University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Take All This In
May 28, 2019 | Baseball, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
DURHAM — This time a week ago, the North Carolina baseball team had little to smile about.
After opening its final regular-season series against NC State with a win, UNC dropped its next two games against the Wolfpack, allowing too many runners to reach base via errors and walks. The Tar Heels lost both games by the combined score of 22-2. And by doing so, their chances of hosting an NCAA Tournament regional seemingly diminished.
Carolina could've shifted its focus to the ACC Tournament immediately after that series ended. But before doing so, redshirt senior Hansen Butler, the most veteran player on UNC's roster, sent his teammates a group message.
"He pretty much said, 'Take all this in. Try and remember what happened to us. But tomorrow we're going to get back to work,'" Michael Busch recalled. "And that's just baseball. Sometimes things don't go your way, but the faster you can regroup the better your team is going to be."
What followed, Busch said, were the Tar Heels' two best practices this spring. And over the next five days at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, they played arguably their best four games this season.
Carolina needed extra innings to defeat Virginia and Miami in ACC pool play. It then slugged its way past Boston College, 13-5, in the semifinals. Sunday, in the championship game, UNC delivered its most impressive performance of the season, a 10-2 dismantling of Georgia Tech.
Each win was more convincing than the last. And in the end, the Tar Heels were all smiles as they clad themselves in championship T-shirts and hats before hoisting the ACC Tournament trophy for the seventh time overall and the third time under Mike Fox.
"We're just excited to be the 2019 ACC baseball champions," Fox told reporters after the championship victory. "Unbelievable league. And my hat's off to Georgia Tech. Boy, they have such a good team. … I thought we beat four really good teams to get to this point. Unbelievably proud of my team, the way we played this week here in Durham. It's just special.
"It's hard to win a championship in this league, in any sport, but certainly in baseball."
Without pitching depth, it's nearly impossible. But Carolina's stable of arms rose to the challenge all week, no more so than in Sunday's game against the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech entered the ACC Tournament as the league leader in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. And in their first three games, the Yellow Jackets flexed their offensive muscles, scoring 26 runs while hitting .321 with 10 doubles and four home runs.
That, however, didn't deter Connor Ollio, Butler, Joey Lancellotti and Tyler Baum. The quartet of pitchers held Georgia Tech to four hits and two runs, marking just the ninth time this season the Yellow Jackets scored two runs or fewer. Entering the ninth inning, they'd tallied just two hits and one run. They hadn't managed a baserunner in three innings.
Butler and Lancellotti did most of the heavy lifting, combining to surrender two hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings. Their performances capped a spectacular tournament by UNC's bullpen, which gave up only 17 total hits and six earned runs across 25 innings, good for a 2.16 ERA.
"Pitching is the key to winning championships," Fox said. "We've seen all our relievers (be) really, really good throughout the year. … So what they did this week didn't surprise me, and I don't think it surprised their teammates."
Neither did Ollio.
Making his fifth career start – and his first against a Power 5 opponent – the freshman might've been easy to overlook amid the bullpen's continued dominance. But he gave the Tar Heels exactly what they needed, allowing two hits and an unearned run in 2 1/3 innings.
"His last few outings probably didn't go the way he wanted them to, but he went out there and went through that first lineup like he was one of our aces," Busch said. "And that's the type of mentality that he's going to have, and that experience is going to prove (valuable) for him even into the playoffs and the future for his pitching career."
Busch speaks from experience. As a freshman in 2017, he dealt with his fair share of struggles at the plate. But in Carolina's run to the ACC Tournament championship game that season, he went 3-for-8 with two doubles in three tournament games. That, along with a few more moments, helped him gain confidence entering his sophomore season, during which he emerged as one of college baseball's best hitters.
After Saturday's win over Boston College, Busch, now a junior and a projected first-round pick in June's MLB draft, said he fondly remembers that 2017 ACC Tournament. He'll surely cherish the memories from this year's event even more.
Busch batted .421 (8-for-19) with a double, a triple, three home runs and five RBIs during the tournament. Against the Yellow Jackets, he went 2-for-4 with a home run. The homer, a solo shot that extended UNC's lead to 6-1 in the seventh inning, cemented his status as tournament MVP.
When asked about that home run after the game, Busch credited Dallas Tessar for the scouting report he gave on Georgia Tech pitcher Micah Carpenter. A few minutes later, he mentioned Tessar unprompted again, saying the redshirt junior's game-tying RBI single in the fifth inning got the Tar Heels rolling; they outscored the Yellow Jackets 9-1 the rest of the way.
In fact, Busch spent far more time talking about Tessar and Ollio than any of his personal achievements.
"He hasn't started the whole year, but, like Coach said again (Saturday), last year he was a big impact for our season," said Busch of Tessar. "He started a bunch for us. He was a leadoff hitter for us, so he has a big impact at the bottom of the order for us."
He certainly did throughout the tournament, recording five hits and three RBIs. Before then, he'd totaled just four hits and two RBIs all season.
Tessar was one of seven Carolina players who registered a multi-hit game during the tournament. Five accomplished the feat against Georgia Tech. Overall, UNC batted .281 with seven home runs and 33 runs scored across the four games.
"I think we're swinging it as good as possible," Busch said. "Coach said it earlier, we haven't played our best baseball yet. And I think (Sunday), besides a couple of errors on the field, which happens, I think we played pretty close to that."
Pretty close? If an eight-run win over a Yellow Jacket squad that was announced as the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Monday is what the Tar Heels, the No. 14 seed, consider coming "pretty close" to reaching their potential, then that's a scary proposition for whoever they'll face going forward.
But that wasn't on their minds after Sunday's game.
Instead, Carolina's players, none of whom had previously won an ACC Tournament title, took the time to celebrate their latest achievement, posing for pictures along the first-base line. They soaked in the moment with family and friends and, most importantly, each other.
And they couldn't stop smiling.
