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Arizona upsets UNC, dogpiles after stunning Tar Heels to advance to College World Series

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison06/08/25dan_morrison96
Arizona Wildcats baseball
Arizona Wildcats baseball - © Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

The season appeared to be over for the Arizona Wildcats. That is, until the Wildcats were able to rally from down 3-1 late in Game 3 of the Super Regional against the North Carolina Tar Heels and pull out an upset win.

Arizona is heading to the College World Series now. First, the Wildcats had the chance to celebrate on UNC’s home field, dogpiling against a stunned Tar Heels team. You can watch that celebration, here:

UNC came into the NCAA Tournament as the fifth overall seed, hosting both a Regional and Super Regional. In that Super Regional Round, they’d welcome Arizona out of the Big 12. On Friday night, the Tar Heels jumped the Wildcats in an 18-2 win. Arizona never had any quit, though, and won Game 2 to force the winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday afternoon.

Arizona opened up the scoring with a solo home run. Garren Caulfield took Ryan Lynch deep in the second inning. However, that was just about the only mistake that Lynch made throughout the game. Then, in the third inning, Jackson Van De Brake picked him up with a three-run shot.

It was in the eighth inning when Arizona would get to Lynch again, with a single before benefitting from an error. That took Lynch out of the game and brought Walker McDuffie into the game. It also brought Easton Breyfogle to the plate. He’d sacrifice bunt, but that’s when things got chaotic. A bad throw hit Breyfogle running up the line and injured him. As the ball got away, a run scored and left the Wildcats with two on and nobody out in the eighth inning. A walk, and the bases would be loaded with nobody out.

It would be Mason White who delivered with a two-run single to give Arizona a 4-3 lead. A double play would then end the inning there, but it was enough to set Arizona up with the lead and six outs to go.

Tony Pluta would come on to close the game out for Arizona. A key and clutch reliever, he played a massive role in Game 2 and looked to be battling. Still, he was able to get the job done to finish off UNC and send Arizona to Omaha.

Arizona head coach Chip Hale is in his fourth season with the program. He had taken the Wildcats to three-straight Super Regionals to begin his career with the program before this year, getting to the College World Series. It’s the 19th trip to the College World Series for Arizona, and their first since 2021. They’ve won four national championships as well, the most recent coming in 2012.

The field is still being set for Omaha. However, Arizona already knows they’ll take on Coastal Carolina first in the College World Series.