OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Taylor Hill and Corey Williams combined on a four-hitter, Connor Harrell and Curt Casali homered as Vanderbilt eliminated North Carolina from the College World Series with a 5-1 victory Wednesday night.
Vanderbilt (54-11) beat the Tar Heels for the second time in the CWS and plays Southeastern Conference rival Florida at 2 p.m. Friday. The Commodores are in Omaha for the first time and must beat the Gators twice to reach next week's best-of-three finals.
The Commodores have to face a Florida team that has beaten them in four of five meetings this season, including 3-1 at the CWS.
North Carolina (51-16) left 34 runners on base in its three CWS games and was just 7-for-39 with runners in scoring position.
Hill (6-1) outdueled Greg Holt (7-2) in a matchup of Washington Nationals draft picks.
Hill, taken in the sixth round, allowed a run and four hits in seven innings.
Holt, an eighth-rounder who was making his second start of the season, lasted 2 2/3 innings. He gave up five runs and four hits, leaving after Casali's homer made it 5-0.
The Tar Heels couldn't advance a runner past first base after they scored in the fifth.
Hill worked out of trouble that inning after Ben Bunting's RBI groundout left first base open. Hill intentionally walked All-America Colin Moran with two outs to face Jacob Stallings, who had doubled in his first two at-bats. Stallings fouled off an 0-2 pitch barely outside the left-field line, then swung and missed at strike three.
Williams, who has pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in three CWS appearances, came on to start the eighth.
Harrell's three-run homer put Vanderbilt up 4-0 in the second inning. It is his second in three games here and ninth of the season.
