University of North Carolina Athletics
Coach Fox is interviewed on the CBS Radio Network
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: June 24
June 24, 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.
June 24
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2006 for the only win in the College World Series finals in program history, thanks to a huge day from Matt Danford, Jonathan Hovis, and Andrew Carignan in the bullpen and 4 hits from Chad Flack.
On June 24, 2006 the Heels took on Oregon State in the opener of the College World Series finals. Andrew Miller was on the hill for the Heels. The Beavers got runners to 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the opening frame but then Andrew got a double play to end the inning.
With 2 outs in the bottom half Josh Horton worked a four pitch walk to keep the inning going. Chad Flack singled to move Josh to 2nd and on the pitch after that Jay Cox singled to bring him home. Tim Federowicz followed up by making it three singles on three straight pitches, scoring Chad to give the Heels an early 2-0 lead.
Andrew allowed 2 singles in the 2nd but still faced the minimum number of batters- he picked off the first one and then he got a double play to erase the second one. The Beavers did get a run back in the 3rd but Andrew threw a 1-2-3 4th with a pair of strikeouts and then threw a scoreless 5th where all the Beavers could muster was a one out walk.
In the 6th Oregon State hit a two run homer to take the lead at 3-2 and immediately after that the nightly thunderstorm came, causing a delay of more than an hour that forced Andrew to come out when the game resumed.
Matt Danford came on in relief and walked the first guy he faced and following a bunt to move the runner up issued an intentional walk that put two runners on base with one out. Setting up the force worked out exactly the way the Heels hoped- Matt got a grounder to short to force the runner at second for the second out of the inning, and then he got another grounder to short to force the runner at second again to end the threat and keep the Heels within a run.
In the bottom of the inning the Heels battled back. Chad Flack and Jay Cox singled on the first two pitches of the frame to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. But that elation quickly turned to disappointment with a double play. That brought Seth Williams to the plate with a runner on 3rd and 2 down. He worked a full count and then came up with a huge single to bring Chad home and tie the game back up at 3.
Matt came back out for the 7th and got the first two outs. Jonathan Hovis came on with a runner on 1st and the inning wrapped up without him actually having to retire a better because Tim Federowicz threw out the runner trying to steal 2nd.
In the 8th the Beavers got a leadoff single and bunted him into scoring position. Jonathan got a grounder for the second out that forced the runner to stay put and then issued an intentional walk. Then he got a groundout to first to end the threat with the game still tied.
In the bottom of the 8th Chad Flack, who already had 3 hits on the night, once again came up big on the game's greatest stage. He hit a leadoff triple and then scrambled home on a passed ball to give the Heels a 4-3 lead.
Jonathan came back out for the 9th and issued a leadoff walk before getting the first out of the inning on a bunt that moved the runner up to 2nd. Andrew Carignan came on to try to close the game out, and he did it in his typical dominant fashion. He struck out future big leaguer Darwin Barney swinging for the second out of the inning. And he got another swinging strike out to end the game and give the Heels their first and so far only win ever in the College World Series finals.
Andrew got his 15th save of the season for his dominant performance. Jonathan Hovis got the win for his 1.2 scoreless innings of work to go to 8-2 for the year in his incredible senior season where he posted a 1.17 ERA. Matt Danford's 1.2 scoreless innings after Andrew Miller had to come out early because of the lightning delay were also critical to the Heels getting the win.
Chad Flack led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a triple, scoring 3 of the team's runs. Jay Cox also had a pair of hits and drove in a run. Garrett Gore had a double, Tim Federowicz and Seth Williams each singled and drove in a run, and Reid Fronk had a single to round out the hits for the Heels. The win improved the team's record to 54-13 for the season and gave them a 9-0 start to NCAA Tournament play.
Of course we didn't end up winning the championship that year and despite a run of amazing teams we still haven't quite won the last game of the season. But I think Coach Fox had a great perspective once when someone asked him how disappointed he was not to have won a College World Series. He said he wouldn't trade the fact that almost every player who's come into the program during his tenure as coach has gotten to experience going to Omaha in exchange for just one group of his players getting to win the whole thing.
And he's right- there is a grand total of *one* player (sorry Adam Pate, you deserved better!) who came into this program between 2003 and 2018 and played four years and didn't get to go to Omaha. That is a pretty amazing fact and something very few places in the country can match. So we've been incredibly lucky to have this sustained run of success- and especially to win this many games while also always having a team full of high character players who make us proud with the way they conduct themselves both on and off the field.
And we'll win the last game of the season one of these years and when we do it will certainly be about the kids on the team that year- but it will also be about all the ones I've written about over the last three months who set the standard of excellence for our program moving forward. They've made every day a Great Day To Be A Tar Heel for Carolina Baseball fans over the last couple decades.
June 24
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2006 for the only win in the College World Series finals in program history, thanks to a huge day from Matt Danford, Jonathan Hovis, and Andrew Carignan in the bullpen and 4 hits from Chad Flack.
On June 24, 2006 the Heels took on Oregon State in the opener of the College World Series finals. Andrew Miller was on the hill for the Heels. The Beavers got runners to 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the opening frame but then Andrew got a double play to end the inning.
With 2 outs in the bottom half Josh Horton worked a four pitch walk to keep the inning going. Chad Flack singled to move Josh to 2nd and on the pitch after that Jay Cox singled to bring him home. Tim Federowicz followed up by making it three singles on three straight pitches, scoring Chad to give the Heels an early 2-0 lead.
Andrew allowed 2 singles in the 2nd but still faced the minimum number of batters- he picked off the first one and then he got a double play to erase the second one. The Beavers did get a run back in the 3rd but Andrew threw a 1-2-3 4th with a pair of strikeouts and then threw a scoreless 5th where all the Beavers could muster was a one out walk.
In the 6th Oregon State hit a two run homer to take the lead at 3-2 and immediately after that the nightly thunderstorm came, causing a delay of more than an hour that forced Andrew to come out when the game resumed.
Matt Danford came on in relief and walked the first guy he faced and following a bunt to move the runner up issued an intentional walk that put two runners on base with one out. Setting up the force worked out exactly the way the Heels hoped- Matt got a grounder to short to force the runner at second for the second out of the inning, and then he got another grounder to short to force the runner at second again to end the threat and keep the Heels within a run.
In the bottom of the inning the Heels battled back. Chad Flack and Jay Cox singled on the first two pitches of the frame to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. But that elation quickly turned to disappointment with a double play. That brought Seth Williams to the plate with a runner on 3rd and 2 down. He worked a full count and then came up with a huge single to bring Chad home and tie the game back up at 3.
Matt came back out for the 7th and got the first two outs. Jonathan Hovis came on with a runner on 1st and the inning wrapped up without him actually having to retire a better because Tim Federowicz threw out the runner trying to steal 2nd.
In the 8th the Beavers got a leadoff single and bunted him into scoring position. Jonathan got a grounder for the second out that forced the runner to stay put and then issued an intentional walk. Then he got a groundout to first to end the threat with the game still tied.
In the bottom of the 8th Chad Flack, who already had 3 hits on the night, once again came up big on the game's greatest stage. He hit a leadoff triple and then scrambled home on a passed ball to give the Heels a 4-3 lead.
Jonathan came back out for the 9th and issued a leadoff walk before getting the first out of the inning on a bunt that moved the runner up to 2nd. Andrew Carignan came on to try to close the game out, and he did it in his typical dominant fashion. He struck out future big leaguer Darwin Barney swinging for the second out of the inning. And he got another swinging strike out to end the game and give the Heels their first and so far only win ever in the College World Series finals.
Andrew got his 15th save of the season for his dominant performance. Jonathan Hovis got the win for his 1.2 scoreless innings of work to go to 8-2 for the year in his incredible senior season where he posted a 1.17 ERA. Matt Danford's 1.2 scoreless innings after Andrew Miller had to come out early because of the lightning delay were also critical to the Heels getting the win.
Chad Flack led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a triple, scoring 3 of the team's runs. Jay Cox also had a pair of hits and drove in a run. Garrett Gore had a double, Tim Federowicz and Seth Williams each singled and drove in a run, and Reid Fronk had a single to round out the hits for the Heels. The win improved the team's record to 54-13 for the season and gave them a 9-0 start to NCAA Tournament play.
Of course we didn't end up winning the championship that year and despite a run of amazing teams we still haven't quite won the last game of the season. But I think Coach Fox had a great perspective once when someone asked him how disappointed he was not to have won a College World Series. He said he wouldn't trade the fact that almost every player who's come into the program during his tenure as coach has gotten to experience going to Omaha in exchange for just one group of his players getting to win the whole thing.
And he's right- there is a grand total of *one* player (sorry Adam Pate, you deserved better!) who came into this program between 2003 and 2018 and played four years and didn't get to go to Omaha. That is a pretty amazing fact and something very few places in the country can match. So we've been incredibly lucky to have this sustained run of success- and especially to win this many games while also always having a team full of high character players who make us proud with the way they conduct themselves both on and off the field.
And we'll win the last game of the season one of these years and when we do it will certainly be about the kids on the team that year- but it will also be about all the ones I've written about over the last three months who set the standard of excellence for our program moving forward. They've made every day a Great Day To Be A Tar Heel for Carolina Baseball fans over the last couple decades.
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