University of North Carolina Athletics
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: June 16
June 16, 2020 | Baseball
June 16
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2006, 2009, and 2018 for a wild 13 inning win in the Omaha debut of the Mike Fox era, a record breaking game for Dustin Ackley, and an upset victory over long time Heels nemesis Oregon State.
On June 16th, 2006 the Heels faced off against  perennial Omaha team Cal State-Fullerton in their first College World Series game in 17 years. And it was quite a game.
Things immediately got off to a good start for the Heels. Reid Fronk hit the first pitch he saw out of the ballpark to give the Heels a 1-0 lead in the 1st. With 2 outs Chad Flack doubled and then Jay Cox singled to bring him in for an early 2-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the inning future big league star Justin Turner hit a leadoff single for the Titans and eventually came around to score. They still had runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out but Andrew Miller got a grounder to get the Heels out of the inning with the lead.
Seth Williams singled to lead off the 2nd and just like Reid Fronk had an inning earlier, Benji Johnson knocked the first pitch he ever got in the College World Series into the stands to push the early Heels lead up to 4-1.
The Titans got a solo shot in the 2nd to get within 4-2, then hit a 3 run blast in the 3rd to go ahead 5-4. The coaches stuck with Andrew Miller after that rocky start though, and that proved to be the right choice. He settled in, throwing a 1-2-3 4th.
In the 5th Garrett Gore hit a leadoff single and Mike Cavasinni bunted him over to 2nd. After an out Josh Horton came up with 2 down and fell behind 1-2 in the count. But then he came up with a big single to right center to bring Garrett home and tie the game at 5.
Andrew allowed just a 2 out walk in the 5th. The 6th brought another 2 out walk, and Andrew promptly picked the guy off. Justin Turner hit a one out single in the 7th but Andrew retired the next 2 guys in order.Â
Andrew struck out the first Titan of the 8th and hit 124 pitches so he had to come out even though he was cruising by that point. After a tough first 3 innings, he threw 4.1 scoreless innings to finish out his start, allowing only 1 hit and striking out 6. It was a great in game bounce back.
Jonathan Hovis came in and allowed a single to the first guy he faced, but then had a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Jonathan got the first 2 outs of the 9th but then Justin Turner doubled and the Heels issued the next guy an intentional pass to set up the force at all bases. Jonathan didn't end up needing that though- he got a pop up to end the threat and send the game on to extras.
The bottom of the 10th got stressful too. The Titans got a lead off single and bunted him over to 2nd. After getting the second out of the inning on a fly out the Heels again intentionally walked the next hitter to set up a force everywhere. This time they took advantage- the ball was hit to Josh Horton at short who threw to Garrett Gore at 2nd for the force to end the inning. Jonathan went 2.2 scoreless innings where he allowed 5 base runners but got the outs when he needed to to keep Fullerton off the scoreboard.
I haven't been writing anything about the Heels hitting because there's nothing to write about- from the 6th to the 12th they only had 2 hits and neither of those guys ended up in scoring position. The Titans were constantly threatening to walk it off and after hitting so well at the start of the game the Heels weren't doing anything in return.
In the bottom of the 11th things really got dicey. The Titans got a leadoff walk and the guy stole 2nd. Matt Danford was on to pitch and he struck out Justin Turner, but Turner reached anyway when the throw to first to complete the play bounced off the back of his head. The next batter hit into a FC to move the lead runner up to 3rd with 1 out.
I was watching the game with a friend in Raleigh and I just couldn't stand to see us lose, which I felt like surely was about to happen. So we went to get hot donuts from Krispy Kreme to compensate for our disappointment. And when we got back half an hour or so later we were shocked to see that the game was still going.
Here's how it happened: Matt threw a pickoff attempt down to 3rd and the runner just got caught off the base. He broke for home and was thrown out for the second out of the inning. Then Matt struck out the next batter...which should have ended the threat but for the second time in the inning the ball got away on a strikeout, putting runners on 1st and 3rd. The Heels issued an intentional walk to the next hitter to load the bases. Matt got a fly out from the next guy to end it and send the game on to the 12th.Â
The Titans got 5 different guys on base over the course of the inning, the Heels essentially gave them 5 outs, and yet somehow still none of them ever came home. And I still don't think I've ever seen the conclusion of that inning because I was out depressed/stressed buying donuts!
The bottom of the 12th was much calmer. The Titans got a runner on thanks to a one out error but Matt got the next guy and then Tim Federowicz retired the runner trying to steal to end the inning.Â
It had been 8 innings since the Heels even had a runner in scoring position but that changed in the 13th. Mike Cavasinni hit a leadoff single to get things started and Reid Fronk followed with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Josh Horton made it 3 singles in a row and scored Cavi for a 6-5 lead and Chad Flack extended the streak to 4 in a row, loading the bases. After an out Tim Federowicz singled to bring in Reid and the Heels went to the bottom of the 13th up 7-5.
Andrew Carignan came in to close it out. He got a strikeout to start the inning before Justin Turner reached on his 4th hit of the day. He followed that up with another strikeout to get the Titans down to their last hitter, but another single put the tying run on base and brought the winning run to the plate. Finally a flyball to left ended the game after 4 hours and 53 minutes, a little after midnight on the east coast, to send the Heels into the winners bracket. At the time it was the second longest game in College World Series history.
Matt Danford got the win for 2 scoreless innings where he didn't allow any hits and got out of one heck of a pickle to keep the Heels from losing in the 11th. Matt's role for the team had been downgraded a little bit his junior year after being the closer his sophomore year and he had a difficult season but when the stakes were highest he rose to the occasion. The win made him 7-1 for the year. Andrew Carignan got his 14th save.
Chad Flack (including a double and a run) and Josh Horton (including a pair of RBI and the game winner) led the way for the Heels with 3 hits each. Reid Fronk (including a home run, 2 runs, and an RBI) and Mike Cavasinni (including the game winning run) each had a pair of hits. Benji Johnson hit a 2 run homer, Tim Federowicz and Jay Cox each singled and drove in a run, and Garrett Gore and Seth Williams each singled and scored a run. Every Heel starter got a hit eventually. The win pushed the team to 51–13 on the season.Â
On June 16, 2009 the Heels took on Southern Mississippi, trying to keep their time in Omaha going. They dominated the game right from the start. Ben Bunting walked to lead it off and moved up to 2nd on a wild pitch. Dustin Ackley singled to bring him home and give the Heels a 1-0 lead.
Adam Warren was the starting pitcher and threw a scoreless 1st. In the 2nd the Heels came back for more. Seth Baldwin drew a 2 out walk and Ben Bunting singled to put 2 runners on base. That brought up Dustin Ackley and for the second inning in a row he got a run scoring hit, doubling to bring Seth around and make it 2-0. He also tied Stanford's Sam Fuld for the all time College World Series hits record with that one.
Adam threw a 1-2-3 2nd and in the 3rd the Heels really poured it on. Ryan Graepel drew a 2 out walk to keep the inning alive and Mike Cavasinni singled to move him into scoring position. Seth Baldwin singled to score Ryan and put runners on the corners, and then he stole 2nd. That put two runners in scoring position for Ben Bunting and he singled to bring them both home and make it 5-0.
That brought up Dustin Ackley with a chance to take the all time CWS hits record all for himself and he went ahead and did it with a single to left that scored Ben to increase the lead to 6-0 and make it 3 hits in 3 innings for him to set the new record.
The Golden Eagles got a couple runners on base with 1 out in the 3rd but Adam got a foul out and a strikeout to end the threat. In the 4th Mark Fleury and Garrett Gore hit back to back singles with 1 out and moved into scoring position on a deep flyball by Levi Michael. Ryan Graepel hit a big 2 out single to bring them both home and make it 8-0.
Southern Miss scored scored 3 runs in the 4th but Adam followed up that setback with a 1-2-3 5th and a 1-2-3 6th, tallying three strikeouts over those two innings. He threw 6 innings and struck out 6 while allowing only 3 hits in the final appearance of his great Tar Heel career, finishing his senior season with a 10-2 record.Â
In the 7th the Heels got back to their hitting. Ben Bunting singled to lead off the inning and Dustin Ackley got the 5th hit of his record breaking day, singling to put runners on the corners with no one out. Kyle Seager singled to score Ben and Mark Fleury hit a sac fly to score Dusty and get the lead back up to 10-3.
Colin Bates threw a scoreless 7th, erasing a one out walk on a double play. The Golden Eagles got one back in the 8th to make it 10-4. But in the 9th Kyle Seager hit a solo shot to take it right back to 11-4.
Patrick Johnson came on for the 9th and got the first 2 outs on a double play after a leadoff single. Nate Striz came in to get the last out of the game and only needed 2 pitches to get a groundout that sealed the win and allowed the Heels to improve their record for the season to 48-17.
The Heels had 23 hits in the game. Dustin Ackley had 5 of them, including a double, and drove in 3 runs and scored one. Ryan Graepel had a 4 hit game, driving in a pair of runs and scoring one. Ben Bunting had 3 hits and scored 3 times and drove in a pair of runs.Â
Kyle Seager (including a home run, 2 RBI, and a run), Garrett Gore (including a double and a run), Mark Fleury (including an RBI and a run), and Mike Cavasinni (including a run) each had a pair of hits. Â
Seth Baldwin singled, scored 2 runs, and drove one in and Jacob Stallings and Levi Michael had singles as well to round out all 10 Heels who came to the plate in the game getting at least one hit.Â
On June 16, 2018 the Heels played their first College World Series game in 5 years against Oregon State, a longtime Heels Omaha rival and a strong team widely viewed as a strong favorite in the game. The Beavers got a run in the 1st and Luca Dalatri had to leave the game before the inning was over because of an injury. Caden O'Brien came in with runners on the corners and 2 out and got a groundball back to him to end the inning.
The Heels bounced back quickly. Zack Gahagan singled to lead off the 2nd and Brandon Martorano drew a walk. Ashton McGee bunted both the runners into scoring position and that allowed a Ben Casparius groundball to bring Zack home and tie up the game.
Caden threw a scoreless 2nd with a pair of strikeouts and in the 3rd the Heels blew the game open. Michael Busch got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Cody Roberts singled to put runners on the corners. A Brandon Riley sac fly gave the Heels a 2-1 lead. Ike Freeman followed by singling, moving Cody up to 3rd. And that allowed him to come home on a passed ball, pushing the advantage to 3-1.
The Heels still had a runner on 2nd with just 1 out and Zack Gahagan singled for the second inning in a row to put runners back on the corners. Brandon Martorano got hit by a pitch to load the bases. An Ashton McGee sac fly made it 4-1 and then Ben Casparius came up with a big 2 out single that was going to score Zack already and then the center fielder misplayed it so Brandon was able to come around too, making it 6-1.
The Beavers quickly got 3 runs back to make it 6-4. After that the Heels relievers settled in though. Brett Daniels threw a scoreless 4th and Joey Lancellotti threw a scoreless 5th. In the 6th the Beavers got runners on 1st and 2nd with one out and the Heels turned to Josh Hiatt early. He got the first hitter he faced to line into a double play to end the inning.
In the 7th Ike Freeman hit a leadoff single and Zack Gahagan bunted him into scoring position. Brandon Martorano reached on an error and the Heels had runners on 1st and 2nd with one down. Ashton McGee singled to score Ike and make it 7-4. And Ben Casparius singled to score Brandon and make it 8-4.
Oregon State did not go away easily. In the bottom of the 7th they scored a pair of runs to get to within 8-6 and then reloaded the bases with 2 outs. You're as good as done if you lose the first game in Omaha so the Heels went ahead and turned the ball over to Cooper Criswell even though he'd been the Friday starter for the last month of the season and was probably slated to start the next game. He got a strikeout to end the threat and send the game to the 8th with the Heels still ahead by two runs.
The Beavers drew a leadoff walk in the 8th... and then Brandon Martorano made a huge play, picking him off first. That's some Jacob Stallings stuff right there, the greatest compliment you can give a Tar Heel catcher's defense. It became especially important because the next hitter singled. But instead of 2 runners on with no outs, it was just one runner on with one out. And Cooper got a strikeout and then a groundout from future number one overall draft pick Adley Rutschman to end the inning without any damage.
Cooper made it look easy in the 9th. He got ahead against all three Beaver hitters and got a trio of ground outs for a pretty stress free conclusion to the game, giving the Heels an 8-6 win and sending them on to the winners bracket. He got his first save of the year and Caden O'Brien got the win, improving his record to 7-0.
I experienced this game in an unusual way. A beloved cousin had her wedding scheduled in the North Carolina mountains that day so I just had to get a flight from Greenville, SC to Omaha the Sunday of opening weekend. I hoped we wouldn't play the first day but we did and I was out of luck
Compounding the issue was that the reception was somewhere with no cell reception at all. So not only could I not be at the game, not only could I not watch the game, I had no clue whatsoever what was even happening in the game. Finally I just couldn't take it anymore and snuck out of the reception to drive to the post office where I knew there was WiFi and see what happened in the game. I was pleasantly surprised to see we were up 8-4...and also surprised that the game was still only in the 7th inning! It ended up lasting 4 hours and 24 minutes.
So I went back to the wedding and eventually my Grandmother who I was in charge of transporting said she was ready to go back down the mountain. I said great but we're going to have to go to the post office, which was not on the way home, first so we could see if the Tar Heels won their baseball game. I'm sure she thought that was a little ridiculous but she was a good sport about it and after I got the good news we headed down to Greenville happy because it was a lovely wedding and even though I didn't see it, it was a lovely baseball game too!
Ike Freeman led the way for the Heels with 3 hits, scoring 2 runs. Ben Casparius (including 3 RBI), Zack Gahagan (including 2 runs), and Cody Roberts (including a run) each had a pair of hits. Ashton McGee had a single and drove in a pair of runs and Kyle Datres had a single as well. Brandon Martorano scored a pair of runs, Michael Busch scored one, and Brandon Riley drove in a run.
