University of North Carolina Athletics
Shell McCain's homer won the 2012 Va. Tech game
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: May 18
May 18, 2020 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina looks at "On This Day in Tar Heel History", as Tom Jensen shares his memories as an avid Tar Heel fan and regular at Boshamer Stadium.
May 18
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2006 and 2012 for a lights out performance by Andrew Miller to start the last weekend of ACC play in the quest to win the first ever Coastal Division title, and for a dominant night by Benton Moss that helped position the Heels for a national seed.
Coming into the last weekend of ACC play in 2006, the first year the conference had divisions, the Heels held a one game lead in the Coastal. UNC was 19-8 and Virginia was 18-9 but Virginia had won their head to head series, so if they did end up tied the Hoos were going to come out ahead on the tiebreak. Thus the Heels needed an outright win.
On May 18, 2006 they kicked off their final regular season series at the Bosh against Boston College. Andrew Miller threw a scoreless 1st with a couple strikeouts. He threw a 1-2-3 2nd with another K. He got a strikeout in a scoreless 3rd. He got another pair of strikeouts in a scoreless 4th. He set the Eagles down in the 5th.
Through 5 shutout innings Andrew had struck out 6 and only allowed 1 hit. But the Heels still didn't have any runs and Virginia was leading Virginia Tech 3-2 halfway through their game. A Hoos win and a Heels loss meant a tied division and a tiebreaker in Virginia's favor.
Boston College got a run in the 6th to take the lead when the late Pete Frates, hero of the fight against ALS and the founder of the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' stole home.
The Eagles taking the lead seemed to wake up the Heel bats. Tim Federowicz hit a solo shot to lead off the 6th and immediately tie the game. Seth Williams doubled on the very next pitch and then Bryan Steed got hit by a pitch. The runners moved up on a balk and then Mike Cavasinni got hit by a pitch too to load the bases with nobody out.
Kyle Shelton came up after a pitching change, worked a full count, and then singled to left to bring Seth home and give the Heels a 2-1 lead. Chad Flack doubled to score another run and push the advantage to 3-1.
This was one of those nights where Andrew Miller just kept on getting better as the night progressed. He threw a 1-2-3 7th with a pair strikeouts. Then he threw a scoreless 8th with another pair of strikeouts. That concluded his day- in his final regular season start at the Bosh he went 8 innings, struck out 11, only allowed a pair of hits, and improved his record for the season to 11-1. It was quite a performance.
In the bottom of the 8th the Heels built up their lead. Kyle Shelton walked and Chad Flack singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. A wild pitch scored Kyle and made it 4-1. Josh Horton walked and Benji Johnson singled to load the bases.
That brought up Garrett Gore and he singled to bring in a couple runs. Tim Federowicz was up next and he singled to get another one home and all the sudden the once close game was a 7-1 Heels lead.
Tyler Trice came on for the 9th and delivered a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the last hitter of the game to give the Heels their 20th ACC win of the season. Virginia won too to keep pace, but the Heels still had a 1 game lead in the Coastal with 2 days left in the season.
Tim Federowicz led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a home run and a double, driving in a pair of runs. Chad Flack had 3 hits, including a double, and drove in and scored a run. Seth Williams doubled and scored a run, Garrett Gore singled and drove in a pair of runs, Kyle Shelton and Benji Johnson each singled and drove in and scored a run, and Jay Cox had the other hit for the Heels.
On May 18, 2012 the Heels had clinched the division title the day before in the opening game of their series against Virginia Tech but were still on the bubble for a national seed and needed to keep piling up wins if they wanted to be positioned to host until Omaha.
Benton Moss was on the hill for the Heels and an error on the first play of the game led to the Hokies getting an unearned run in the 1st inning. That was the end of their offense for the day.
Benton got a pair of strikeouts in that inning, then threw a scoreless 2nd with another pair of strikeouts. He threw a scoreless 3rd with another strikeout, a 1-2-3 4th with a K, and a 1-2-3 5th. But even after striking out 6 and only allowing 3 hits over the first 5 innings he still found himself in line for a loss at the halfway point.
In the bottom of the 5th with one out Cody Stubbs worked a full count and then drew a walk. On the very next pitch Shell McCain went deep to left to give the Heels a 2-1 lead.
That was all the offensive support Benton ended up getting, so he made it hold up. He threw a scoreless 6th with another strikeout. He threw a 1-2-3 7th. And he got the first 2 outs before exiting in the 8th.
Benton finished his day with 7.2 innings pitched where he struck out 8, didn't walk anybody, and only allowed 4 hits. The win pushed his freshman year record up to 6-2.
I think sometimes it gets lost in the shuffle what a great career Benton had for the Heels. He finished with a 26-6 career record and a 3.22 ERA. He's in the top 10 in program history for both wins and winning percentage. He ended up second in career strikeouts with 318, just behind Andrew Miller's 325. He's one of the best pitchers in Diamond Heels history and he certainly demonstrated it that night.
RC Orlan came on and struck out the only batter he faced to close out the 8th. Michael Morin came on for the 9th and per usual in 2012 when he came on the game was over. It took him 8 pitches to throw a scoreless inning to close it out.
The win gave the Heels their 8th conference series win out of 10, and also gave them their 8th straight ACC game win and 12th straight overall. A big part of the selection committee's criteria for things like the national seed the Heels were striving for is how you play in the closing stretch of the season, and they were making a pretty strong argument on that front.
The Heels only had 4 hits all day. Shell McCain hit a home run and a double, and Michael Russell and Chaz Frank hit singles. With the night Benton had on the mound, that was enough.
And quick hits from 2007, 2010, and 2018:
-The Heels entered the first game of their series at Maryland to close out ACC play tied with Virginia for the Coastal lead at 18-9. The Heels won 6-3 and took a half game lead in the division when Virginia got rained out. Garett Gore (including 2 runs and an RBI), Tim Federowicz (including 2 RBI), and Dustin Ackley (including a run and an RBI) each had 3 hits for the Heels. Kyle Shelton doubled and drove in a run and Benji Johnson doubled and scored a run.
Rob Wooten came on with the bases loaded in the 6th and got a couple of strikeouts to get out of the inning, then threw a 1-2-3 7th and a 1-2-3 8th. He got the win for his 2.2 scoreless, hitless innings. Andrew Carignan came in for the 9th and threw a 1-2-3 inning where he struck out the side. The last 2 hitters he didn't even give a ball in earning his 11th save of the season.
-In 2010 the Heels beat Charlotte at the Bosh 8-4. Ryan Graepel had 4 hits, including a double, and drove in 2 runs and scored one. Seth Baldwin had a pair of hits and scored 2 runs. Levi Michael hit a solo home run, Brian Goodwin tripled and drove in and scored a run, Jacob Stallings singled and drove in a run, Tommy Coyle and Chaz Frank each singled and scored a run, and Ben Bunting had the other hit for the Heels.
Jimmy Messer got the win for 3 innings of scoreless relief where he struck out 4 and only allowed 1 hit. Nate Striz threw a scoreless 7th, Zach Bernard and Colin Bates teamed up for a scoreless 8th, Colin got the first 2 outs of the 9th, and Greg Holt retired the last 49er of the game to close it out.
-In 2018 the Heels clinched their regular season closing series against Virginia Tech with an 11-2 win at the Bosh. Kyle Datres (including a triple, a double, 2 runs and an RBI) and Michael Busch (including 3 runs and 2 RBI) each had 4 hits. Ashton McGee's 3 hits included a home run and a double and 3 RBI. Zack Gahagan and Dallas Tessar each singled and scored a pair of runs, and Kip Brandenburg singled and scored a run as well.
Austin Bergner got the win, making him 6-2 on the season, for 6 innings where he allowed only 3 hits and 1 earned run. Caden O'Brien threw 2 scoreless innings and Joey Lancellotti threw a scoreless 9th to close out the win, the series, and a 5 hit combined outing for the pitching staff. The victory gave the Heels 7 straight home series wins over Virginia Tech since they joined the ACC, with a combined record of 19-1.
May 18
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2006 and 2012 for a lights out performance by Andrew Miller to start the last weekend of ACC play in the quest to win the first ever Coastal Division title, and for a dominant night by Benton Moss that helped position the Heels for a national seed.
Coming into the last weekend of ACC play in 2006, the first year the conference had divisions, the Heels held a one game lead in the Coastal. UNC was 19-8 and Virginia was 18-9 but Virginia had won their head to head series, so if they did end up tied the Hoos were going to come out ahead on the tiebreak. Thus the Heels needed an outright win.
On May 18, 2006 they kicked off their final regular season series at the Bosh against Boston College. Andrew Miller threw a scoreless 1st with a couple strikeouts. He threw a 1-2-3 2nd with another K. He got a strikeout in a scoreless 3rd. He got another pair of strikeouts in a scoreless 4th. He set the Eagles down in the 5th.
Through 5 shutout innings Andrew had struck out 6 and only allowed 1 hit. But the Heels still didn't have any runs and Virginia was leading Virginia Tech 3-2 halfway through their game. A Hoos win and a Heels loss meant a tied division and a tiebreaker in Virginia's favor.
Boston College got a run in the 6th to take the lead when the late Pete Frates, hero of the fight against ALS and the founder of the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' stole home.
The Eagles taking the lead seemed to wake up the Heel bats. Tim Federowicz hit a solo shot to lead off the 6th and immediately tie the game. Seth Williams doubled on the very next pitch and then Bryan Steed got hit by a pitch. The runners moved up on a balk and then Mike Cavasinni got hit by a pitch too to load the bases with nobody out.
Kyle Shelton came up after a pitching change, worked a full count, and then singled to left to bring Seth home and give the Heels a 2-1 lead. Chad Flack doubled to score another run and push the advantage to 3-1.
This was one of those nights where Andrew Miller just kept on getting better as the night progressed. He threw a 1-2-3 7th with a pair strikeouts. Then he threw a scoreless 8th with another pair of strikeouts. That concluded his day- in his final regular season start at the Bosh he went 8 innings, struck out 11, only allowed a pair of hits, and improved his record for the season to 11-1. It was quite a performance.
In the bottom of the 8th the Heels built up their lead. Kyle Shelton walked and Chad Flack singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. A wild pitch scored Kyle and made it 4-1. Josh Horton walked and Benji Johnson singled to load the bases.
That brought up Garrett Gore and he singled to bring in a couple runs. Tim Federowicz was up next and he singled to get another one home and all the sudden the once close game was a 7-1 Heels lead.
Tyler Trice came on for the 9th and delivered a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the last hitter of the game to give the Heels their 20th ACC win of the season. Virginia won too to keep pace, but the Heels still had a 1 game lead in the Coastal with 2 days left in the season.
Tim Federowicz led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a home run and a double, driving in a pair of runs. Chad Flack had 3 hits, including a double, and drove in and scored a run. Seth Williams doubled and scored a run, Garrett Gore singled and drove in a pair of runs, Kyle Shelton and Benji Johnson each singled and drove in and scored a run, and Jay Cox had the other hit for the Heels.
On May 18, 2012 the Heels had clinched the division title the day before in the opening game of their series against Virginia Tech but were still on the bubble for a national seed and needed to keep piling up wins if they wanted to be positioned to host until Omaha.
Benton Moss was on the hill for the Heels and an error on the first play of the game led to the Hokies getting an unearned run in the 1st inning. That was the end of their offense for the day.
Benton got a pair of strikeouts in that inning, then threw a scoreless 2nd with another pair of strikeouts. He threw a scoreless 3rd with another strikeout, a 1-2-3 4th with a K, and a 1-2-3 5th. But even after striking out 6 and only allowing 3 hits over the first 5 innings he still found himself in line for a loss at the halfway point.
In the bottom of the 5th with one out Cody Stubbs worked a full count and then drew a walk. On the very next pitch Shell McCain went deep to left to give the Heels a 2-1 lead.
That was all the offensive support Benton ended up getting, so he made it hold up. He threw a scoreless 6th with another strikeout. He threw a 1-2-3 7th. And he got the first 2 outs before exiting in the 8th.
Benton finished his day with 7.2 innings pitched where he struck out 8, didn't walk anybody, and only allowed 4 hits. The win pushed his freshman year record up to 6-2.
I think sometimes it gets lost in the shuffle what a great career Benton had for the Heels. He finished with a 26-6 career record and a 3.22 ERA. He's in the top 10 in program history for both wins and winning percentage. He ended up second in career strikeouts with 318, just behind Andrew Miller's 325. He's one of the best pitchers in Diamond Heels history and he certainly demonstrated it that night.
RC Orlan came on and struck out the only batter he faced to close out the 8th. Michael Morin came on for the 9th and per usual in 2012 when he came on the game was over. It took him 8 pitches to throw a scoreless inning to close it out.
The win gave the Heels their 8th conference series win out of 10, and also gave them their 8th straight ACC game win and 12th straight overall. A big part of the selection committee's criteria for things like the national seed the Heels were striving for is how you play in the closing stretch of the season, and they were making a pretty strong argument on that front.
The Heels only had 4 hits all day. Shell McCain hit a home run and a double, and Michael Russell and Chaz Frank hit singles. With the night Benton had on the mound, that was enough.
And quick hits from 2007, 2010, and 2018:
-The Heels entered the first game of their series at Maryland to close out ACC play tied with Virginia for the Coastal lead at 18-9. The Heels won 6-3 and took a half game lead in the division when Virginia got rained out. Garett Gore (including 2 runs and an RBI), Tim Federowicz (including 2 RBI), and Dustin Ackley (including a run and an RBI) each had 3 hits for the Heels. Kyle Shelton doubled and drove in a run and Benji Johnson doubled and scored a run.
Rob Wooten came on with the bases loaded in the 6th and got a couple of strikeouts to get out of the inning, then threw a 1-2-3 7th and a 1-2-3 8th. He got the win for his 2.2 scoreless, hitless innings. Andrew Carignan came in for the 9th and threw a 1-2-3 inning where he struck out the side. The last 2 hitters he didn't even give a ball in earning his 11th save of the season.
-In 2010 the Heels beat Charlotte at the Bosh 8-4. Ryan Graepel had 4 hits, including a double, and drove in 2 runs and scored one. Seth Baldwin had a pair of hits and scored 2 runs. Levi Michael hit a solo home run, Brian Goodwin tripled and drove in and scored a run, Jacob Stallings singled and drove in a run, Tommy Coyle and Chaz Frank each singled and scored a run, and Ben Bunting had the other hit for the Heels.
Jimmy Messer got the win for 3 innings of scoreless relief where he struck out 4 and only allowed 1 hit. Nate Striz threw a scoreless 7th, Zach Bernard and Colin Bates teamed up for a scoreless 8th, Colin got the first 2 outs of the 9th, and Greg Holt retired the last 49er of the game to close it out.
-In 2018 the Heels clinched their regular season closing series against Virginia Tech with an 11-2 win at the Bosh. Kyle Datres (including a triple, a double, 2 runs and an RBI) and Michael Busch (including 3 runs and 2 RBI) each had 4 hits. Ashton McGee's 3 hits included a home run and a double and 3 RBI. Zack Gahagan and Dallas Tessar each singled and scored a pair of runs, and Kip Brandenburg singled and scored a run as well.
Austin Bergner got the win, making him 6-2 on the season, for 6 innings where he allowed only 3 hits and 1 earned run. Caden O'Brien threw 2 scoreless innings and Joey Lancellotti threw a scoreless 9th to close out the win, the series, and a 5 hit combined outing for the pitching staff. The victory gave the Heels 7 straight home series wins over Virginia Tech since they joined the ACC, with a combined record of 19-1.
Players Mentioned
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