University of North Carolina Athletics
Easter Weekend Wrap-Up: April 10, 11, 12
April 12, 2020 | Baseball
April 10
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2007 for a midweek walkoff and to 2011 for something no Heels team had accomplished in 16 years. Plus quick hits from 2013, and a 2015 series opening win over N.C. State at the Bosh.
On April 10, 2007 the Heels were hosting one of Charlotte's best teams ever- we were 29-5 coming in but they weren't too far behind at 26-5.
The Heels got an early lead in the bottom of the 1st when Reid Fronk doubled to start it off and came around on a Dustin Ackley single. The 49ers came right back though and scored a pair in the 2nd to go ahead 2-1.Â
The deficit didn't last long. With an out in the 2nd Chad Flack and Kyle Seager hit back to back singles. After another out Benji Johnson singled in Chad and just like that the game was tied back up at 2.
The Niners again scored in the top of the 3rd to take a 3-2 lead. But in the bottom of the 4th Kyle Shelton singled with one out and Benji hit a double down the LF line to bring him around. That tied it up, and the game would remain tied for a long time.
After the initial pitching struggles for the Heels Matt Danford came in and threw 3.1 scoreless innings with a trio of strike outs. It was a good thing because from the 5th to the 7th a Chad Flack single was all the offense could summon.
Andrew Carignan came on with a runner on 3rd and 2 out in the 7th and struck out the Niners hitter to extinguish the threat. Then he threw a 1-2-3 8th and drew a double play after a 1 out single in the 9th to give the Heels a final chance to win the game in regulation.
In the bottom of the 9th Kyle Shelton got hit by the very first pitch of the inning. The Heels played small ball to try to get the run across- Mike Cavasinni pinch ran for Kyle and Benji Johnson bunted him over to 2nd. Reid Fronk followed by drawing a walk.
That put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out for Seth Williams. Seth did not play small ball. He bashed the first pitch he saw out of the park to left for a 3 run walk off home run and a 6-3 Heels win. That gave Andrew Carignan the win for his 2.1 innings of scoreless work where only one 49er reached base. Chad Flack and Dustin Ackley both had 3 hits, and Seth and Benji Johnson each had a a pair as well in the winning effort against a very strong opponent.
On April 10, 2011 the Heels were trying to do something they hadn't pulled off since 1995- winning a series in Tallahassee. Things didn't get off to a great start- with nobody out in the bottom of the 1st the Noles were already up 1-0 and still had the bases loaded.Â
Greg Holt came in to relieve. And he rose to the occasion. He struck out 2 batters and got a ground out from the last one to escape the inning with just the single run deficit. It would become obvious later just how important holding them to 1 in the 1st really was.
It was a 2-0 FSU lead as the Heels batted in the top of the 3rd. Tom Zengel drew a leadoff walk, and Seth Baldwin doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. A Ben Bunting single brought in Tom and kept runners on 1st and 3rd and a Levi Michael single brought in Seth to tie it and kept runners on 1st and 3rd as well.
Tommy Coyle singled to bring in Ben and give the Heels a 3-2 lead. There still weren't any outs. Jacob Stallings singled and the ball was misplayed in the outfield- that allowed Levi to score for a 4-2 advantage and left runners on 2nd and 3rd. That brought up Colin Moran and he made it 6 consecutive batters to get a hit with a single to right that scored Tommy and Jacob and made it 6-2.Â
After the Noles finally recorded an out Chaz Frank singled to move Colin to 3rd and in his second at bat of the inning Tom Zengel hit an RBI groundout to finish the inning with a 7-2 advantage.Â
Even with that big early lead there would be plenty of stress the rest of the day. FSU got runners on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the inning but Greg got a strike out on a full count to escape unscathed. In the 4th the Noles hit a lead off double but an unusual 3-6 double play on a liner erased the lead runner and kept the lead at 7-2.
In the 5th FSU did get a pair back to come within 7-4 but with 2 runners still on base Cody Stiles got the last out of the inning to prevent further damage. But in the 6th a 2 run blast reduced the lead to 7-6 and it did not feel like a good trajectory for the Heels, especially playing in Tallahassee where the Noles have a strong home field advantage.
But then Michael Morin came in with a runner on and no one out in the 7th. He struck out the first 2 hitters he faced and got a fly out from the 3rd to escape the threat. In the 8th FSU got a single with 1 out and another one with 2 outs to put a pair of runners on base but Michael struck out the last batter of the inning to get out of it.
And he kept getting better as he went along. In the bottom of the 9th he let the Noles do nothing- a ground out, a strike out, and another ground out ended the game with a 1-2-3 inning and Morin had a well earned save for his 3 innings of scoreless work and the Heels had accomplished something that no version of the team in a generation had.
Colin Moran ended up with 3 hits, including a double, and Ben Bunting, Tommy Coyle, and Jacob Stallings each had a pair of hits as well. Greg Holt got his 6th win of the season for a game that easily could have gotten out of hand in the 1st if not for his shutting things down with the bases loaded and nobody out.
That night I did something I've only ever done once and went to the Bosh at about midnight to provide a one man welcome party to the team when they arrived back from the trip. Even at the highest levels college baseball travel isn't too glamorous- after pulling off this huge series win the guys had to get on a commercial flight to Charlotte to connect for another one back home to Raleigh. So I figured after that long journey, and after winning 2 games in a row at FSU for the first series win since 1995, that they deserved a little extra token of appreciation for their efforts.
And a couple quick hits for April 10th:
-In 2013 Brian Holberton got the scoring going for the Heels against Liberty at the Bosh with a home run to lead off the 3rd. In the 5th Matt Campbell and Holbie drew walks to lead off the inning. Landon Lassiter attempted to bunt them over but the ball was misplayed and that loaded the bases for Colin Moran. Colin unloaded them in a hurry with a grand slam to left that made it 5-1.
In the 6th Tom Zengel singled, moved over on a wild pitch, and came around on another hit by Holbie to make it 6-1. And in the 7th the Heels loaded the bases on walks by Skye Bolt and Michael Russell and a single by Mike Zolk. That was followed by a wild pitch to make it 7-1 and the final score ended up being 7-5.
Reilly Hovis had a solid start, throwing 4.2 innings and allowing just 1 run. Trevor Kelley relieved him and threw 3.1 scoreless innings while allowing only 2 hits for the win. The 9th was a mess and after scoring 4 runs already Liberty still had the bases loaded with 2 out but Tate Parrish came in to get the last out of the game for the save. Brian Holberton, Colin Moran, and Mike Zolk all had a pair of hits and the win pushed the Heels to 31-2 on the season.Â
-In 2015 the Heels only got 3 hits in the opener of their series against State at the Bosh. But Zac Gallen was pitching so that was enough. Zac pitched the entire game and only allowed a single unearned run. It was one of those nights where he got better as he went along- all the State threats came in the first 6 innings. After a leadoff walk in the 7th, he set down the final 9 Wolfpack hitters of the game in order.
The Heels struck first in the 3rd when Brian Miller drew a walk and stole second and came around on a single by Tyler Ramirez. The Pack tied it in the 6th. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th Skye Bolt went deep to right and with Zac's great work on the mound that was all the Heels needed for a 2-1 win to open the series.
April 11
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2010 and 2015 for a pair of series clinching wins at the Bosh over State. Plus quick hits from 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2014.
In 2010 the Heels won the opener of their series against State 14-7. The next day was the year our spring football game was nationally televised and that drew out a huge crowd for baseball too, which made our 14-6 loss extra disappointing. It also dropped our ACC record to 5-9, putting us in the danger zone for even making the NCAA tournament after 4 straight years going to Omaha.
All of which is to say there was a lot on the line April 11th, 2010 when we took on the Wolfpack for the series. Chris Munnelly had a strong start for the Heels- he threw 4 scoreless innings before giving up a run in the 5th. Colin Bates came in with runners on 2nd and 3rd and got the final out to end the threat.
The Heels finally got things going in the 6th. Mike Cavasinni hit a lead off single and Ben Bunting followed with a single as well. A Levi Michael single brought Cavi around and then Brian Goodwin hit into a FC that left runners on the corners with 2 out. Goody's ability on the base paths then helped make things happen- he stole 2nd base and the flustered Wolfpack pitcher proceeded to balk to bring in Ben and give the Heels a 2-1 lead.
In the 7th though State scored a couple runs to get the lead right back before Michael Morin came in with a runner on 3rd and got the last out of the inning to strand him there.
In the bottom of the 7th the Heels exploded. Tommy Coyle hit a lead off triple but then the next 2 hitters made outs and it seemed like the opportunity might get squandered. But Mike Cavasinni got hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners and Ben Bunting singled to bring in Tommy and tie the game.
Coach Jesse Wierzbicki followed with the big blow, a double down the LF line that brought in both Cavi and Ben to make it 5-3. Levi Michael singled to bring in Wierz and all the sudden it was 6-3.
The Heels scored the final 2 runs of the inning thanks largely to aggressive running on the base paths. Levi stole 2nd and an error on the play let him get to 3rd. Brian Goodwin drew a walk and he stole 2nd too. Dillon Hazlett put the ball in play and another State error brought Levi around and left runners on the corners. Then we executed one of Coach Fox's favorite plays- Dillon broke for 2nd and got caught up in a rundown and while they were worrying about him Goody broke for home and scored to make it a 6 run inning and an 8-3 Heels lead.
Michael Morin threw a scoreless 8th and in the bottom half Tommy Coyle drew a walk and came around on a double by Jacob Stallings to push the lead to 9-3. It turned out we could use all the runs we could get because things got dicey in the top of the 9th.Â
The Pack scored 3 runs and had runners on the corners with 2 out. The Heels brought in Garrett Davis with the tying run at the plate and he coaxed a grounder to short to end the game and give the Heels a big series win. He got the save and Michael Morin pushed his record on the season to 5-0. Levi Michael had 3 hits, and Jacob Stallings, Ben Bunting, and Tommy Coyle each had a pair of hits as well. That gave the Heels their second straight series win after losing the first 3 ACC weekends and set them on and  better course for the rest of the season.
On April 11, 2015 the Heels were trying to clinch the series against State after winning 2-1 Friday night thanks to a complete game Zac Gallen masterpiece.Â
The pitching was almost as good Saturday. JB Bukauskas only allowed 1 batter to reach in the first 3 innings before State took a 1-0 lead on a solo home run in the 4th. The Heels responded quickly. Zack Gahagan got things started with a single in the 4th. He moved to 2nd on a wild pitch and then Joe Dudek hit one right back up the middle to bring him around and tie it up.
In the top of the 5th the Pack hit another solo home run to go back ahead 2-1, and once again the Heels responded quickly. In the bottom half Korey Dunbar reached on an error and moved to 2nd on a bunt by Logan Warmoth. After another out Skye Bolt came up with 2 down. He worked the count full and on the 7th pitch of the at bat singled to center to bring Korey around and tie it back up at 2.
JB threw a scoreless 6th and got the first out of the 7th before exiting after throwing 6.1 innings and allowing just 4 hits.
In came Trevor Kelley, or as I thought of him that season, Every Day Trevor. He appeared in 41 of 58 games and threw 77.2 innings. To put that level of work in perspective, it would extrapolate to throwing 217 innings in relief over the course of a 162 big league season- the all time record is 208 innings for Mike Marshall with the Dodgers in 1974. Trevor's unique pitching style made it safe for him to throw that much and it's a good thing he did because he was almost always effective.
On this particular night he came in with an out in the 7th and pitched all the way through the game's conclusion in extra innings. Only one more State batter- on a HBP- reached base for the entire remainder of the game.
As the game proceeded the Heels were getting their chances to take a lead and just not quite getting over the hump. In the 7th Korey Dunbar singled to lead off the inning and made it over to 3rd before getting left there. In the 9th Joe Dudek and Eli Sutherland walked back to back to lead off the inning but ended up not advancing further.Â
There's actually a pretty detailed methodology to the cheerleading I do at the Bosh that I've refined based on experience over the years and one of the biggest conclusions I've come to is that the most important time for the crowd to be really loud is when the opposing pitcher is struggling with his control in a high leverage situation. Crowds are most useful to their home team not when they cheer for something that already happened, but when they cheer to help *make* something happen. The bottom of the 10th helped provide one of those moments.
Skye Bolt led off the inning and worked a full count before drawing a walk.
Then Landon Lassiter worked a full count and drew a walk.
Then Tyler Ramirez came up and drew his walk on only 5 pitches. Bases loaded.
There are usually only 1 or 2 times a year that the entire crowd at the Bosh gets on its feet screaming during the middle of game play and it's even rarer for it to happen any time other than June. But once the bases were loaded we got the entire stadium up on its feet screaming, a moment where our home crowd was as good as any in the country.
And on the third pitch of the at bat the State pitcher- already struggling with his control and with 4,000 people screaming at him- hit Zack Gahagan for the walk off 3-2 Heels win that won both the game and the series. I was proud of our crowd that night.
Trevor Kelley was the hero- 3.2 innings, no hits, no walks for the win. JB's start put us in a position to be able to win. And our hitters in the 10th- especially Zack who sacrificed his body- were patient and took what the Pack gave them instead of forcing anything. We only had 8 hits over the first 2 nights of the series. But we had 2 wins anyway.
Finally some April 11th quick hits:
-In 2008 the Heels kicked off a weekend series at Clemson with an 8-2 win...although the game didn't finish until the next day. The Heels built a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the 6th when the rains came. I was there and was quite impressed with the sound track of songs about rain that the Tigers had compiled, they had at least an hour's worth of rain content without having to repeat anything, they might have kept us there all that time even if they knew the game wasn't going to resume just so we could listen to their whole rain tape!
Alex White threw 5.2 scoreless innings and only allowed 1 hit while striking out 6. Brian Moran replaced him when the game resumed the next day and Rob Wooten closed it out with 1.1 scoreless innings. Dustin Ackley hit a 3 run HR and 4 Heels had multi hit games- Kyle Shelton (a pair of doubles, he both drove in and scored a pair), Mark Fleury (who reached all 5 times up, he also drew 3 walks), Kyle Seager, and Seth Williams.
-In 2009 the Heels played a then very rare regular season game on national TV in Tallahassee and made the most of it with a 12-7 win. Ben Bunting had 3 hits and 5 other guys had multi hit days- Jacob Stallings (including a double that was one of his first really big hits after getting off to a slow start his freshman year), Ryan Graepel (including a double and a pair of RBI's), Mike Cavasinni (including 3 RBI's and 2 runs scored), Mark Fleury, and Garrett Gore. Adam Warren started and threw 6.1 innings for the win.
-In 2012 the Heels were coming off getting swept at Miami and really needed a win to build some confidence before heading back out on the road to Virginia that weekend. They beat UNC-Asheville 10-5. Hobbs Johnson started and threw 3.1 no hit innings, striking out 6, for his second win of the season in a pre determined staff outing. Shane Taylor threw 1.2 scoreless innings and Cody Penny and Michael Morin each threw a scoreless inning as well before Mason McCullough got the last 2 outs of the game.Â
Cody Stubbs had a pair of hits including a home run. Parks Jordan drove in 4 runs, Chaz Frank and Michael Russell each drove in a pair of runs, and Adam Griffin had a double. That game helped get us right back on track.
-And in 2014 Trent Thornton opened up the weekend at the Bosh against Wake Forest with one of his typical masterpieces. He threw 8 shutout innings, struck out 10, and only allowed 2 hits. Trevor Kelley threw a 1-2-3 9th to close out the 9-0 win.
The big blow was a Tyler Ramirez grand slam that was actually the first home run of his Tar Heel career. That was 1 of 2 hits on the day for him, making him 1 of 3 Heels with a multi hit game along with Wood Myers (including a double) and Parks Jordan. Korey Dunbar also drove in a pair of runs in the easy win.Â
April 12
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2008 for something no Tar Heel team had ever accomplished before and to 2011 for a midweek rivalry win at the Bosh. Plus quick hits from 2006, 2013, 2014, and 2019.
When the Heels went to Clemson in 2008 they were trying to do something the program had never done before- win a weekend series at Clemson. This was not exactly a futility on par with the Clemson basketball team in Chapel Hill- the ACC only started playing 3 game weekend series in 1990- but we were still 0 and 8 since then. (For most of the ACC's history teams just played single games home and home for conference play and you only had 12-14 ACC games out of a 50 plus game overall schedule.)
The Heels won Friday night 8-2 and had the opportunity Saturday April 12, 2008 to break the streak. They got right to it. In the 1st Kyle Shelton reached on an error with 1 out, and then Chad Flack drew a 2 out walk. That brought Kyle Seager up to the plate, and he knocked one out of the park to right and just like that the Heels led 3-0.
Clemson got a couple back in the bottom of the inning and after that the game pretty much settled into a pitching duel. Adam Warren was on the bump for the Heels and threw a scoreless 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.Â
In the top of the 5th Kyle hit another bomb to right and got the lead back to 4-2. Clemson got the run back in the bottom half and the Heels turned it over to the bullpen.Â
Rob Catapano came in first and threw 1.1 scoreless innings. Colin Bates was next- in the 7th the Tigers got runners on the corners with nobody out thanks to a pair of Tar Heel errors. He proceeded to draw a popout, a strikeout, and a lineout to leave them there and preserve the 4-3 lead.
Colin threw a scoreless 8th to finish the day with 2.2 scoreless innings and 4 strike outs. Tim Federowicz came in for the 9th and got the first 2 outs with a walk wedged in between. Brian Moran came in with the tying run on 2nd and drew a harmless grounder to 1st to escape the threat and get the Heels their elusive first ever series win in Clemson.
Rob Catapano got the win, Brian earned his first save of the season, and Kyle Seager's 2 home runs gave the Heels all the offense they needed- Kyle Shelton, Seth Williams, and Dustin Ackley each had a pair of hits as well.
On April 12, 2011 the Heels were coming off their big series win in Tallahassee the previous weekend and hoping to keep the momentum going as they hosted ECU at the Bosh.
The Heels got it going right away in the bottom of the 1st. Levi Michael tripled and with 2 outs Jacob Stallings drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Colin Moran singled through the right side to bring in Levi and make it 1-0.
Coach Bryant Gaines started for the Heels and threw 4 scoreless innings to begin the game, while striking out 4. In the 4th the Heels got a couple more. Colin hit another single and Jesse Wierzbicki and Chaz Frank both reached on errors to bring him around. With 2 outs Seth Baldwin singled to bring in Wierz and give the Heels a 3-0 lead.
The Pirates tied it in the 5th. Chris Munnelly came in with a runner on 1st in the 6th and got the last 2 outs of the inning to strand him. RC Orlan got the first 2 outs of the 7th and with a runner on 1st Michael Morin came in and retired the last hitter of the inning.
In the bottom of the 7th the Heels rallied. Ben Bunting reached on an error to lead off the inning and Levi Michael followed with a single. Tommy Coyle hit a grounder that should have been a FC that left runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out but instead another Pirate error allowed Ben to come all the way around and score and leave runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out.Â
Jacob Stallings dropped down a bunt and not only moved the runners over but was safe at 1st himself thanks to his blazing speed to load the bases. Jesse Wierzbicki hit a sac fly to bring in Levi and make it 5-3.
In the 8th Michael Morin got himself in a little trouble, allowing the Pirates to get runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 down thanks to a double and a single. And he got himself right out of trouble, striking out the next ECU hitter to end the inning.Â
Morin didn't allow any further suspense to build in the 9th. He struck out the first hitter. He got a ground out from the second hitter. And he struck out the final batter for a 1-2-3 inning to close it out. His 2.1 scoreless innings and 4 strikeouts gave him the win and pushed the Heels' record on the season to 30-5. Levi Michael had 3 hits and Colin Moran a pair to lead the Heels offense.
Quick hits from 2006, 2013, 2014, and 2019:
-In 2006 the Heels went to Charlotte and won 14-6. Chad Flack drove in 5 runs on a double and a single, and Jay Cox drove in 3 on a double and a single. They were 2 of 4 players with multi hit games- Mike Cavasinni had 3 hits in his Mecklenburg County homecoming game and drove in a pair of runs and scored a pair, and Benji Johnson had 2 hits, 2 RBI's, and 2 runs. Reid Fronk scored 4 runs in the game without tallying a hit- he reached 5 times anyway on 3 walks and 2 HBP. Matt Danford threw 2 scoreless innings for the win.
-In 2013 the Heels kicked off what would become a heated weekend series at Virginia Tech with a 21-8 win. Chaz Frank (including a HR and 4 RBI) and Brian Holberton (including a double and 5 runs) each had 4 hits. Colin Moran had 3 hits, including a double, and drove in 4 runs and scored 3. Cody Stubbs (including a home run and 3 RBI), Matt Roberts (including a double and 2 RBI), and Michael Russell (including 3 runs and 2 RBI) made it 6 Heels with multi hit games. Kent Emanuel threw 8 innings for the win and Shane Taylor finished it off with a scoreless 9th.
-In 2014 the Heels clinched their series against Wake Forest with a 4-3 win at the Bosh. Benton Moss threw 6.1 solid innings but exited with the game tied. Zach Rice came in with a couple runners on base in the 7th and forced a double play to get out of the inning. In the bottom half Adrian Chacon hit a lead off double and was pinch run for by Adam Pate. Adam moved to 3rd on a single by Tyler Ramirez and came around on a sac fly by Michael Russell to give the Heels a 4-3 lead.Â
That ended up being all they needed- Reilly Hovis came in in the 8th and threw 2 scoreless hitless innings to close it out, including striking out the side in the 9th. Zach got the win, Reilly got the save, and the Heels had their second straight series win bouncing back from a disappointing sweep at Duke at the end of March. Skye Bolt had a pair of RBI's on a sac fly and a ground out and Tom Zengel hit an RBI single to round out the Tar Heel scoring.
-In 2019 the Heels didn't spend any time messing around at Notre Dame, scoring 4 runs in both the 1st and 2nd inning on their way to a 10-1 win to open up the series. Aaron Sabato had 3 hits, including a home run and a double, and drove in 3 runs and scored 2 to lead the offense. Brandon Martorano also had 3 hits, including a double, and Danny Serretti (including a home run) and Dallas Tessar had multi hit games as well. Dylan Harris added a 2 run homer.
Tyler Baum threw 6 innings, striking out 7 and allowing only 2 hits, for the win. And Andrew Grogan and Josh Dotson combined for 3 scoreless innings to close out the victory.Â
