Ashton McGee in the 2018 UNC-A game
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: May 1
May 1, 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
May 1
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2013 and 2018 for a couple midweek offensive explosions, including one where the opposing team had to face all three starting pitchers the Heels would use in Omaha the next month and another where the Heels put up 10 runs...in one inning!
On May 1, 2013 the Heels hosted the Citadel at the Bosh. The last game of our series against NC State the previous weekend had been rained out and that meant we had Hobbs Johnson to start in the midweek. He set the tone for the day in the first, striking out the side. He threw a 1–2-3 2nd as well, including a leadoff strikeout to make it 4 in a row to start his day before he took mercy and let the Bulldogs at least make contact before being retired on a groundout and a foulout.
In the bottom of the 2nd Cody Stubbs hit a leadoff double and Michael Russell reached on an error to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Matt Campbell laid down a bunt and it was so good that not only did it bring Cody home, Matt reached base too.
The runners moved up to 2nd and 3rd on a balk but after a couple outs they were still there and it didn't necessarily look like it would be that big an inning. But Chaz Frank singled to bring in Michael and make it 2-0. And then Landon Lassiter had a great at bat, fouling off 4 pitches in a row on a full count and eventually drawing a walk to load the bases.Â
That brought up Colin Moran and he knocked the second pitch he saw out of the park to right for a grand slam to blow the game open and give the Heels a 6-0 lead.
Hobbs threw a scoreless 3rd and struck out another pair of Bulldogs, then set down the side in order in the 4th, and finished his day with a scoreless 5th, appropriately striking out the last 2 batters he faced. His line for the day was 5 scoreless innings, 9 strikeouts, only a pair of hits allowed, and no walks- quite an impressive day at the office.
In the bottom of the 5th Brian Holberton got things started with a single to right, and moved to 2nd on a balk. With 2 outs Michael Russell singled to right to bring Holbie home and make it a 7-0 lead.
I'm sure the Citadel was happy to be done with Hobbs...but next up they got Kent Emanuel! Because it was exam week and we weren't going to be playing the following weekend, we were getting the starters some work in the midweek. Kent threw a 1-2-3 6th and a scoreless 7th where all he allowed was a 2 out single, finishing his day with 2 scoreless innings.
In the bottom of the 7th Colin Moran hit a leadoff single and with an out Cody Stubbs singled too to put a pair of runners on base. That brought up Michael Russell and he wasted no time, hitting the first pitch he saw out of the park for a 3 run blast that built the Heels lead to 10-0.
In the 8th the Bulldogs finally got a crack at someone who wasn't a weekend starter but things still didn't get any easier for them. Chris McCue came in and struck out both hitters he faced, and Mason McCullough came in for the last out of the inning and he got a strikeout too.
The Heels scored another 3 runs in the 8th. That rally started with a Korey Dunbar single, which ended up being the only actual hit of the inning- everyone else reached on walks and errors and hit by pitches.
3 guys started games in Omaha for the 2013 edition of the Diamond Heels- Kent Emanuel, Hobbs Johnson, and Trent Thornton. The Bulldogs had already seen Kent and Hobbs, and now they got to finish their day out with Trent. He gave up a leadoff single, but then erased the runner on a double play. In keeping with the general theme of the game Trent got a strikeout to finish it out.
In the combined shutout the Heels pitchers struck out 13, allowed only 4 hits, and didn't walk anybody. It's hard to imagine anyone ever having to deal with a tougher set of pitchers in a midweek game!
Michael Russell led the way for the Heels with 3 hits, including his home run, and 5 RBI. Colin Moran had a pair of hits and 4 RBI thanks to his grand slam. Cody Stubbs (including a double) and Matt Campbell each had multi games as well. The win pushed the season record for the Heels to 42-4.
On May 1, 2018 the Heels were coming off their big weekend sweep at State and trying to keep the momentum going against UNC-Asheville.Â
Taylor Sugg had the ball and threw a scoreless 1st, a scoreless 2nd, and a scoreless 3rd followed by a 1-2-3 4th. It was good he had such a strong start because the Heels initially weren't doing much with the bats either.
In the top of the 5th the Bulldogs got a couple of runs before Joey Lancellotti came in with runners on 1st and 2nd and got a strikeout to end the inning.
Ashton McGee singled to lead off the 5th, Cody Roberts drew a walk, and Brandon Martorano drew a walk as well to load the bases with nobody out.
Zack Gahagan drew a 4 pitch walk to score the first run of the inning. Dallas Tessar got hit by a pitch to score the second run of the inning and tie the game. Kyle Datres worked a walk to score the third run of the inning and give the Heels the lead.
Brandon Riley finally broke the bases loaded streak- he singled to right to score the 4th and 5th runs of the inning. Then he stole 2nd and Ashton got walked and the bases were loaded once again.
Cody Roberts singled to bring in the 6th run of the inning, keeping the bases loaded. Then Brandon Martorano delivered the big blow, a double to left to score the 7th and 8th runs of the inning.
Zack Gahagan drew a walk to load the bases once again. And Clemente Inclan drew one as well to bring in the 9th run of the inning. The 10th run of the inning came home on a wild pitch to close out the rare one that doesn't fit on the scoreboard!
Joey threw a scoreless 6th, earning the win. He came out and the Bulldogs got another couple of runs in the 7th.
In the bottom half the Heels got one of them back when Josh Ladowski hit a 2 out triple and came around on a Michael Busch single to center.
Tyler Baum came on to get a little work in during exam week, and struck out the side in the 8th. Another reliever came in for the 9th and loaded the bases. Brett Daniels came on and struck out the side to finish the game, giving the Heels an 11-5 win and extending their winning streak to 8 games.
Brandon Riley led the way for the Heels with 3 hits and drove in a pair of runs. Ashton McGee's pair of hits included a triple, and he scored a couple runs. Josh Ladowski's triple, the big bases loaded double by Brandon Martorano, and a double for Kyle Datres rounded out the extra base hits for the Heels.
May 1
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2013 and 2018 for a couple midweek offensive explosions, including one where the opposing team had to face all three starting pitchers the Heels would use in Omaha the next month and another where the Heels put up 10 runs...in one inning!
On May 1, 2013 the Heels hosted the Citadel at the Bosh. The last game of our series against NC State the previous weekend had been rained out and that meant we had Hobbs Johnson to start in the midweek. He set the tone for the day in the first, striking out the side. He threw a 1–2-3 2nd as well, including a leadoff strikeout to make it 4 in a row to start his day before he took mercy and let the Bulldogs at least make contact before being retired on a groundout and a foulout.
In the bottom of the 2nd Cody Stubbs hit a leadoff double and Michael Russell reached on an error to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Matt Campbell laid down a bunt and it was so good that not only did it bring Cody home, Matt reached base too.
The runners moved up to 2nd and 3rd on a balk but after a couple outs they were still there and it didn't necessarily look like it would be that big an inning. But Chaz Frank singled to bring in Michael and make it 2-0. And then Landon Lassiter had a great at bat, fouling off 4 pitches in a row on a full count and eventually drawing a walk to load the bases.Â
That brought up Colin Moran and he knocked the second pitch he saw out of the park to right for a grand slam to blow the game open and give the Heels a 6-0 lead.
Hobbs threw a scoreless 3rd and struck out another pair of Bulldogs, then set down the side in order in the 4th, and finished his day with a scoreless 5th, appropriately striking out the last 2 batters he faced. His line for the day was 5 scoreless innings, 9 strikeouts, only a pair of hits allowed, and no walks- quite an impressive day at the office.
In the bottom of the 5th Brian Holberton got things started with a single to right, and moved to 2nd on a balk. With 2 outs Michael Russell singled to right to bring Holbie home and make it a 7-0 lead.
I'm sure the Citadel was happy to be done with Hobbs...but next up they got Kent Emanuel! Because it was exam week and we weren't going to be playing the following weekend, we were getting the starters some work in the midweek. Kent threw a 1-2-3 6th and a scoreless 7th where all he allowed was a 2 out single, finishing his day with 2 scoreless innings.
In the bottom of the 7th Colin Moran hit a leadoff single and with an out Cody Stubbs singled too to put a pair of runners on base. That brought up Michael Russell and he wasted no time, hitting the first pitch he saw out of the park for a 3 run blast that built the Heels lead to 10-0.
In the 8th the Bulldogs finally got a crack at someone who wasn't a weekend starter but things still didn't get any easier for them. Chris McCue came in and struck out both hitters he faced, and Mason McCullough came in for the last out of the inning and he got a strikeout too.
The Heels scored another 3 runs in the 8th. That rally started with a Korey Dunbar single, which ended up being the only actual hit of the inning- everyone else reached on walks and errors and hit by pitches.
3 guys started games in Omaha for the 2013 edition of the Diamond Heels- Kent Emanuel, Hobbs Johnson, and Trent Thornton. The Bulldogs had already seen Kent and Hobbs, and now they got to finish their day out with Trent. He gave up a leadoff single, but then erased the runner on a double play. In keeping with the general theme of the game Trent got a strikeout to finish it out.
In the combined shutout the Heels pitchers struck out 13, allowed only 4 hits, and didn't walk anybody. It's hard to imagine anyone ever having to deal with a tougher set of pitchers in a midweek game!
Michael Russell led the way for the Heels with 3 hits, including his home run, and 5 RBI. Colin Moran had a pair of hits and 4 RBI thanks to his grand slam. Cody Stubbs (including a double) and Matt Campbell each had multi games as well. The win pushed the season record for the Heels to 42-4.
On May 1, 2018 the Heels were coming off their big weekend sweep at State and trying to keep the momentum going against UNC-Asheville.Â
Taylor Sugg had the ball and threw a scoreless 1st, a scoreless 2nd, and a scoreless 3rd followed by a 1-2-3 4th. It was good he had such a strong start because the Heels initially weren't doing much with the bats either.
In the top of the 5th the Bulldogs got a couple of runs before Joey Lancellotti came in with runners on 1st and 2nd and got a strikeout to end the inning.
Ashton McGee singled to lead off the 5th, Cody Roberts drew a walk, and Brandon Martorano drew a walk as well to load the bases with nobody out.
Zack Gahagan drew a 4 pitch walk to score the first run of the inning. Dallas Tessar got hit by a pitch to score the second run of the inning and tie the game. Kyle Datres worked a walk to score the third run of the inning and give the Heels the lead.
Brandon Riley finally broke the bases loaded streak- he singled to right to score the 4th and 5th runs of the inning. Then he stole 2nd and Ashton got walked and the bases were loaded once again.
Cody Roberts singled to bring in the 6th run of the inning, keeping the bases loaded. Then Brandon Martorano delivered the big blow, a double to left to score the 7th and 8th runs of the inning.
Zack Gahagan drew a walk to load the bases once again. And Clemente Inclan drew one as well to bring in the 9th run of the inning. The 10th run of the inning came home on a wild pitch to close out the rare one that doesn't fit on the scoreboard!
Joey threw a scoreless 6th, earning the win. He came out and the Bulldogs got another couple of runs in the 7th.
In the bottom half the Heels got one of them back when Josh Ladowski hit a 2 out triple and came around on a Michael Busch single to center.
Tyler Baum came on to get a little work in during exam week, and struck out the side in the 8th. Another reliever came in for the 9th and loaded the bases. Brett Daniels came on and struck out the side to finish the game, giving the Heels an 11-5 win and extending their winning streak to 8 games.
Brandon Riley led the way for the Heels with 3 hits and drove in a pair of runs. Ashton McGee's pair of hits included a triple, and he scored a couple runs. Josh Ladowski's triple, the big bases loaded double by Brandon Martorano, and a double for Kyle Datres rounded out the extra base hits for the Heels.
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