This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: June 21

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.

June 21
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2006, 2007, and 2008 for a win that sent the Heels to the College World Series finals thanks to a pair of home runs by Jay Cox, another win that sent the Heels to the finals thanks to 4 home runs and great pitching by Adam Warren and Andrew Carignan, and one last clutch June home run by Chad Flack to keep the Heels' season alive- as well as the continuation of a remarkable streak for Alex White.

On June 21, 2006 the Heels took on Cal State-Fullerton, needing a win to get to the College World Series finals. Even with a loss though, the Heels would get another shot the next day if necessary. They were in the driver's seat because they won their first two games.

Daniel Bard was on the mound for the Heels and threw a scoreless first. The Titans scored a couple runs in the 2nd but it could have been worse. They still had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out and future big league star Justin Turner at the plate but Daniel got him to fly out and then got a ground out to avoid any further damage.

The Heels bats blew up in the 3rd. Mike Cavasinni reached on an error to lead off the inning and Reid Fronk singled on the next pitch to put runners on the corners. A Josh Horton single scored Cavi to get the Heels within 2-1.

After an out Jay Cox came to the plate with two runners on base. And he knocked the ball out of the park to left center for a three run blast that gave the Heels a 4-2 lead. And his day was just getting started.

Fullerton got a run in the bottom of the inning to get back within 4-3. They threatened again in the 4th, hitting a pair of singles with 2 outs. But Daniel got a pop out from future big leaguer Brett Pill to end the inning with the Heels still on top.

In the 5th Jay Cox led off the inning by hitting his second home run of the game, getting the Heels lead back to 5-3. Tim Federowicz was up next and hit a solo shot of his own to make it back to back jacks and extend the advantage to 6-3.

Daniel gave up a lead off single in the bottom of the inning but then retired the side in order. In the 6th he pitched around a one out double for another scoreless inning.

The Titans got a double and a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out in the bottom of the 7th and the Heels turned the ball over to Jonathan Hovis. Both the runners came home but fortunately they both came home on outs- a ground out and a sac fly cut the Heels lead to 6-5 but further damage was avoided and they got out of the inning still ahead.

Fullerton hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the 8th and a grounder moved the runner over to 3rd with one out. With the tying run just 90 feet away, the Heels decided to go ahead and turn the game over to Andrew Carignan. Andrew fell behind 3-1 to the first hitter he faced and then the Titans decided to try to squeeze the run in. Andrew fielded the ball though and threw it home in time to get the out. Then he struck out the next hitter to end the inning and send the Heels to the 9th with the lead.

Andrew got a line out and a fly out for the first 2 outs of the inning. Then the Heels sent in a closer for the closer. Andrew Carignan had an incredible season- but Andrew Miller was the National Player of the Year. And because of the way the Omaha schedule is set up he hadn't pitched in five days and if he could get just one out there would be no need for him to pitch for another three days. So he came in to close the game.

It only took three pitches for Andrew to get a ground out and earn the first and only save of his Carolina career to send the Heels on to the College World Series finals against Oregon State. Daniel Bard got the win to go to 9-3 on the year and the Heels record for the season improved to 53-13.

Seth Williams had 3 hits for the Heels, including a double. Jay Cox drove in 4 runs on his pair of home runs. Tim Federowicz (including a home run, an RBI, and a run) and Josh Horton (including an RBI) each had a pair of hits as well. Chad Flack and Reid Fronk each singled and scored a run and Benji Johnson and Kyle Shelton had hits for the Heels as well.

On June 21, 2007 the Heels were trying to complete a remarkable comeback against Roce to make it to the finals of the College World Series for a second consecutive year against Oregon State. They had lost their winners bracket game against the Owls 14-4 but then clawed back with a win over Louisville thanks to an incredible performance by Luke Putkonen and then a win over Rice in the last start of Robert Woodard's great Tar Heel career. That set up a winner take all showdown with the Owls for the spot in the finals.

Adam Warren was on the mound for the Heels. He'd gotten the win in the Omaha opener thanks to a great performance in an unexpected long relief outing and he got off to a strong start again this day, setting Rice down 1-2-3 in the 1st and then in the 2nd as well.

Dustin Ackley went deep to lead off the bottom of the 2nd and give the Heels a 1-0 lead. But the Owls responded with a pair of runs in the 3rd to go up 2-1. Adam got future big leaguer Joe Savery to fly to left on a full count with runners still on 1st and 2nd to avoid any further damage.

The Heels punched right back in the bottom of the inning. Reid Fronk drew a leadoff four pitch walk. The Owl pitcher really wanted to get one across the plate after that and Tim Fedroff knocked it out of the park to left on the first pitch of the at bat to put the Heels back on top 3-2.

Rice hit a leadoff single in the 4th but Adam retired the side in order after that. In the bottom of the inning Seth Williams hit a solo shot to grow the Heels lead to 4-2.

Adam set down the Owls 1-2-3 in the 5th and in the bottom of the inning the Heels really blew the game open. Josh Horton went deep to lead off the inning, already the 4th home rim for the Heels not even half way through the game. That made it 5-2. Tim Federowicz and Dustin Ackley each walked, and Chad Flack bunted to move them into scoring position with one out. Kyle Seager fell behind 0-2 and then hit a single right back up the middle to put the Heels ahead 7-2.

Adam threw a scoreless 6th, pitching around a 2 out HBP. After allowing a leadoff walk in the 7th he left the game, having thrown 6 innings and allowed only 3 hits in the biggest game of his life to that point. The win made him 12-0, definitely the best year for a midweek starter in program history although by the time the season got to Omaha he was taking on duties of a much larger scope than midweek starting.

Rice got a couple runs after Adam left to get within 7-4 and still had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out and a chance to really get back into the game when the Heels turned the ball over to Andrew Carignan. Future big leaguer Joe Savery was the first guy he faced and Andrew struck him out looking to end the inning. It was basically over for the Owls after that.

Rice got a runner on with 1 out in the 8th thanks to an error but Andrew followed that up with a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning. He came back out for the 9th and gave the Owls nothing. He got a fly out on the first pitch of the inning. He got a groundout for the second out.

And it only took him one pitch to get a fly out from the last hitter of the game, earning his 18th save of the season and completing the improbable comeback for the Heels from the losers bracket to a second consecutive trip to the College World Series finals. Andrew retired 7 of 8 hitters he faced with the only exception being an error. It was quite an outing for the last save of his incredible Tar Heel career.

Dustin Ackley hit a home run and a double, scoring twice and driving in a run. Tim Fedroff homered and drove in a pair of runs and Seth Williams and Josh Horton each hit solo shots. Reid Fronk doubled and scored a run, Kyle Seager singled and drove in a pair of runs, and Garrett Gore had a single to round out the hitting for the Heels. The win pushed them to 57-14 on the season.

On June 21, 2008 the Heels took on Fresno State coming off a crazy win over LSU that took two days thanks to multiple rain delays and was finally decided by a Tim Federowicz grand slam to win it in the 9th. The Heels needed to beat the Bulldogs twice in order to make it to the finals for a third year in a row.

Matt Harvey had the start for the Heels- for the second game in a row. That's not something you see too often but he'd only been able to go two innings the day before prior to the rain delay taking him out of the game. He gave up a run in the 1st that allowed Fresno State to go up 1-0 but avoided further damage even though the Bulldogs still had runners on the corners with just one out. He followed that up with a 1-2-3 2nd and a 1-2-3 3rd.

The Bulldogs got a pair of runs in the 4th to go up 3-0 and it looked like the season really hung in the balance. But in the bottom of the inning the Heels stormed back. Chad Flack hit a one out double and Garrett Gore singled to put runners on the corners. Seth Williams singled to score Chad and get the Heels within 3-1, and Ryan Graepel drew a walk to load the bases. Dustin Ackley hit a grounder to short that scored Garrett and the Heels left the inning trailing only 3-2.

Matt threw a 1-2-3 5th to close out his day on a high note. Rob Wooten came on to replace him in the 6th and after the Bulldogs got runners on 1st and 2nd with two out he struck out their star hitter Tommy Mendonca to end the threat.

Fresno loaded the bases in the 7th, giving them the opportunity to put the game away. The Heels decided to go to Alex White from the bullpen for the second day in a row, no point in holding him for a start when a loss meant there would be no next day. He got a strikeout swinging for the second out and a strikeout swinging to end the inning, keeping the Heels in the game. Alex followed that up with a 1-2-3 8th.

From the 5th to the 7th the Heels didn't threaten much on offense and they were running out of time. But Kyle Seager doubled to lead off the 8th, putting the tying run in scoring position.

That brought up Chad Flack, at the end of his Tar Heel career. His sophomore year he hit a home run in the 8th inning at Alabama in the deciding game of Supers to give the Heels the lead, and then he did it again the next inning after they fell back behind in the top of the 9th to send them to Omaha for the first time in 17 years. His junior year he hit a home run against South Carolina to give the Heels the lead for good in the deciding game of Supers, which also happened to be the last game at the old Bosh, sending the Heels to Omaha again. And here in Omaha for the third and final time in his career he found that June magic one more time. After working a full count he absolutely blasted one out of the stadium to give the Heels a 4-3 lead.

With Alex White on the mound that pretty much constituted the end of the game. He got a groundout for the first out in the 9th, then concluded the night with a pair of swinging strikeouts to win the game and keep the season going for another day. The Heels won 3 games in Omaha in 2008 and remarkably Alex got the win in all three of them, one starting and two in relief. It's the best cumulative performance I can remember one of our pitchers having in the College World Series. This one pushed his record for the season to 13-3. He retired all 8 batters he faced, struck out 5 of them, and stranded the bases loaded when he came in.

Chad Flack (including a home run and a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs) and Dustin Ackley (including an RBI) each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Kyle Seager doubled and scored a run, Seth Williams singled and drove in a run, Garrett Gore singled and scored a run, and Tim Fedroff had a single to round out the hits for the Heels. The win made them 54–13 for the season.

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