This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: May 9

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 9
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2008 for a big series opening win in Charlottesville and to 2017 for a come from behind walkoff win at the Bosh. Plus quick hits from 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010.

In 2006 and 2007 the Diamond Heels made it to the finals of the College World Series both years. And they lost their series to Virginia both years. So when they went to Charlottesville on May 9, 2008 they were trying to accomplish something that even those amazing teams hadn't been able to.

Things started off well for the Heels. Dustin Ackley singled to lead off the game, stole 2nd, and went to 3rd on a sacrifice by Kyle Shelton. Tim Fedroff singled to bring him in, stole 2nd himself, and came around to score on an error to make it 2-0.

Virginia got the runs back in the bottom of the first and then scored another in the 2nd to take a 3-2 lead. That concluded their scoring for the day.

Alex White threw a 1-2-3 3rd. Chad Flack and Kyle Seager singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out in the 4th. A Tim Federowicz grounder moved them both up a base and tied the game at 3.

After an out the situation was a runner on 2nd with 2 down. Seth Williams hit an infield single to put runners on the corners and on the next pitch Garrett Gore hit his own single to score Kyle and give the Heels a 4-3 lead.

That brought up Dustin Ackley with a couple runners on base and after falling behind in the count 1-2 he doubled down the left field line to score both Seth and Garrett and make it 6-3.

Alex threw a scoreless 4th. And a scoreless 5th. And a 1-2-3 6th. He finished his day going 6 innings, striking out 8, and allowing only 1 hit after the 2nd inning. The eventual win pushed his record to 8-2 on the season.

In the 7th the Heels got some insurance. The Hoos mitigated the damage Dustin Ackley could do to them by just hitting him. Just as he had in the 1st Kyle Shelton bunted him over to 2nd. This time Chad Flack singled to bring him around and make the score 7-3.

Virginia got runners on 1st and 2nd to start the 7th but Brian Moran got a fly out, a strike out, and another fly out to retire the side in order without any damage.

In the 8th the Heels put the game away for good. Tim Federowicz walked and moved to 2nd on a balk, Ryan Graepel singled to put runners on the corners, and Seth Williams got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Garett Gore singled to bring in Tim and Dustin Ackley hit a sac fly to bring in Ryan and make it 9-3.

Brian Moran threw a 1-2-3 8th. Rob Wooten came in for the 9th, got the first 2 outs, gave up a couple hits, and then struck out the last hitter of the game swinging to close out the win and put this version of the Heels in position to do something even the mighty 2006 and 2007 teams hadn't- win a series against Virginia.

Dustin Ackley (including a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs), Garrett Gore (including a pair of RBI), and Chad Flack each had a pair of hits for the Heels. In total for the game 9 different guys had hits and 8 different guys scored runs, it was a night where everyone made a contribution.

On May 9, 2017 the Heels hosted Davidson for their first game in a week after the exam break. The Wildcats made it clear early they weren't going to be an easy out, scoring a pair of runs in the 1st.

In the bottom of the 2nd Cody Roberts, Zack Gahagan, and Michael Busch all walked to load the bases with 1 out. A Brian Miller sac fly scored Cody to cut the deficit to 2-1.

But then Davidson hit a solo home run to get the lead back to 3-1 in the 3rd. They were threatening to get more in the 4th when Rodney Hutchison came into the game with runners on 1st and 2nd but he got a fly out and a ground out to end the threat and keep the deficit at 2 runs.

Rodney also threw a scoreless 5th and a scoreless 6th, finishing his day with 2.2 vital shutout innings where he struck out 3. The Heels didn't get any hits between the 3rd and 5th innings- and in fact had no hits for the game- so it was important that he kept them close.

In the bottom of the 6th Zack Gahagan drew a 2 out walk, Brandon Martorano worked one as well, and Brian Miller hit a ball to 2nd that got thrown away, allowing Zack to come in and score. The Heels still didn't have any hits, but they at least cut the deficit to 3-2.

But then in the top of the 7th the Wildcats got a couple of runs to push the lead right back to 5-2. Finally with 2 down in the bottom of the inning Brandon Riley hit a double to break up the no hitter, and Ashton McGee made it 2 hits in a row with a single to score him and make it 5-3.

Davidson got the run right back in the 8th to make it 6-3 and then the Heels loaded the bases but couldn't get anyone across in the bottom of the inning to send the game to the 9th down by 3.

Trevor Gay came on to pitch in the 9th and had a 1-2-3 inning where he struck out the side. Brandon Riley and Ashton McGee walked to lead off the 9th. A Cody Roberts flyball moved Brandon to 3rd and a Zack Gahagan sac fly scored him to cut the deficit to 6-4 but that left the Heels with 2 outs and just a runner on 1st.

Ashton moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. Adam Pate fell behind 1-2 to take the Heels down to their last pitch but then he took one and followed it up with a single through the left side that brought home Ashton and made it 6-5.

Brian Miller was up next and he fell behind 0-2, again bringing the Heels to their last pitch. But he singled through the left side as well, moving Adam up to 2nd.

That brought up Logan Warmoth. He fell behind 1-2, bringing the Heels to the brink once again. He took a ball. Then he fouled one off. And then he fouled another one off. And then he fouled another one off.

On the 8th 2 strike, 2 out count pitch of the inning Logan singled through the right side to bring Adam home and tie up the game.

Josh Hiatt came out for the 10th and retired the side in order, finishing the inning with a strikeout.

In the bottom of the 10th Kyle Datres led off and fell behind 1-2, fouled one off, and took three pitches in a row to work a walk to lead off the inning. Then Brandon Riley walked as well.

That brought up Ashton McGee with runners on 1st and 2nd. Ashton already had one walkoff hit against an in state rival his freshman year, beating ECU to win a marathon game the month before.

Here he did it again- he doubled to left center to bring home Kyle and give the Heels a 7-6 win in a game that they were repeatedly on the verge of losing but always fought back in.

Josh Hiatt got the win for his scoreless 10th. Rodney Hutchison's scoreless 2.2 innings to keep the game close early and Trevor Gay's perfect 9th were essential to the comeback as well.

Ashton was the only Heel with multiple hits, including his game winning double. Even though the Heels had just 6 hits for the day after getting no hit for the first 6.2 innings, each of them contributed to runs scoring, so the hits they did have were productive ones.

I have heard rumors that UNC might have played some other games against Davidson in the 2017 season but this is the only one I'm aware of!

And quick hits from 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010:

-In 2006 the Heels beat Campbell 6-3. Reid Fronk (including a home run and a couple RBI) and Chad Flack each had a pair of hits. Benji Johnson and Josh Horton both hit solo home runs.

Adam Warren started and threw 5.1 solid innings but Matt Danford got the win for retiring all 5 batters he faced after coming in with a runner on 2nd and 1 out in the 6th, including striking out two of them. Andrew Carignan threw a 1-2-3 9th to earn his 12th save of the season.

-In 2007 the Heels went to Greenville and beat ECU 5-1 to sweep the regular season series. Matt Danford got the win that day too, going 3.2 innings and striking out 5 while allowing just a pair of hits. That gave him a 4-0 record for the season. Tim Federowicz struck out 6 in 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Andrew Carignan came on with runners on the corners in the 7th and got a strikeout to end the threat, then threw a scoreless 8th. Alex White got to pitch the 9th in his home town and got a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts to close it out.

All of the Heels runs came on the long ball. Before his stellar relief outing Tim Federowicz got things started for the Heels with a 2 run bomb in the 1st- this game was one of his most impressive displays of 2 way ability. Chad Flack hit a solo shot in the 2nd, and Reid Fronk hit a 2 run blast in the 5th.

The Heels and Pirates would meet one more memorable time that season in Chapel Hill.

-In 2009 the Heels evened the series in Raleigh with a 5-2 win over State. Adam Warren had a good start, striking out 7 in 5.1 innings on the eve of his graduation day to earn the win.

Brian Moran was even more impressive. He came in with runners on 1st and 2nd in a 3-2 game with 1 out in the 6th and proceeded to retire the last 11 State hitters of the game in order for his third save of the season.

The coaching staff had decided to pitch Jacob Stallings Thursday night in extra innings against Longwood instead of stretching out Brian in case he was needed for an extended outing like this in Raleigh, and he rose to the occasion.

The Heels only had 3 hits all day, but they drew 11 walks. Dustin Ackley had a triple and walked a couple times and scored a couple runs. Mark Fleury singled and walked a couple times and drove in a run. Levi Michael singled and drove in a run. Kyle Seager walked 3 times and scored twice, and Ryan Graepel drew a pair of walks and drove in a pair of runs. Patience paid off that night for the Heels.

-And in 2010 the Heels completed a sweep of Wake Forest at the Bosh with an 8-4 win. Patrick Johnson went 7 innings and struck out 8 while allowing only a pair of runs for the win. Michael Morin finished the game with 2 innings where he allowed just 1 hit.

Jacob Stallings and Ben Bunting each had quite a day at the plate. Jacob hit a home run and 2 doubles and drove in 4. Ben had a home run, a double, and a single and scored twice. Levi Michael also had a pair of hits and Mike Cavasinni, Ryan Graepel, Tommy Coyle, and Brian Goodwin each had one to round out the day for the Heels bats.

The sweep got the Heels ACC record to 11-13, thanks to a 4 game winning streak after it had dropped to 7–13 two weeks earlier. Hopes for an NCAA tournament bid were on the rise.

Players Mentioned

Michael Busch

Kyle Datres

Zack Gahagan

Josh Hiatt

Brandon Martorano

Ashton McGee

Brandon Riley

Cody Roberts

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