

UA pitchers walked nine batters, the Wildcats’ third-highest total of the season. They were sixth in the country in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (3.17) entering Saturday.

Meanwhile, every batter in the UA lineup had at least one hit. The Wildcats’ 16 hits were the most North Carolina has allowed this season. Arizona was 7 for 15 with two outs, 10 for 24 with runners on base and 5 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

“Since the Big 12 Tournament, it’s that foxhole mentality, man. They’re going to fight for each other,� Hale said. “They know if they don’t get something done, there’s somebody behind them that’s going to pick them up.�

A wild seventh inning that lasted 52 minutes required multiple pick-me-ups.

North Carolina scored four runs in the top half of the frame. Arizona countered with a four-spot in the bottom half.

Brendan Summerhill — who misplayed a pop fly in right field in the top half of the inning, sparking UNC’s rally — doubled down the third base line to score Andrew Cain, who led off the inning with a walk. Easton Breyfogle scored the tying run on a wild pitch.

After a pair of walks, UNC brought in left-hander Folger Boaz to face left-handed-hitting Maddox Mihalakis. Mihalakis lined the first pitch he saw into right-center for a two-RBI single to restore Arizona’s two-run lead.

Mihalakis’ go-ahead hit came with two outs. So did his carbon-copy RBI single in the sixth, which bumped Arizona’s advantage to 6-4.

“As a team, we definitely try and get gritty, no matter the situation, but especially with two outs,� Splaine said.

The seventh-inning rally set up Pluta to finish the game. One of the top closers in the nation, Pluta wasn’t as sharp as he’d been for most of the season. Pluta entered with runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the seventh. He threw a wild pitch, hit a batter and walked in a run (which was charged to Hintz).

But Pluta struck out Luke Stevenson to end the threat; worked around a single and a walk in the eighth; and stranded a baserunner in the ninth.

“It was pretty tough,� said Pluta, who had walked only five batters all season before issuing two free passes to the Tar Heels. “The crowd was really getting into it. The heat was getting to me a little bit. But I was just able to grit it out ... and get some pitches in the right spot. And we got the win.�

Even after his team dominated the opener, UNC coach Scott Forbes expected a “really difficult� game Saturday. He got it and then some.

“It’s just the way it works,� said Forbes, who has led the Tar Heels to three Super Regionals in five seasons. “Rarely is it like it was (Friday).

“They’re a really good team. We spent a lot of time scouting them. Obviously, how we play is most important. But you don’t get to this point of the season if you don’t have really good teams. So I just had that feeling.

“I think (Saturday) will be the same. And I’m excited, really I am, because this is why you coach. This is also why you come to the University of North Carolina as a player, to play in these games.�

It’s also why baseball players come to Arizona. The Wildcats will be seeking their 19th trip to Omaha and their first since 2021.

“Being able to bounce back today was a big confidence piece,� Pluta said. “We know that we can compete with this team and we can win. So we’ll be ready.�