OMAHA, Neb. — Colin Moran says he’s just finding holes.
He also thinks, sometimes, it’s luck.
And on college baseball’s largest stage, Moran’s just a “little more relaxed,” and letting the game come to him.
However it’s happening, Moran’s response to the pressure and spotlight of being the highest drafted college player in the College World Series is paying dividends for the MLB’s sixth overall draft pick and his Tar Heel teammates in their quest for the program’s first national title.
Moran was responsible for two of the team’s seven RBIs and one run in North Carolina’s 7-0 shutout of N.C. State Thursday. He also accounted for one RBI in the team’s 4-2 win against Louisiana State on Tuesday and scored two runs.
“It’s the same mindset we had … two days ago and today,” Moran said. “You don’t really have much wiggle room, but at the same time you don’t think about that. You just relax.”
It helps that Moran pays no mind to conversation about how long it’s been since the Atlantic Coast Conference has won a national title and whether the College World Series park is too big, discussion over bat and ball changes, and talk of changing pitching and hitting strategies that aim to seduce or avoid fly balls, respectively, in a rocket-swallowing outfield.
“You don’t really think about any of it when you go up there,” he said. “You just look for a pitch to hit.”
Moran is finding those pitches, it seems, as well as the stride he seemed to have all but lost around the end of the regular season.
