University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Tested
June 6, 2019 | Baseball, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
So many times throughout this season, even as recently as two weeks ago, North Carolina could've had its doubts.
The Tar Heels entered this season as a consensus top-10 team, buoyed by a pitching staff that was considered to be among college baseball's best. Perhaps just as importantly, though, they returned 19 players who lettered on last season's College World Series squad. And armed with experience from their initial Omaha voyage, they expected not only to return but to win there.
UNC still needs two more wins to book a return trip to that glorified city on the Nebraska-Iowa border. But after completing a three-game sweep of the Chapel Hill Regional, Carolina finds itself exactly where it thought it'd be at this point in the season, preparing for a super regional.Â
"We've just got a good group," said Mike Fox, whose team will host Auburn on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (if necessary) at Boshamer Stadium. "They just keep fighting and believe. I think our experience from the last two years is probably what you're seeing.Â
"We have a number of players in the locker room who experienced the loss here in the regionals in 2017, which was crushing. And then the victory last year, winning last year. So a number of players in that locker room have been on both sides. I think that's really helped us. We weren't really deterred that much from our start."
They could've easily been.
The Tar Heels started 12-1 before getting swept at Clemson in their first ACC series, during which they entered the bottom of the ninth inning with the lead in two of the three games. They then dropped their series openers against Miami and Virginia Tech. But they bounced back to win both series and ultimately entered April tied with Georgia Tech atop the Coastal Division.
That tie remained intact entering the final two weeks of the regular season. Another unexpected turn awaited UNC, though. Over its last six conference games against Pittsburgh and NC State, Carolina won just two. The Tar Heels were outscored 22-2 in their two home losses against the Wolfpack, ruining any chance they had of hosting a regional, or so most people thought.
No one inside the UNC clubhouse dwelled on those results. And that showed the next week at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, where Carolina reeled off four straight wins, each more convincing than the last, to claim the program's seventh ACC Tournament title and to earn a host spot.
That might not be meaningful as getting to Omaha, but it was a significant step in the journey there. So, too, was handling all the adversity they faced.
"I think it's exactly what you want," Dallas Tessar said. "As a team, I think you want to be tested. It gives you a chance to step back and go, 'OK, we can call it right now or we can take a step back, regroup and get back to playing good baseball.' And that's what we did. It's exciting to see that we're playing our best baseball right now."
There are many reasons why they are.
UNC has been among the best offensive teams in the country this season, ranking 20th nationally in scoring average (7.4) and on-base percentage (.397). Carolina has also clubbed 75 home runs, the third most in Fox's 21-season tenure, while drawing a school-record 388 walks.
Michael Busch and Aaron Sabato have been at the center of the team's offense all season. And in helping the Tar Heels score 61 runs in winning their first seven postseason games for the first time under Fox, the duo has hit a combined .351 (20-for-57) with seven homers, 11 RBIs and 12 walks. But UNC has also received steady contributions elsewhere in the lineup.
After hitting well over .300 through the first two months of the season, Ike Freeman entered the ACC Tournament batting .176 over his previous 19 games. But he's been locked in this postseason, hitting a team-best .429 (9-for-21) with nine RBIs and 12 walks. Only Ashton McGee has tallied more RBIs (10) this postseason. Then there's Tessar, who'd totaled just four hits and two RBIs entering the ACC Tournament but is 9-for-26 with five RBIs since then.
Fox could've highlighted any of those developments when a reporter asked him after Sunday's regional-clinching win over Tennessee about his team outscoring its postseason opponents, 61-23. But he didn't.
"Let's focus on the 23," Fox said. "Pitching and defense. That's why we're winning. I get the runs, but if we pitch and play defense, we're going to win. Most teams are going to win if they pitch and play defense.Â
"It's been shaky for us, but boy, it's showed up the last two days, especially."
Carolina ranks 146th nationally in fielding percentage (.968) and has played just as many games (18) with multiple errors as it has no errors. But four of those error-free games have come this postseason. Two came in the regional wins over Liberty and Tennessee.
"We've been preaching to these kids all year long, 'Just get a little more consistent defensively and make plays,'" Fox said. "… I just like the fact that we're making plays and playing defense. We can score some runs, but we have to win those low-scoring (games)."
The Tar Heels certainly have enough pitching to do so.
UNC's bullpen has been stellar this postseason. Across 37 1/3 innings, Carolina relievers have allowed just eight earned runs, good for a 1.93 ERA. Hansen Butler, Joey Lancellotti and Austin Love have been particularly effective, surrendering three total earned runs over 29 1/3 innings.
Selected by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of the MLB Draft on Monday, Baum (7-3, 3.95 ERA) has been the Tar Heels' most consistent starter with Friday ace Gianluca Dalatri lost to injury. Baum's continued success will go a long way toward determining the length of Carolina's NCAA Tournament run. Austin Bergner, however, might be the team's biggest difference-maker if he keeps pitching like he did against Tennessee on Sunday.Â
Entering that outing, Bergner, a ninth-round pick by the Detroit Tigers, hadn't made it out of the fourth inning in three of his previous four starts. But against the Volunteers, he showed how electric he can be, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out eight in seven innings.
"He's a warrior, he's a winner and I think he epitomizes what I said and what Dallas said – you just have to regroup," Fox said. "People can get down on you. … But we believe in him and he keeps working and we know at some point he's going to have to get the ball and get out on the mound and pitch well for us to win a championship.Â
"As long as he keeps believing and his teammates keep believing in him and we keep believing in him, that's all that matters."
No doubt.
