This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: May 12

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.

May 12
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2012 and 2015 for a blowout of Duke to clinch the series in Durham and a big win over UNC-Wilmington at the Bosh to end a losing streak.

On May 12, 2012 the Heels were coming off a 2-1 win over Duke the night before where Kent Emanuel out dueled Marcus Stroman. They were trying to clinch the series Saturday, and it proved to be a very different kind of game.

Benton Moss was on the hill for the Heels and threw a scoreless 1st. Brian Holberton singled to lead off the 2nd and moved to 2nd on a wild pitch and then to 3rd on a productive Tommy Coyle groundout. Adam Griffin hit what would have been an RBI sac fly anyway to make it 1-0 and the Duke outfielder dropped it to boot, allowing him to reach.

Parks Jordan and Chaz Frank both singled to load the bases and a Michael Russell sac fly brought home Adam to make it 2-0.

Benton threw a scoreless 2nd, striking out a couple batters. He allowed a couple runners to reach in each of the 3rd and 4th innings but stranded them where they were. Duke finally got a run in the 5th to cut the deficit to 2-1 and Benton left the game but he had a good outing, allowing just the 1 run in 4.2 innings.

Duke still had runners on 1st and 2nd and a good chance to tie or take the lead but R.C. Orlan got a strikeout to end the threat and send the game on to the 6th.

Tommy Coyle walked to lead off the 6th but with 2 outs, he hadn't made it any further than 2nd. To that point the game was a low scoring pitchers duel similar to the previous day.

But then Chaz Frank worked a full count and drew a walk. And Michael Russell worked his own full count and then singled to left, scoring Tommy and making it 3-1. That put runners on 1st and 2nd for Colin Moran and he blew the game open, doubling to left to score both Chaz and Michael and extend the advantage to 5-1.

R.C. Orlan threw a scoreless 6th and in the 7th the Heels came back for more. Adam Griffin drew a walk and stole 2nd, then Parks Jordan tripled to bring him around and make it 6-1. Chaz Frank followed with a double to score Parks and make it 7-1. And the Heels still didn't even have half their runs for the day yet.

R.C. threw a scoreless 7th and concluded his day with 2.1 shutout innings and a pair of strikeouts, including the key one that stopped Duke's chance at putting up a crooked number when the game was still close in the 5th. R.C. earned his 8th win of the season against only one loss.

Jacob Stallings and Cody Stubbs singled on back to back pitches to start the Tar Heel 8th. One run came in on an error to make it 8-1 and Parks Jordan singled to bring home another and make it 9-1.

Luis Paula came on and threw a 1-2-3 8th and the Heels closed out the game with their biggest inning yet. Michael Russell doubled to lead off the 9th and went to 3rd on a passed ball. Colin Moran drew a walk. Matt Roberts hit a sac fly to bring in Michael and get the Heels to double digits at 10-1.

Grayson Atwood followed with a walk and Brian Holberton singled to load the bases. A Tommy Coyle walk brought home Colin and made it 11-1. Tom Zengel drove in a run on a FC to make it 12-1. Parks Jordan continued his big day with a double to score a run and make it 13-1. Finally Chaz Frank- the hero of the series opening win- doubled to score a couple more and give the Heels their final tally of 15-1.

Cody Penny came on for the 9th and threw a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts to finish the game and clinch the series. This was the middle game of a 9 game winning streak for the Heels against Duke where they swept them 3 years in a row between 2011-2013. It was also the 8th of what would grow to be a 14 game winning streak specifically for the 2012 version of the team.

Parks Jordan led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a triple and a double, driving in 3 and scoring twice. Chaz Frank had 3 hits, including a pair of doubles, and drove in 3. Michael Russell (including a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored), Brian Holberton (including 2 runs scored), and Jacob Stallings each had a pair of hits. Colin Moran doubled and drove in a pair of runs, Tommy Coyle singled and scored a pair of runs, and Cody Stubbs singled and scored a run. 8 of 9 Heels starters had a hit and the only one who didn't, Adam Griffin, still scored a pair of runs and drove one in.

On May 12, 2015 the Heels were coming off a tough sweep in South Bend the weekend before and badly needed a win against an always strong UNC-Wilmington team that came to the Bosh with a 33-16 record to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive.

AJ Bogucki had the start for the Heels and set a good tone for the game by striking out the side in the 1st. He followed that up with a 1-2-3 2nd, including another strikeout.

In the bottom of the 2nd Joe Dudek drew a leadoff walk and Alex Raburn singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd. A deep flyball by Zack Gahagan moved Joe up to 3rd and another one by Logan Warmoth brought him home and gave the Heels a 1-0 lead.

With 2 outs Tyler Ramirez worked a walk to keep the inning going. And after working a full count Landon Lassiter singled through the left side to score Alex and grow the lead to 2-0.

AJ threw a scoreless 3rd with another couple of strikeouts. The Seahawks scored a pair in the 4th to tie it but AJ bounced back with a 1-2-3 5th to finish his day with 5 innings where he struck out 8 and only allowed 3 hits.

At that point he was set for a no decision but in the bottom of the 5th Skye Bolt changed that, going deep to right to put the Heels ahead 3-2 and set AJ up for a win as long as the bullpen could hold things where they were.

Zach Rice came in for the 6th and after walking the first batter he faced, coaxed a double play. He struck out the next hitter on 3 pitches to end the inning.

Trevor Kelley came in with a runner on 1st and nobody out in the 7th and the Seahawks tried to bunt. A 1-6-3 double play on the attempt erased the tying run from the base paths and Trevor got a strike out to end the inning.

In the bottom half the Heels got some insurance. Landon Lassiter singled and Skye Bolt walked with 1 out and an error loaded the bases. Brian Miller hit the first pitch he saw to left center for a single that brought both Landon and Skye around and gave the Heels a 5-2 lead.

Trevor threw a scoreless 8th with a couple of strikeouts. With 2 outs in the bottom half Logan Warmoth singled and Tyler Ramirez doubled to bring him around and make it 6-2. Landon Lassiter followed with a single to score Tyler and make it 7-2.

Trevor came back out for the 9th and retired the Seahawks 1-2-3, closing out the win with a strikeout. He got the save for 3 innings where he struck out 4, only gave up a couple of hits, and didn't walk anybody. The Heels needed a win and AJ Bogucki's good start- which he got his first win of the season for- and Trevor's relief work, plus some timely hitting delivered.

Landon Lassiter led the way for the Heels with 3 hits, driving in a pair of runs. Brian Miller (including a pair of RBI) and Logan Warmoth (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits as well.

And quick hits from 2009 and 2010:

-In 2009 the Heels went to Charlotte and beat the 49ers 4-1. Brian Moran came into the game in the 3rd inning with the bases loaded and nobody out. He prevented any damage by striking out the side. Then he threw a 1-2-3 4th with another strikeout and a 1-2-3 5th with another couple of strikeouts. For the day he retired all 9 hitters he faced, struck out 6 of them, and got the win to push his record to 6-1 on the season.

Patrick Johnson started the game and threw 2 scoreless inning. Greg Holt threw the last 2.2 innings, retiring 8 of 9 hitters he faced, and got the save.

Dustin Ackley was the only Heel with multiple hits, driving in a pair. Kyle Seager had a hit and drove in a run, Mike Cavasinni had a hit and scored a pair of runs, and Ben Bunting had a hit and scored a run. Ryan Graepel, Garrett Gore, and Brett Thomas provided the rest of the hits for the day.

-In 2010 the Heels capped an 8 game winning streak that probably put them on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble with a 10-0 drubbing of the College of Charleston at the Bosh. Greg Holt started and threw 6 scoreless innings where he allowed only 2 hits and a walk. Zach Bernard threw a scoreless 7th and 8th and Jimmy Messer threw a 1-2-3 9th with a pair of strikeouts to close it out.

Dillon Hazlett (including a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs), Ryan Graepel (including a double and 2 RBI), Levi Michael (including a couple runs and an RBI), Mike Cavasinni (including a couple of runs), and Tommy Coyle all had a pair of hits. Coach Jesse Wierzbicki hit a home run and drove in a pair of runs, Ben Bunting had a double and drove in and scored a run, and Brian Goodwin had a hit and drove in a pair of runs. 8 of 9 Heels starters had at least one hit.

The streak took the Heels from a 24-17 record to a 32-17 one.

Players Mentioned

Zack Gahagan

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