OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Scott Forbes had just wrapped up a College World Series news conference Friday when Skip Johnson walked into the room to pose with him for an annual picture of the head coaches next to the national championship trophy, a longtime tradition the day before the start of the finals.“Hey, buddy,” North Carolina’s Forbes said, beaming and extending his hand to the Oklahoma coach.“You thought we were going to fight?” Johnson said, turning to reporters.The college baseball lifers have known each other for decades, since they spent long days and nights scouting the same talent showcases and engaging in recruiting battles during long runs as assistants.“I always thought if we met up together,” Forbes told Johnson, “we’d be hunting.”Oh, they’re hunting together all right.North Carolina will be looking for its first national title in baseball and Oklahoma for its third when the schools square off in Game 1 of the best-of-three series at Charles Schwab Field on Saturday. The start of the game was moved up five hours to 3 p.m. EDT because of a forecast calling for storms at night.
The Tar Heels and Sooners have taken different routes to reach the same destination.
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North Carolina (53-12-1) has lost consecutive games just once, in early March, and has been ranked no lower than No. 4 by D1Baseball.com the last two months.Oklahoma (41-22) was ranked as high as No. 8 and then lost six of nine series in Southeastern Conference play. The Sooners finished 11th in the SEC and were unranked when they entered the national tournament off losses in seven of nine games.
