University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Stanford Postgame Notes
June 11, 2011 | Baseball
June 11, 2011
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• With a 7-5 victory in game two over Stanford, North Carolina advances to its ninth College World Series in program history and fifth in the last six years. The Tar Heels made it to Omaha four straight years in 2006 through 2009 and also reached the CWS in 1960, 1966, 1978 and 1989. Carolina is the first team to punch its ticket to this year's College World Series and is only the 12th team to advance to the CWS five times in a six-year period.
• The 2011 Tar Heels (50-14) are the fifth squad in program history to reach 50 wins, joining the 1990 and 2006-08 teams.
• Carolina finished the season with a 36-3 (.923) record at Boshamer Stadium, the best winning percentage at home for a UNC team since 1985 (24-2, .923).
• Carolina now has 37 wins in the NCAA tournament since 2006, leading the country. Included in that stretch is a 27-3 mark in regional and Super Regional play and a 23-1 record in those rounds at home.
• Carolina has now won 16 consecutive postseason games it has hosted (11 in Chapel Hill, five in Cary). The Tar Heels last lost as a host in game 2 of the 2007 Chapel Hill Super Regional (South Carolina, 8-6). Carolina has also won six straight Super Regional games, dating back to the same game.
• Through five games, the Tar Heels have allowed only 10 runs in this year's NCAA tournament. With that strong pitching and an offense getting off to quick starts, the Tar Heels have led after 39 of 45 innings played in the tournament (trailed 4, tied 2).
• Stanford now has a 12-6 record in the Super Regional round since 1999 and this marks only the second Super Regional series the Cardinal have lost in their eighth appearance.
• UNC starter Kent Emanuel earned the win, surrendering one earned run on five hits over six-plus innings of work. The win was the Emanuel's second of the postseason, and he became the first Tar Heel freshman to earn two wins in a NCAA tournament.
• The victory was Emanuel's eighth of the season as he became the first Carolina freshman to reach that mark since Daniel Bard and Robert Woodard both recorded eight in 2004. With five strikeouts, he has now punched out 84 hitters, surpassing the freshman strikeout totals of both Matt Harvey (80) and Alex White (83). Andrew Miller was the last freshman to strike out more in a season with 88 in 2004.
• Emanuel's outing capped off an outstanding season on the Boshamer Stadium mound, as he went 7-0 with a 1.48 ERA in 12 appearances (nine starts) on the Tar Heels' home field.
• Michael Morin collected his tenth save of the season, moving him into a tie for sixth on the school's single-season list. It was the 13th of his career, which puts the sophomore eighth on the career list.
• Ben Bunting again drove in Carolina's first run of the game, plating Tommy Coyle in the second. The RBI was the 17th of Bunting's postseason career, leading the current squad, and was Coyle's team-high 57th run scored this season.
• Carolina freshman Brian Holberton put Carolina ahead 3-1 in the fourth inning with a key two-run double, picking up his third and fourth RBIs in his initial postseason.
• Jesse Wierzbicki and Jacob Stallings became the third and fourth Tar Heels to reach 40 RBIs on the season in the seventh inning when Wierzbicki grounded into a RBI fielder's choice and Stallings drove in two runs with a two-out single. Stallings plated another run in the top of the ninth with a two-out single, giving him a team-high seven RBIs in this NCAA tournament.
• With a RBI double in the first inning to plate the game's first run, Stanford left fielder Tyler Gaffney extended his hit streak to 22 games.
• Stanford starter Jordan Pries lasted only 3.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits. Other than a predetermined staff game in a midweek contest against St. Mary's, the outing was Pries' shortest of the season.
• Stanford right fielder Austin Wilson cut a 6-2 deficit to 6-5 with a three-run double in the eighth inning, giving him 30 RBIs on the season.
