This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: April 27

...dives across the plate with the winning run on a Tyler Ramirez SAC fly...

Michael Russell scores the winning run in the 2014 Va. Tech game

Photo by: Joe Bray

April 27, 2020 | Baseball

By: Tom Jensen

CHAPEL HILL - 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.

April 27
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2019 for a variety of last at bat victories- a series winner against a top 5 team, a walk off grand slam, a win at ECU, an ACC series sweep clincher, and an important Saturday equalizer. Plus quick hits from 2016 and 2018.

On April 27, 2008 the Heels and Florida State- both top 5 teams- were facing off for the series after splitting the first 2 games. The Heels were also trying to keep a streak going- they hadn't lost an ACC series to date, and they were 5-0 in games where they would have lost the series without a win.

It was quite a pitching duel. Matt Harvey was on the bump for the Heels and he threw a scoreless 1st- including striking out Buster Posey swinging. He threw a scoreless 2nd as well.

In the 3rd the Noles got a run, and still had the bases loaded with 1 out and Posey at the plate. Matt once again got the better of his future All Star Game teammate- a double play ended the inning.

Matt got a 1-2-3 4th and struck out the first 2 batters in the 5th before giving way to Brian Moran. He finished his day allowing only 1 hit and an unearned run in 4.2 innings of work.

Brian got the last out of the 5th, threw a 1-2-3 6th, and a scoreless 7th. The pitching had done an amazing job holding the Noles to 1 hit..but through 6 the Heels didn't have *any* hits. They'd had one base runner on an error who got extinguished on a double play and that was that.

Finally in the bottom of the 7th Dustin Ackley hit a leadoff single. But an unsuccessful bunt and a strike out still left a runner on 1st with 2 down. Chad Flack got hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd. And Kyle Seager got a huge 2 out single to left center to tie the game up at 1.

Brian Moran threw a scoreless 8th and finished his day with 3.1 scoreless innings. In the top of the 9th things got a little dicey- FSU got runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. But Rob Wooten got a couple of fly outs to end the threat.

The game went to extra innings and in the bottom of the 10th, after Rob threw a scoreless top of the inning, Chad Flack drew a leadoff walk. FSU finally took out its starting pitcher at that point- 9 innings, 2 hits, and only the 1 walk in the 10th.

Things went a lot better for the Heels after he exited. Kyle Seager singled again, moving Chad to 3rd. Runners on the corners, nobody out. They intentionally walked Tim Federowicz to load the bases.

I'm almost never a fan of intentionally loading the bases in a walkoff situation unless you have someone with like Greg Maddux control out there. Mark Fleury came up to bat. The USA Baseball Complex was rocking. Ball 1. Ball 2. Ball 3. Ball 4. Heels win. The poor FSU starter got the loss for his amazing outing.

Matt Harvey, Brian Moran, and Rob Wooten- who got the win- combined for an incredible day on the mound. 10 innings, no earned runs, 4 hits.

The Heels only had 3 hits but they all led to runs- the 2 for Kyle Seager and Dustin Ackley's to lead off the 7th. Chad Flack also contributed to both run scoring innings by reaching on a HBP and a walk.

The win pushed the Heels to 18-5 in ACC play, kept their streak of winning every series going, and made them 6-0 in games where losing the series was at risk. The Heels and Noles both went to Omaha 2 months later.

On April 27, 2010 the Heels were coming off their big series win at Clemson the weekend before and needed to keep on winning to get on the right side of the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. High Point took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd and Michael Morin came in with the bases loaded and got the last out of the inning to end the threat. Then he threw a scoreless 3rd. And a scoreless 4th. And a scoreless 5th.

In the bottom of the 5th Dillon Hazlett hit a leadoff double and Ryan Graepel walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Brett Knief laid down such a good bunt that he was going to be safe at 1st anyway, and then the ball got thrown away, allowing everyone to move up a base and Dillon to come home and tie the game at 1.

Michael threw a scoreless 6th and finally exited with 2 outs in the 7th after going 5 scoreless innings where he allowed only 3 hits. It was a huge outing after we'd had to go to the bullpen so early.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th Jacob Stallings went deep to give the Heels a 2-1 lead. But then High Point got the run right back in the 8th.

Colin Bates got the first couple outs in the 9th before giving way to Greg Holt, who struck out the last hitter of the inning to strand runners on 1st and 2nd. In the top of the 10th High Point got runners to 2nd and 3rd before Greg again got a strikeout to leave them there.

In the bottom of the 10th Coach Jesse Wierzbicki led off and worked a full count before singling to right. Brian Goodwin followed with a single of his own to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Dillon Hazlett dropped down a bunt and the Panthers couldn't handle it, loading the bases with nobody out.

That brought up Ryan Graepel. Ryan is a great example of someone who worked really hard and just became a better and better player every year over the course of his career, culminating in him really being one of the stars of the team. His freshman year OPS was .594. Sophomore year it was .646. Junior year it was .758. And his senior year it spiked all the way to .952.

He hit .329, showed great patience at the plate in drawing 40 walks, and after hitting only 2 home runs in his first 3 years flashed some power- 16 doubles and 7 home runs. Ryan made himself into a great college baseball player.

In this situation all he needed to do was hit a ball deep enough so the runner on 3rd could tag. Or, after he worked a full count, he just needed to get ball 4. But a more fun way to win the game in that situation is just to knock the ball out of the park and that's exactly what he did- a walk off grand slam to left to give the Heels a 6-2 win and provide one of the most memorable moments of his career.

Greg Holt got the win for 1.1 scoreless innings where he stranded 4 runners and struck out 3. Levi Michael had a pair of hits but beyond that it was an egalitarian effort- 9 different guys combined for the 10 hits. Mike Cavasinni had a double to round out the ones that went for extra bases. The Heels couldn't have done it without Michael Morin's 5 scoreless innings.

On April 27, 2011 the Heels headed to ECU. They'd lost 5 of 6 games in their previous 2 weekend series and really needed to get some good wins on the board if they wanted to be a national seed.

It didn't get off to a great start. The Heels only got a pair of runners on base in the first 3 innings and they both got erased on the base paths so it was 9 up, 9 down. And the Pirates put up 3 in the bottom of the 3rd to take the early lead.

In the 4th Levi Michael drew a 1 out walk but the next batter made an out. Coach Jesse Wierzbicki got hit by a pitch to move up to 2nd and keep the inning going. A Chaz Frank single scored Levi, and a wild pitch moved both Jesse and Chaz into scoring position. Jacob Stallings came up and hit the ball to short...and the fielder threw it away, scoring both runs and tying the game at 3.

ECU got the lead back in the 6th but after that the bullpen really took over. Greg Holt finished out the 6th, threw a scoreless 7th, and got the 1st out in the 8th before giving way to Patrick Johnson, who retired both hitters he faced in an unusual relief appearance (this was the last game before the exam break.)

The Heels got 5 runners on base between the 5th and the 8th but couldn't bring any of them home and they went to their last at bat still trailing 4-3. Matt Roberts pinch hit to lead off the 9th and doubled down the RF line to get things started. Parks Jordan laid down a bunt...and it was so good he got a hit out of it. Runners on the corners. Tommy Coyle walked to load the bases with nobody out and it appeared the Heels were in pretty good shape.

But the next batter flied out to center, not deep enough to advance anyone. And the next one after that popped up to 2nd. All the sudden the Heels were down to their last out.

That brought up Coach Jesse Wierzbicki. And he came up with one of the biggest hits of his Tar Heel career, delivering a clutch single to left that scored 2 and put the Heels up 5-4.

Michael Morin came in to close it and gave up a lead off single. He was just toying with them- after a groundout advanced the runner to 2nd, Michael struck out the last 2 batters of the game. It was only his 3rd save of the season but it was one of those outings that kind of solidified himself in that role for the rest of his Tar Heel career.

Patrick Johnson got the win in relief to go to 7-1 on the season. Greg Holt's 2.1 scoreless innings where he didn't allow any hits was critical to the victory. Chaz Frank had a pair of hits and a pair of walks to reach 4 times and after a tough stretch the Heels had themselves a 2 game winning streak- one that eventually grew to 9 and got the team right back into the national seed picture.

-On April 27th, 2014 the Heels were trying to complete the sweep against Virginia Tech and preserve their undefeated record against the Hokies in Chapel Hill since they joined the conference.

Virginia Tech scored a pair of runs in the 2nd and 3rd to take a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the 3rd Korey Dunbar drew a 1 out walk and with 2 down Michael Russell singled to keep the inning going. Skye Bolt walked to load the bases and then Landon Lassiter walked too to score a run, bringing up Tom Zengel.

Tom Zengel is another under appreciated guy who I think the world of. His freshman year he had 113 at bats. Then his sophomore and junior years we were just so stacked that he declined to 91 and then 14 at bats. These days 99% of guys who go from 113 at bats their freshman year to 14 at bats their junior year are going to be on the first train out of town.

Not Tom- he stayed for his senior year, worked hard, earned the right to start most every game, and had a really solid season. And then not only did he graduate on time, he stuck around and got a law degree here too. He was the picture of a student athlete.

Anyway he worked a full count here and then singled through the right side to score a couple runs and give the Heels a 3-2 lead.

In the 5th the Hokies loaded the bases with 1 out and Trevor Kelley came in to pitch. He got a sac fly that brought in the tying run and got a ground out to end the inning and mitigate the damage.

Trevor threw a 1-2-3 6th and in the bottom of the inning Tyler Ramirez hit a leadoff home run- only his 2nd of the season to that time and a reminder how much he built up his power over the course of his Tar Heel career- to give the Heels the lead back at 4-3.

Trevor threw a 1-2-3 7th but the Hokies tied the game in the top of the 8th and still had the bases loaded with nobody out.

Spencer Trayner came in and had one of the best outings of his freshman year. Just in his first 3 pitches he got a fly out to center and a fly out to left, neither deep enough to bring a runner in. He got another fly out to left to extinguish the threat and get the Heels out of the inning tied.

The Hokies threatened again in the 9th. Reilly Hovis came in with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 down. He had a little trouble with his control, falling behind the first batter he faced 2-0 before getting an innocent fly ball for the second out, and then issuing a 4 pitch walk to load the bases. He fell behind the next batter 2-0, making it 8 balls in 9 pitches. But then he came back with a couple strikes and got a grounder to Landon Lassiter at 3rd who went and stepped on the bag for the force to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 9th Michael Russell hit a leadoff single and stole 2nd- another example of him making things happen with his base running. The Hokies intentionally walked Skye Bolt. Landon Lassiter hit a fly ball deep enough to move Michael to 3rd. The Hokies issued another intentional walk, this time to Zach Daly to load the bases.

That brought up Tyler Ramirez who took an aggressive approach, swinging on the first pitch and lifting one to deep enough center that Michael was able to tag up and slide head first into home in plenty of time to score the game winning run.

The win made it a perfect 15-0 at home for the Heels against Virginia Tech since their joining the ACC. And given that the Heels ended up being one of the last teams to make the NCAA Tournament, finishing the sweep was likely pivotal to ending up on the right side of the bubble.

Reilly Hovis got his 6th win of the season in relief. Trevor Kelley's strong long relief outing and Spencer Trayner stranding the bases loaded with nobody out were crucial to the win. Michael Russell had 3 hits and Alex Raburn had a pair to lead the way for the Heels.

-On April 27, 2019 the Heels were firmly on the hosting bubble and had lost the opening game of the series to Virginia 12-5 Friday night at the Bosh. It wasn't a series they could afford to lose if they wanted to play at home in June.

Things didn't start well Saturday. The Hoos scored a pair of runs in the 1st. But in the bottom half Dylan Harris drew a leadoff walk, Aaron Sabato drew a 1 out walk, and with 2 down Ike Freeman singled to left to score Dylan and cut the deficit to 2-1.

In the bottom of the 2nd Dylan Enwiller singled to lead off the inning and then made things happen- he got to 2nd on an error, stole 3rd, and came home to score and tie the game on a wild pitch, going all around the bases without another ball even being put in play.

With 2 outs Dylan Harris walked for the second inning in a row and Michael Busch singled to put runners on the corners. Aaron Sabato doubled to left to bring Dylan home for a 3-2 lead.

Then Virginia intentionally walked Danny Serretti to get to Ike. Danny is great but Ike was great too and then you put yourself in a position where you're really in trouble if you can't throw strikes. Virginia couldn't throw strikes. Ike drew a walk on 5 pitches that brought Michael home to make it 4-2

Virginia tied it up with runs in the 3rd and 4th and the Heels went to the bullpen. And the bullpen dominated.

First up was Caden O'Brien. He retired the side in order after coming in in the 4th, threw a scoreless 5th, and threw a scoreless 6th. His line was 3 innings pitched, 1 hit and 1 walk allowed.

Next was Joey Lancellotti. He threw a scoreless 7th. And a scoreless 8th. And a scoreless 9th.

It was good the Heels pitching was as on point as it was, because after the 2nd Virginia's was just as good. The Heels never got more than one runner on base between the 3rd and the 8th, and between the 6th and 8th they only got one runner on base at all, a 2 out single.

So the game went to the bottom of the 9th still tied at 4. Michael Busch worked a full count and drew a leadoff walk. Then Aaron Sabato worked a full count and drew a walk as well. Danny Serretti executed a perfect bunt to put them on 2nd and 3rd. This time Ike got the intentional pass to load the bases. And after falling behind 0-2, Ashton McGee delivered a single to left to bring home Michael and give the Heels a 5-4 walkoff win.

Joey got the win- his 3rd ACC win in 2 weekends. It wouldn't have been possible without Caden's 3 scoreless innings in the middle of the game. Brandon Martorano- including a double- and Ashton McGee- including the winner- each had a pair of hits for the Heels.

And quick hits from 2016 and 2018:

-In 2016 the Heels beat Campbell 9-4 at the Bosh. Logan Warmoth had a home run and a double, driving in 3 runs and scoring 2. Brian Miller had 3 hits and Brandon Riley- including a double- and Zack Gahagan each had a pair of hits as well.

Rodney Hutchison started and got the win for 5.1 solid innings of work. Brett Daniels relieved him and retired the first 8 hitters he faced, allowing only 1 base runner in 3 innings of work overall. Cole Aker closed out the game with a pair of strike outs.

-In 2018 the Heels (ranked 6th in the country) kicked off an epic weekend in Raleigh with a 6-5 win over State (ranked 2nd in the country) in the series opener.

After falling down 2-0 early, a Brandon Riley sac fly and a 2 out 2 run single for Ashton McGee in the 4th put the Heels up 3-2.

After falling back behind 4-3, Ike Freeman came up with the bases loaded in the 8th and doubled to clear the bases to give the Heels a 6-4 lead.

The bullpen saved the day a number of times. Caden O'Brien came in in the 5th with runners on 2nd and 3rd and State's clean up hitter at the plate and struck out 2 batters in a row to get out of the inning. He threw a scoreless 6th too.

Ben Caparius- who had barely pitched all season- threw a scoreless 7th and ended up getting the win.

Joey Lancellotti came in with the bases loaded in the 8th and got a strike out to end the inning. Then he threw a scoreless 9th that featured another pair of strikeouts to get the save.

Dallas Tessar- including a double- and Kyle Datres each had a pair of hits for the Heels as well in the series opening win.