North Carolina, Clemson win openers

OMAHA, Neb. -- Josh Horton broke a tie with an RBI single in the 13th inning and North Carolina beat Cal State Fullerton 7-5 on Friday night in the second-longest game in College World Series history at 4 hours, 53 minutes.

The only longer game in the CWS' 60-year history was Oklahoma State's 5-hour, 13-inning win over Arizona State in 1981.

The Tar Heels won after surviving a quirky 11th inning that saw Cory Vanderhook's baserunning blunder take Fullerton out of a good scoring opportunity.

North Carolina had four straight singles to open the 13th against Lauren Gagnier (14-5), Fullerton's No. 2 starter who was making a rare relief appearance.

Andrew Carignan pitched an inning of two-hit relief to earn his 14th save. Matt Danford (7-1) was the winner.

The Tar Heels (51-13) advanced to a Sunday game against Clemson (53-14), which scored all its runs in the eighth inning to rally for an 8-4 afternoon win over Georgia Tech (50-17). Fullerton (48-14), which saw its 12-game winning streak end, will meet the Yellow Jackets in a Bracket 1 elimination game.

Clemson 8, Georgia Tech 4

Andy D'Alessio hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to highlight the biggest late-game College World Series comeback in 20 years as top-seeded Clemson beat Georgia Tech 8-4 on Friday.

The Tigers capitalized on Georgia Tech's bullpen meltdown to score all their runs in the eighth in the CWS' opening game. D'Alessio's homer off Ryan Turner allowed the Tigers to rally from a 4-0 deficit after Lee Hyde had held them to two hits over seven innings.

No team had come back from four or more runs down in the eighth inning to win in the CWS since Arizona rallied from a six-run deficit to beat Maine 8-7 in 1986.

-- The Associated Press