Louisville's Pete Rodriguez drops his helmet after striking out to end the game. The Cardinals lost, 3-1, to North Carolina on Tuesday in Omaha, Neb.

Omaha, Neb. ? North Carolina is proving the adage that good pitching beats good hitting any day.

The Tar Heels’ starters had been anything but good the last two weeks, and Louisville had the hottest hitting team in the NCAA Tournament.

But Luke Putkonen and two relievers limited the Cardinals to three hits, and the Tar Heels won 3-1 in a College World Series elimination game Tuesday.

The Tar Heels also had three hits but they made two runs that scored on a Louisville throwing error stand up to advance to today’s game against Rice. North Carolina (55-14), the 2006 runner-up, would have to beat the Owls twice to win their bracket and return to the best-of-three championship series, which will start Saturday.

UC Irvine 8, Arizona St. 7, 10 innings

Omaha, Neb. – Ollie Linton singled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift UC Irvine.

It was the third time in four games the Anteaters won in their final at-bat. This time they rallied from four runs down in the eighth inning to extend their first appearance in the CWS.