University of North Carolina Athletics
Zack Gahagan homered in the seventh inning
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: April 22
April 22, 2020 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILLÂ - North Carolina will begin to look at "On This Day in Tar Heel History", as Tom Jensen will share his memories as an avid Tar Heel fan and regular at Boshamer Stadium.Â
April 22
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2015 and 2018 for an extra innings win in Wilmington and the completion of a big sweep in Chapel Hill.
UNC Wilmington always has a great baseball team and 2015 was one of their especially good teams. They won the CAA Tournament and finished 2nd in the Baton Rouge regional.
At first though when we headed down there on April 22, 2015 it seemed like it was going to be a pretty smooth game. Brian Miller singled to lead it off, Skye Bolt drew a walk, Landon Lassiter bunted them both over, and Korey Dunbar singled them both in to make it 2-0 just like that.
After the Seahawks got one back in the bottom of the 1st Zack Gahagan walked with an out in the 2nd. Brian got his second single in as many innings to move him over, and Skye singled to bring Zack home. Brian moved to 3rd on a wild pitch and Landon hit a sac fly to bring him in and make it 4-1.
In the top of the 3rd the Heels kept building the lead. Tyler Ramirez singled, Joe Dudek walked, and an Eli Sutherland double scored a run for a big 5-1 early advantage.
But then Wilmington got 3 runs in the 3rd. And another one in the 4th. And just like that the game was tied at 5. After that early blast of offense a pitching duel commenced.
Hansen Butler came on to pitch with a couple runners on base in the 5th and 2 out and struck out the Seahawk batter to end the threat. Then he threw a scoreless 6th. And a scoreless 7th. And got the first 2 outs in the 8th, exiting after 3 scoreless innings where he struck out 5.
Hansen was coming up with huge outings on the mound for the Heels just last year too. It says a lot about his perseverance and character that he was helping us win games in 2015 and helping us win games in 2019 with everything that happened in between.
Zach Rice came on with a runner on 2nd in the 8th and struck out the Seahawk batter. Then he struck out the side in the 9th too and the game moved on to extra innings.
In the bottom of the 10th Wilmington got a leadoff single. After an out he stole second, and the next hitter walked. A groundout moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd and another walk loaded the bases, putting the Heels on the brink of defeat. But Trent Thornton got a groundout to end the threat and the game moved on to the 11th.
Trent threw a 1-2-3 11th. In the top of the 12th Tyler Ramirez hit a leadoff single. He moved to 2nd on a bunt by Korey Dunbar, took 3rd on a wild pitch, and came around with the go ahead run on...a balk. Take them where you can get them! The Heels led 6-5.
There was still some more stress to come in the bottom half of the inning. The Seahawks got a 2 out walk. And then he stole 2nd. And then he stole 3rd. The game was one wild pitch away from being tied again. The hitter worked a full count but Trent finally struck him out to finish the win, 4 hours and 57 minutes after the game started.Â
Trent really earned the win- 2.2 scoreless innings, no hits. And this game speaks to the versatility of his career- he got us wins starting in Omaha, he got us wins relieving in the middle of the week in Wilmington. Brian Miller had 3 hits and Skye Bolt and Tyler Ramirez each had a pair. The team didn't get back to Chapel Hill until close to 2 AM but it was a happy ride home.
On April 22, 2018 the Heels were riding high off their big comeback victory the day before to win their first ever series against Georgia Tech at the new Bosh and hoping to make it a sweep.
Jackson Hesterlee got the start after his huge pinch hit grand slam the previous day and set the table in the 2nd by drawing a walk. He moved to 2nd on a wild pitch and Cody Roberts doubled to bring him home and make it 1-0. With 2 outs Zack Gahagan worked a full count, fouled off a bunch of pitches, and on the 9th pitch of the at bat singled to center to bring home Cody and make it 2-0.
Cooper Criswell was on the bump and his first time through the Jackets order he set them down 9 in a row. Michael Busch hit a home run to lead off the bottom half of the 3rd and make it 3-0.
The Jackets got one back in the 4th but Cooper followed it up with a scoreless 5th, 6th, and 7th. He finished his day having thrown 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits and a walk, and striking out 5. That was only his second weekend in the rotation but after that great outing he went on Fridays for the rest of the year.Â
In the bottom of the 7th the Heels really blew it open. Brandon Martorano drew a leadoff walk and Zack Gahagan followed it by going deep to make it 5-1.
Dallas Tessar then reached on an error, Michael Busch walked, and Kyle Datres laid down a bunt and beat it out for a hit to load the bases.
A Brandon Riley sac fly scored Dallas and moved Michael to 3rd, after which Kyle stole 2nd to get two runners back in scoring position. Ike Freeman doubled to bring them both in and make it 8-1.
We were not done! Jackson Hesterlee singled, moving Ike over to 3rd. Cody Roberts came up and doubled to bring in another pair of runs and push the lead to 10-1.
The Jackets got a couple runs in the 8th but Brett Daniels threw a 1-2-3 9th, including a pair of strike outs, to finish the 10-3 Heels win.
It was the first time the Heels had swept the Yellow Jackets since 1996. As amazing as all the accomplishments of the string of teams that went to Omaha from 2006-2013 were, this was one accomplishment the 2018 Diamond Heels could claim all for their own.
Zack Gahagan (including a home run and 3 RBI), Cody Roberts (a pair of doubles and 3 RBI), Ike Freeman (including a double and 2 RBI), Jackson Hesterlee (who also had a pair of walks to reach all 4 times he came up), and Kyle Datres each had a pair of hits in the winning effort.
And quick hits from 2007, 2008, and 2017:
-In 2007 the Heels had 20 hits and beat Florida State 10-6 to avoid a sweep in Tallahassee. Seth Williams led the way with 4 hits. Dustin Ackley (including a double), Josh Horton (including 3 RBI), and Benji Johnson each had 3 hits. Kyle Seager (including a double and 3 RBI) and Reid Fronk (including 3 runs) each had a pair of hits. And Chad Flack had a double.
Luke Putkonen started and threw 5.2 innings for the win. Tim Federowicz got his second save of the season- showing off his 2 way skills- with 1.1 scoreless innings to close it out.
-Last week I wrote about an intense back and forth affair against Charlotte in Cary in 2008 that the Heels finally walked off in extra innings. The next week they returned the visit to Charlotte...and played a slightly different sort of game, winning 17-0!
Kyle Shelton led the way for the Heels with 4 hits. Dustin Ackley (including a home run and a pair of walks to reach all 5 times he came up), Tim Fedroff (including 3 runs and 2 RBI), and Kyle Seager (including 2 runs and 2 RBI) each had a trio of hits. Seth Williams (including a home run and a double, 3 RBI and 3 runs), Tim Federowicz (including a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs), and Greg Holt (including 2 RBI) each had a pair of hits. A double by Garrett Gore and hits by Mark Fleury and Mike McKee made it 22 for the Heels on the day.
Which wasn't all that necessary, because the pitching was just as good! 5 Heels pitchers combined on a 4 hit shutout in the prearranged  staff day. Rob Catapano started and got the win for his 2.2 scoreless innings, pushing his season record to 4-0. After him Rob Wooten went 1.1 innings, Patrick Johnson went 3, and coach Bryant Gaines and Ryan Leach closed it out with a scoreless inning each.Â
-In 2017 the Heels cliched the series at Pitt with a 3-1 victory that made it 7 winning weekends in a row to start ACC play and pushed the overall record to 16-4. Luca Dalatri threw a masterpiece, going 8.2 innings, allowing just 3 hits, and surrendering his only run with 2 outs in the 9th. Josh Hiatt came on and struck out the final hitter of the game for his 12th save of the season.
The Heels actually got no hit for 7 innings and only had 3 hits on the day- but luckily they all came together in the 8th. Brandon Riley singled, Cody Roberts got hit by a pitch, and Tyler Lynn singled to load the bases with nobody out. It looked like the Heels were going to break open the scoreless game.
But a pop out and a strikeout followed and it quickly shifted to looking like a huge opportunity was going to be squandered. But the Heels got a break with a passed ball that brought home Brandon to make it 1-0, and then Brian Miller doubled to left to bring the others home and give the Heels the 3 runs they needed to win the game.Â
April 22
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2015 and 2018 for an extra innings win in Wilmington and the completion of a big sweep in Chapel Hill.
UNC Wilmington always has a great baseball team and 2015 was one of their especially good teams. They won the CAA Tournament and finished 2nd in the Baton Rouge regional.
At first though when we headed down there on April 22, 2015 it seemed like it was going to be a pretty smooth game. Brian Miller singled to lead it off, Skye Bolt drew a walk, Landon Lassiter bunted them both over, and Korey Dunbar singled them both in to make it 2-0 just like that.
After the Seahawks got one back in the bottom of the 1st Zack Gahagan walked with an out in the 2nd. Brian got his second single in as many innings to move him over, and Skye singled to bring Zack home. Brian moved to 3rd on a wild pitch and Landon hit a sac fly to bring him in and make it 4-1.
In the top of the 3rd the Heels kept building the lead. Tyler Ramirez singled, Joe Dudek walked, and an Eli Sutherland double scored a run for a big 5-1 early advantage.
But then Wilmington got 3 runs in the 3rd. And another one in the 4th. And just like that the game was tied at 5. After that early blast of offense a pitching duel commenced.
Hansen Butler came on to pitch with a couple runners on base in the 5th and 2 out and struck out the Seahawk batter to end the threat. Then he threw a scoreless 6th. And a scoreless 7th. And got the first 2 outs in the 8th, exiting after 3 scoreless innings where he struck out 5.
Hansen was coming up with huge outings on the mound for the Heels just last year too. It says a lot about his perseverance and character that he was helping us win games in 2015 and helping us win games in 2019 with everything that happened in between.
Zach Rice came on with a runner on 2nd in the 8th and struck out the Seahawk batter. Then he struck out the side in the 9th too and the game moved on to extra innings.
In the bottom of the 10th Wilmington got a leadoff single. After an out he stole second, and the next hitter walked. A groundout moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd and another walk loaded the bases, putting the Heels on the brink of defeat. But Trent Thornton got a groundout to end the threat and the game moved on to the 11th.
Trent threw a 1-2-3 11th. In the top of the 12th Tyler Ramirez hit a leadoff single. He moved to 2nd on a bunt by Korey Dunbar, took 3rd on a wild pitch, and came around with the go ahead run on...a balk. Take them where you can get them! The Heels led 6-5.
There was still some more stress to come in the bottom half of the inning. The Seahawks got a 2 out walk. And then he stole 2nd. And then he stole 3rd. The game was one wild pitch away from being tied again. The hitter worked a full count but Trent finally struck him out to finish the win, 4 hours and 57 minutes after the game started.Â
Trent really earned the win- 2.2 scoreless innings, no hits. And this game speaks to the versatility of his career- he got us wins starting in Omaha, he got us wins relieving in the middle of the week in Wilmington. Brian Miller had 3 hits and Skye Bolt and Tyler Ramirez each had a pair. The team didn't get back to Chapel Hill until close to 2 AM but it was a happy ride home.
On April 22, 2018 the Heels were riding high off their big comeback victory the day before to win their first ever series against Georgia Tech at the new Bosh and hoping to make it a sweep.
Jackson Hesterlee got the start after his huge pinch hit grand slam the previous day and set the table in the 2nd by drawing a walk. He moved to 2nd on a wild pitch and Cody Roberts doubled to bring him home and make it 1-0. With 2 outs Zack Gahagan worked a full count, fouled off a bunch of pitches, and on the 9th pitch of the at bat singled to center to bring home Cody and make it 2-0.
Cooper Criswell was on the bump and his first time through the Jackets order he set them down 9 in a row. Michael Busch hit a home run to lead off the bottom half of the 3rd and make it 3-0.
The Jackets got one back in the 4th but Cooper followed it up with a scoreless 5th, 6th, and 7th. He finished his day having thrown 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits and a walk, and striking out 5. That was only his second weekend in the rotation but after that great outing he went on Fridays for the rest of the year.Â
In the bottom of the 7th the Heels really blew it open. Brandon Martorano drew a leadoff walk and Zack Gahagan followed it by going deep to make it 5-1.
Dallas Tessar then reached on an error, Michael Busch walked, and Kyle Datres laid down a bunt and beat it out for a hit to load the bases.
A Brandon Riley sac fly scored Dallas and moved Michael to 3rd, after which Kyle stole 2nd to get two runners back in scoring position. Ike Freeman doubled to bring them both in and make it 8-1.
We were not done! Jackson Hesterlee singled, moving Ike over to 3rd. Cody Roberts came up and doubled to bring in another pair of runs and push the lead to 10-1.
The Jackets got a couple runs in the 8th but Brett Daniels threw a 1-2-3 9th, including a pair of strike outs, to finish the 10-3 Heels win.
It was the first time the Heels had swept the Yellow Jackets since 1996. As amazing as all the accomplishments of the string of teams that went to Omaha from 2006-2013 were, this was one accomplishment the 2018 Diamond Heels could claim all for their own.
Zack Gahagan (including a home run and 3 RBI), Cody Roberts (a pair of doubles and 3 RBI), Ike Freeman (including a double and 2 RBI), Jackson Hesterlee (who also had a pair of walks to reach all 4 times he came up), and Kyle Datres each had a pair of hits in the winning effort.
And quick hits from 2007, 2008, and 2017:
-In 2007 the Heels had 20 hits and beat Florida State 10-6 to avoid a sweep in Tallahassee. Seth Williams led the way with 4 hits. Dustin Ackley (including a double), Josh Horton (including 3 RBI), and Benji Johnson each had 3 hits. Kyle Seager (including a double and 3 RBI) and Reid Fronk (including 3 runs) each had a pair of hits. And Chad Flack had a double.
Luke Putkonen started and threw 5.2 innings for the win. Tim Federowicz got his second save of the season- showing off his 2 way skills- with 1.1 scoreless innings to close it out.
-Last week I wrote about an intense back and forth affair against Charlotte in Cary in 2008 that the Heels finally walked off in extra innings. The next week they returned the visit to Charlotte...and played a slightly different sort of game, winning 17-0!
Kyle Shelton led the way for the Heels with 4 hits. Dustin Ackley (including a home run and a pair of walks to reach all 5 times he came up), Tim Fedroff (including 3 runs and 2 RBI), and Kyle Seager (including 2 runs and 2 RBI) each had a trio of hits. Seth Williams (including a home run and a double, 3 RBI and 3 runs), Tim Federowicz (including a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs), and Greg Holt (including 2 RBI) each had a pair of hits. A double by Garrett Gore and hits by Mark Fleury and Mike McKee made it 22 for the Heels on the day.
Which wasn't all that necessary, because the pitching was just as good! 5 Heels pitchers combined on a 4 hit shutout in the prearranged  staff day. Rob Catapano started and got the win for his 2.2 scoreless innings, pushing his season record to 4-0. After him Rob Wooten went 1.1 innings, Patrick Johnson went 3, and coach Bryant Gaines and Ryan Leach closed it out with a scoreless inning each.Â
-In 2017 the Heels cliched the series at Pitt with a 3-1 victory that made it 7 winning weekends in a row to start ACC play and pushed the overall record to 16-4. Luca Dalatri threw a masterpiece, going 8.2 innings, allowing just 3 hits, and surrendering his only run with 2 outs in the 9th. Josh Hiatt came on and struck out the final hitter of the game for his 12th save of the season.
The Heels actually got no hit for 7 innings and only had 3 hits on the day- but luckily they all came together in the 8th. Brandon Riley singled, Cody Roberts got hit by a pitch, and Tyler Lynn singled to load the bases with nobody out. It looked like the Heels were going to break open the scoreless game.
But a pop out and a strikeout followed and it quickly shifted to looking like a huge opportunity was going to be squandered. But the Heels got a break with a passed ball that brought home Brandon to make it 1-0, and then Brian Miller doubled to left to bring the others home and give the Heels the 3 runs they needed to win the game.Â
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