University of North Carolina Athletics
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: April 20
April 20, 2020 | Baseball
April 20
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2013 and 2019 for a pair of ACC series at the Bosh won all in one day! Plus quick hits from 2008, 2014, 2016, and 2018.
On April 20, 2013 the Heels swept a double header at the Bosh against Duke thanks to a pair of masterful pitching performances from Kent Emanuel and Benton Moss.
In the top of the 1st the Devils got a couple runners on base thanks to a hit and walk before Kent retired the side. That proved to be half their base runners for the game.Â
In the bottom of the inning Chaz Frank walked and stole 2nd, Colin Moran got hit by a pitch, and Cody Stubbs walked to load the bases. Michael Russell got hit by a pitch to bring in Chaz and a wild pitch brought in Colin and the Heels led 2-0 without even getting a hit.
Kent threw a 1-2-3 2nd. And a 1-2-3 3rd. Duke got a runner on on an error in the 4th but that was it.
In the bottom of the inning Matt Roberts doubled, moved to 3rd on a deep fly ball by Chaz Frank, and came around on a passed ball to make it 3-0.
Kent threw a 1-2-3 5th and struck out the side.
In the bottom half the Heels finally got their first run on a ball actually put in play of the day with a Brian Holberton solo shot to lead off the inning. Michael Russell had his second rally building HBP of the day, Mike Zolk singled him to 3rd, and Parks Jordan brought him around on a sac fly to make it 5-0.
Kent threw a 1-2-3 6th. In the bottom half Chaz Frank singled, stole 2nd, got to 3rd on an error on the play, and came home on a Landon Lassiter ground out to build the lead to 6–0.
Duke got a solo home run to lead off the 7th. After that Kent retired the side in order.
In the bottom half Michael Russell doubled and Chaz Frank singled to get the run right back and make it 7-1.
Kent threw a 1-2-3 8th. And a 1–2-3 9th to close it out. Complete game. 2 hits. 1 walk. 8 strike outs. And managed to do it in 102 pitches.Â
When I think about the possibility of the MLB season getting cancelled the aspect of it that makes me saddest is thinking about everyone who would have made their big league debut and won't get the chance.Â
Last year Kent went 8-2 with a 3.90 ERA in the Pacific Coast League which is a dreadful league for pitchers, meaning that ERA is more impressive than it might sound off hand. The Astros added Kent to their 40 man roster in the off season and I felt like this year he really had a chance of making it to the show.Â
He deserves it- one of the best pitchers in the history of this program and even more so one of the best people in the history of this program. I hope the virus won't keep Kent and the other Kents around baseball from getting the shot they've worked so hard for so long to get.Â
Brian Holberton had 2 doubles and a home run and scored 3 times and Chaz Frank had a pair of hits in the winning effort.
Duke was probably glad in the second game to be done with Kent but things didn't go much better for them with Benton Moss. He threw a 1-2-3 1st and in the bottom of the inning Chaz Frank doubled, Landon Lassiter singled, and Colin Moran got hit to load the bases with nobody out. A ground out from Brian Holberton brought home Chaz and a ground out from Coby Stubbs brought home Landon and the Heels led 2-0.
Duke hit a solo home run to lead off the 2nd. It concluded their scoring for the evening. Benton retired the side in order after that. And then threw a scoreless 3rd. And a scoreless 4th. And a scoreless 5th. And a scoreless 6th.
In the bottom of the 6th the Heels finally extended the lead when Michael Russell reached 2nd on an error, went to 3rd on a wild pitch, and came around on a single by Parks Jordan to make it 3-1.Â
Benton got the first couple outs of the 7th before giving way to Chris McCue. His final line was 6.2 innings, just 1 run allowed on 5 hits, and 6 strike outs. The eventual win pushed his record on the season to 7-0.
The Heels got one more run in the 7th on a Landon Lassiter double, a Colin Moran ground out that advanced him, and a balk to make the final score of 4-1.
Chris McCue retired all 4 batters he faced and Trent Thornton threw a scoreless 9th for the save to wrap up the winning double header and the winning series. The pair of wins pushed the Heels to 38-2 on the season.Â
Landon Lassiter had 3 hits, including a double, Parks Jordan had a pair of hits, including a double, and Chaz Frank had a double. Those 6 hits were all the Heels got but with Benton's strong start and some good relief work behind him that was all they needed.Â
The 2013 double header started at 1 and ended at 8:49. The double header we played on April 20, 2019 also started at 1...but it didn't finish until after 11, possibly the longest continuous amount of time I've ever spent at the Bosh.
The opener of the Heels double header with Boston College was a back and forth affair. The Eagles got 1 in the 1st but we matched it in the bottom when Dylan Enwiller drew a leadoff walk, Michael Busch reached on an error, they both moved up on a passed ball, and Danny Serretti hit a ground ball to drive in Dylan.
The Eagles got 3 in the 2nd to take a 4-1 lead. But in the bottom of the 3rd Ashton McGee reached on an error and then Dylan Enwiller went deep to right to make it 4-3. On the very next pitch Michael Busch made it 2 bombs in 2 pitches with one to right center that tied the game up at 4.
After having a tough first couple of innings Tyler Baum really settled in for the Heels. He threw a scoreless 3rd, 4th, and 5th before exiting with 1 down in the 6th and a runner on 2nd. Caden O'Brien got the last couple outs of the inning.
Tyler left the game with the lead. In the bottom of the 5th Ashton McGee had drawn a lead off walk and gone to 3rd on a single by Dylan Enwiller. An Aaron Sabato grounder brought Ashton home and put the Heels up 5-4.
Austin Love came in and threw a scoreless 7th and in the bottom half Dallas Tessar walked, went to 2nd on an error by the pitcher, moved to 3rd on a wild pitch, and came home on an Ashton McGee sac fly to make it 6-4.
Austin threw a scoreless 8th and got the first out of the 9th and it looked like the Heels were in good shape. But then in the flash of an eye the Eagles got a single, walk, and home run all in a row to take a 7-6 lead.
Joey Lancellotti came in and got the last couple outs of the 9th, bringing the Heels to their final at bat. With 1 out Brandon Martorano drew a walk. Tom Caufield pinch ran for him, and moved to 3rd on a single by Jackson Hesterlee.Â
Ashton McGee walked to load the bases with 1 down and Clemente Inclan pinch hit and brought Tom around on a sac fly to tie the game at 7. Michael Busch drew a walk to reload the bases but the Heels couldn't get the winning run home and the game moved to extras.
Joey was lights out. He threw a 1-2-3 10th with a couple strikeouts and then threw a 1-2-3 11th as well, setting the Eagles down on just 7 pitches.
In the bottom of the 11th Angel Zarate hit a one out single. After another out Clem had his second big at bat in a row and singled to move Angel over to 2nd. Finally Michael Busch hit an infield single to the left side and both Eagle fielders just assumed the other was going to get it, allowing Angel to come home and give the Heels an 8-7 victory after 4 hours and 13 minutes.Â
Joey got a well deserved victory for 2.2 innings of outstanding scoreless relief. Michael Busch had 3 hits, including his home run, and Dylan Enwiller had a pair of hits as well including his own home run.Â
Game 1 was the quick game of the DH.Â
Austin Bergner threw a couple scoreless innings to start the second game before the Eagles got a run in the 3rd.
But after the bottom of the 3rd it didn't seem like the game would be too competitive. Dylan Enwiller reached on an error to lead off, Brandon Martorano walked, and Dylan Harris reached on a FC where everyone was safe to load the bases with nobody out.
A wild pitch brought home the first run of the inning and Michael Busch walked to reload the bases. Aaron Sabato drew a walk to bring Brandon home and give the Heels a 2-1 lead and that brought Danny Serretti to the plate. He hit a grand slam to RF to make it 6-1, an ostensibly comfortable lead.
After Austin threw a scoreless 4th the Heels added to it. Dylan Harris singled, Michael Busch and Aaron Sabato drew walks to load the bases, and a sac fly gave Danny Serretti another RBI and pushed the advantage to 7-1.
The Eagles clawed back a little with runs in the 5th and 6th to cut it to 7-3. But in the bottom of the 6th Michael Busch doubled and Danny Serretti singled to bring him around and make it 6 RBI on the day and get the lead back to 8-3.
The Eagles didn't go away. 4 runs in the 7th cut the deficit to 8-7. A pair of Heels runs without the benefit of any hits got the lead right back to 10-7 in the bottom half though. Jackson Hesterlee got hit by a pitch, Dylan Enwiller reached on an error, and Dylan Harris walked on a pitch that was so wild the runner came all the way around from 2nd to score. With 2 outs Aaron Sabato hit a ball to short that resulted in an error and another insurance run coming around.
But it wasn't enough insurance. The Eagles scored 1 in the 8th and a pair in the 9th to tie the game up at 10.
The Heels couldn't do anything in the bottom half and the game went to extra innings. BC got the lead off runner on in the 10th and eventually loaded the bases before Josh Dotson came on and got a huge strike out to escape the threat. The Eagles got a pair of runners on in the 11th inning as well but once again Josh got a huge strike out- this time of Twins manager Rocco Baldelli's much younger brother Dante- to end the threat.
In the bottom half Dylan Harris got hit by a pitch with 1 out. The next batter struck out but Aaron Sabato followed with a 2 out double to center that brought Dylan all the way around and- at 11 PM- gave the Heels their second walk off victory of the day.Â
This is the only DH in program history where both games went to extra innings. The games totaled 9 hours and 13 minutes, making it a little more like a triple header. But good things came to the few who stayed for the whole day and evening.
Josh got the win for his 1.1 innings of strong work to close it out, including a pair of big K's. Danny Serretti had 2 hits, including his grand slam, and drove in 6 runs. Aaron Sabato had a pair of hits as well, including his game winning double, and drove in a couple runs. Dylan Harris got on base and scored 3 times, including the game winner, and Dylan Enwiller and Michael Busch each scored a pair of runs as well.
The win made it 5 ACC series wins in 6 weekends after getting swept at Clemson in the conference opener, putting the team in a pretty good position for the stretch run.Â
And quick hits from 2008, 2014, 2016, and 2018:
-In 2008 the Heels finished their sweep of Boston College with an 8-2 win. Matt Harvey started and got the win for 5.1 innings of work where he allowed only 1 earned run and struck out 8. Brian Moran, Rob Wooten, and Nate Striz combined for 3.2 innings of scoreless work close it out.Â
Seth Williams had 3 hits for the Heels and Tim Federowicz (including a double), Garrett Gore (including 3 RBI), and Ben Bunting each had a pair of hits. The win pushed the Heels to 16-4 in ACC play.
-In 2014 the Heels avoided a sweep in Charlottesville with a 4-2 win on Easter Sunday. Zac Gallen got the win for 5.1 solid innings where he only allowed a couple runs but the real star of the afternoon was probably Reilly Hovis who came in with runners on corners and 1 out in the 6th...and retired the last 11 Hoo batters of the game in order to close it out. That's quite a save.
Michael Russell had 3 hits, including the big blow of the game, a towering 2 run blast to left in the 5th. Korey Dunbar (including a double), Parks Jordan, and Wood Myers each had a pair of hits as well.
-In 2016 the Heels pounded William&Mary 17-2 at the Bosh. Brian Miller (including a double, 3 RBI, and 4 runs), Cody Roberts (including a double), Brandon Riley (including 4 RBI) and Zack Gahagan (including 2 RBI and 2 runs), and Logan Warmoth (including 2 RBI) all had a pair of hits.Â
Cole Aker got the win with a couple innings of scoreless relief after Jason Morgan went 4 innings in a solid start. J.T. Rogoszewski and Brendon Little combined for 3 scoreless innings to close it out.
-In 2018 the Heels started out their series against Georgia Tech hoping to do something that remarkably they'd never done before- win a series against the Jackets at the new Bosh. They started the weekend strong, with a 9-3 victory. Kyle Datres had a key early 3 run homer, and Cody Roberts hit an inside the park version that brought in 2. Ike Freeman had a long ball as well. Dallas Tessar had 3 hits and Brandon Riley had a pair as well, including a triple.
Caden O'Brien got the win in relief and Joey Lancellotti, Brett Daniels, Hansen Butler, and Josh Hiatt combined for 4 shutout innings to close it out. This would prove to be the 'boring' game of what ended up being a memorable weekend.
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