North Carolina tops Houston 4-3 in NCAA Chapel Hill Regional

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Zack Gahagan hit a two-run homer in the second inning and No. 6 national seed North Carolina beat Houston 4-3 on Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament's Chapel Hill Regional.

The Tar Heels (40-18) beat North Carolina A&T on Friday and are a win away from advancing to the super regionals as the regional host.

Gianluca Dalatri (2-2) earned the win, allowing four hits and a run in five innings.

Tyler Bielamowicz hit a home run in the fifth inning for the third-seeded Cougars (37-24), who trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth. Joe Davis hit a solo homer to cut the deficit to 4-3, but UNC's Josh Hiatt struck out Cooper Coldiron to end it.

Trey Cumbie (7-4) took the loss, allowing three runs and five hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings.

Houston beat Purdue on Friday and faces the second-seeded Boilermakers in an elimination game Sunday.