University of North Carolina Athletics
Kyle Seager homered against ECU
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: June 6
June 6, 2020 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILLÂ - 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.Â
June 6
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2009 and 2010 for a dominant start to Supers against ECU in Alex White's final appearance at the Bosh and a win to stay alive in the Norman Regional.
When UNC and ECU faced off during the 2009 regular season at the Bosh, the night after the basketball team won the national championship, it was a 3-1 pitchers duel with the teams combining for a total of only 10 hits. When the teams saw each other on June 6, 2009 it was a very different kind of game for the bats- or the Tar Heel bats anyway.
Alex White started for the Heels. The Pirates got a leadoff walk in the 1st and then had runners on the corners with 2 out but Mark Fleury threw out the runner on 1st attempting to steal 2nd to get out of the inning. ECU got a solo home run to lead off the 2nd to go ahead 1-0 and got a runner to 3rd with 2 outs, but Alex got a groundout to strand him there. In the 3rd the Pirates threatened again with back to back 2 out singles to put runners on the corners but this time a strikeout erased the threat.
The Pirates started future big leaguer Seth Maness and he held the Heels at bay for the first couple innings. That changed though in the bottom of the 3rd- Mike Cavasinni ignited the offense with a 1 out double. Seth Baldwin followed with a single that brought Cavi around to tie the game. Ben Bunting hit into a FC and he replaced Seth on 1st with 2 outs.
The next 2 hitters due up were Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager, both playing their final career weekend at the Bosh and both about to become Seattle Mariners. Dusty singled to move Ben up to 2nd. And Kyle made it back to back singles with one to left that brought around Ben and gave the Heels their first lead of the day at 2-1.
Getting some offense seemed to help Alex settle in. He struck out the side in the 4th and followed that up with a 1-2-3 5th. The Pirates got back to back singles to start the 6th but Alex got a strikeout and then forced a double play to end the threat.
In the bottom of the 6th the offense put the game away for good. Ryan Graepel singled and Levi Michael doubled on the first 2 pitches of the inning to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Garrett Gore followed with a single to bring them both in. 4-1. Mike Cavasinni bunted to move Garrett up and ended up reaching himself. Seth Baldwin hit a ball to 2nd and the fielder threw it away. Garrett came in to score and Seth and Cavi both ended up in scoring position. 5-1. Ben Bunting put down a bunt and not only did it score Cavi to make it 6-1, he was also able to reach like Cavi did earlier in the inning on his bunt.Â
Then the Heels made a couple outs...and immediately started hitting again. Mark Fleury singled to score Seth. 7-1. In his second at bat of the inning Ryan Graepel got hit by a pitch to load the bases. And after falling behind 0-2 Levi Michael connected for a single to right to score Ben and Mark. That made it 9-1 and gave the Heels a 7 run inning.
2 Pirates reached base in the 7th but Alex got a strikeout to end the threat. And in some ways he was getting better as he went along. He threw a 1-2-3 8th. Kyle Seager hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to grow the lead to 9-1.
Alex came back out for the 9th and after allowing a leadoff single struck the next Pirate out. The coaches took him out of the game at that point so that he could walk off the mound at the Bosh for the final time and get the outpouring of love he deserved from the Tar Heel faithful for 3 incredible years in the program. He finished his day striking out 12 and allowing only 1 run in 8.1 innings. He'd had much more dominant days- he allowed 9 hits and 3 walks- but he got outs when he needed to and improved his record to 8-4 on the season.
Nate Striz came on and got a strike out looking and a strike out swinging to end the game and get the Heels one win from Omaha. There was a ton of purple and gold at the Bosh but they left without having much to feel good about.
Kyle Seager led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a home run, driving in a pair and scoring a run. Levi Michael's 3 hits included a pair of doubles and he drove in 2 and scored a run. Mike Cavasinni (including a double and 2 runs), Mark Fleury (including an RBI and a run), and Seth Baldwin (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits.
All nine starters for the Heels had at least one hit. Garrett Gore (including 2 RBI and a run), Ben Bunting (including a pair of runs), Ryan Graepel (including a run), and Dustin Ackley (including an RBI) each had hits as well. The win moved the Heels to 46-16 for the season.
On June 6, 2010 the Heels faced Oral Roberts in the Norman Regional, hoping to make it to the regional finals and keep their season alive. Chris Munnelly started on the mound and threw a 1-2-3 1st and a 1-2-3 2nd to get things off to a good start. The Golden Eagles got a runner to 3rd in the 3rd but Chris got a groundout to escape the threat and send the game on to the 4th (the Heels were the road team.)
Jacob Stallings drew a walk to get things started in the 4th and moved up to 2nd on a wild pitch and then to 3rd on a passed ball. Ben Bunting worked a walk of his own to put runners on the corners. Coach Jesse Wierzbicki singled to bring Jacob home and make it 1-0. With 2 outs Mike Cavasinni, on the last day of his 5 year Tar Heel baseball career, singled to score Ben and get the lead to 2-0.
Oral Roberts scored a couple runs to tie the game in the bottom of the inning and had a chance to go ahead with runners on 1st and 2nd still with one down. But Chris got a double play to end the inning and send the game on to the 5th.
The Heels blew it open in the 5th. Levi Michael hit a home run to lead off the inning and get the lead right back at 3-2. With 1 out Jacob Stallings singled and with 2 outs Coach Jesse Wierzbicki singled too to keep the inning alive.
That brought up Seth Baldwin. Jones Angell and Adam Lucas nicknamed him 'The Hammer,' and that was a perfect moniker. He could hit home runs and most of the time when he did they weren't cheap. If the Field Hockey stadium had been in Right Field at the Bosh when he was playing like it is now his shots would have sent people scattering during practice.
He liked the first pitch he saw in this situation and knocked it out of the park for a 3 run blast that extended the Heels lead to 6-2. Oral Roberts got a run in the bottom of the 5th to get within 6-3 but with runners on 1st and 2nd and the tying run at the plate Chris got a groundout to avoid further damage.
In the top of the 6th two of the Heels' most special seniors Mike Cavasinni and Ryan Graepel, playing the last day of their career, teamed up to put the game further out of reach. Cavi hit a single on the first pitch of the inning to get things started. Ryan followed with a triple to bring him around and make it 7-3. A Levi Michael sac fly scored Ryan too to get it to 8-3.
Oral Roberts got runners on 1st and 2nd to start the bottom of the 6th and the Heels went to the bullpen for Greg Holt. The first hitter he faced grounded out to move the runners into scoring position and then Greg came up with a pair of strikeouts to leave them there and preserve the 5 run lead. The Golden Eagles got runners on 1st and 2nd to lead off the 7th but Greg got a double play and then Zach Bernard came in to get a pop out to end the inning and again keep them off the board.
The Heels had one last rally left in them in the 8th. Levi Michael got hit by a pitch, Brian Goodwin singled, and Jacob Stallings singled too to load the bases with nobody out. Ben Bunting singled in a run. 9-3. Jesse Wierzbicki brought in a run on a grounder. 10-3. A wild pitch scored a run. 11-3. An error scored a run. 12-3.
Oral Roberts got a run in the 8th to get within 12-4 and the Heels sent out Nate Striz for the 9th. He got a couple groundouts and struck out the last hitter of the game swinging to give the Heels the win and send them on to the regional championship game against Oklahoma. Chris Munnelly got the win for 5 solid innings of work.Â
Ryan Graepel (including a triple, an RBI, and a run), Jacob Stallings (including 3 runs), and Jesse Wierzbicki (including 2 RBI and a run) each had 3 hits for the Heels. Seth Baldwin (including a home run, 3 RBI, and a run), Levi Michael (including a home run, 2 RBI, and 2 runs), and Mike Cavasinni (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits. Ben Bunting had a single, scored twice, and drove in a run and Brian Goodwin singled and scored a run to round out the hits for the Heels.
June 6
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2009 and 2010 for a dominant start to Supers against ECU in Alex White's final appearance at the Bosh and a win to stay alive in the Norman Regional.
When UNC and ECU faced off during the 2009 regular season at the Bosh, the night after the basketball team won the national championship, it was a 3-1 pitchers duel with the teams combining for a total of only 10 hits. When the teams saw each other on June 6, 2009 it was a very different kind of game for the bats- or the Tar Heel bats anyway.
Alex White started for the Heels. The Pirates got a leadoff walk in the 1st and then had runners on the corners with 2 out but Mark Fleury threw out the runner on 1st attempting to steal 2nd to get out of the inning. ECU got a solo home run to lead off the 2nd to go ahead 1-0 and got a runner to 3rd with 2 outs, but Alex got a groundout to strand him there. In the 3rd the Pirates threatened again with back to back 2 out singles to put runners on the corners but this time a strikeout erased the threat.
The Pirates started future big leaguer Seth Maness and he held the Heels at bay for the first couple innings. That changed though in the bottom of the 3rd- Mike Cavasinni ignited the offense with a 1 out double. Seth Baldwin followed with a single that brought Cavi around to tie the game. Ben Bunting hit into a FC and he replaced Seth on 1st with 2 outs.
The next 2 hitters due up were Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager, both playing their final career weekend at the Bosh and both about to become Seattle Mariners. Dusty singled to move Ben up to 2nd. And Kyle made it back to back singles with one to left that brought around Ben and gave the Heels their first lead of the day at 2-1.
Getting some offense seemed to help Alex settle in. He struck out the side in the 4th and followed that up with a 1-2-3 5th. The Pirates got back to back singles to start the 6th but Alex got a strikeout and then forced a double play to end the threat.
In the bottom of the 6th the offense put the game away for good. Ryan Graepel singled and Levi Michael doubled on the first 2 pitches of the inning to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Garrett Gore followed with a single to bring them both in. 4-1. Mike Cavasinni bunted to move Garrett up and ended up reaching himself. Seth Baldwin hit a ball to 2nd and the fielder threw it away. Garrett came in to score and Seth and Cavi both ended up in scoring position. 5-1. Ben Bunting put down a bunt and not only did it score Cavi to make it 6-1, he was also able to reach like Cavi did earlier in the inning on his bunt.Â
Then the Heels made a couple outs...and immediately started hitting again. Mark Fleury singled to score Seth. 7-1. In his second at bat of the inning Ryan Graepel got hit by a pitch to load the bases. And after falling behind 0-2 Levi Michael connected for a single to right to score Ben and Mark. That made it 9-1 and gave the Heels a 7 run inning.
2 Pirates reached base in the 7th but Alex got a strikeout to end the threat. And in some ways he was getting better as he went along. He threw a 1-2-3 8th. Kyle Seager hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to grow the lead to 9-1.
Alex came back out for the 9th and after allowing a leadoff single struck the next Pirate out. The coaches took him out of the game at that point so that he could walk off the mound at the Bosh for the final time and get the outpouring of love he deserved from the Tar Heel faithful for 3 incredible years in the program. He finished his day striking out 12 and allowing only 1 run in 8.1 innings. He'd had much more dominant days- he allowed 9 hits and 3 walks- but he got outs when he needed to and improved his record to 8-4 on the season.
Nate Striz came on and got a strike out looking and a strike out swinging to end the game and get the Heels one win from Omaha. There was a ton of purple and gold at the Bosh but they left without having much to feel good about.
Kyle Seager led the way for the Heels with 4 hits, including a home run, driving in a pair and scoring a run. Levi Michael's 3 hits included a pair of doubles and he drove in 2 and scored a run. Mike Cavasinni (including a double and 2 runs), Mark Fleury (including an RBI and a run), and Seth Baldwin (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits.
All nine starters for the Heels had at least one hit. Garrett Gore (including 2 RBI and a run), Ben Bunting (including a pair of runs), Ryan Graepel (including a run), and Dustin Ackley (including an RBI) each had hits as well. The win moved the Heels to 46-16 for the season.
On June 6, 2010 the Heels faced Oral Roberts in the Norman Regional, hoping to make it to the regional finals and keep their season alive. Chris Munnelly started on the mound and threw a 1-2-3 1st and a 1-2-3 2nd to get things off to a good start. The Golden Eagles got a runner to 3rd in the 3rd but Chris got a groundout to escape the threat and send the game on to the 4th (the Heels were the road team.)
Jacob Stallings drew a walk to get things started in the 4th and moved up to 2nd on a wild pitch and then to 3rd on a passed ball. Ben Bunting worked a walk of his own to put runners on the corners. Coach Jesse Wierzbicki singled to bring Jacob home and make it 1-0. With 2 outs Mike Cavasinni, on the last day of his 5 year Tar Heel baseball career, singled to score Ben and get the lead to 2-0.
Oral Roberts scored a couple runs to tie the game in the bottom of the inning and had a chance to go ahead with runners on 1st and 2nd still with one down. But Chris got a double play to end the inning and send the game on to the 5th.
The Heels blew it open in the 5th. Levi Michael hit a home run to lead off the inning and get the lead right back at 3-2. With 1 out Jacob Stallings singled and with 2 outs Coach Jesse Wierzbicki singled too to keep the inning alive.
That brought up Seth Baldwin. Jones Angell and Adam Lucas nicknamed him 'The Hammer,' and that was a perfect moniker. He could hit home runs and most of the time when he did they weren't cheap. If the Field Hockey stadium had been in Right Field at the Bosh when he was playing like it is now his shots would have sent people scattering during practice.
He liked the first pitch he saw in this situation and knocked it out of the park for a 3 run blast that extended the Heels lead to 6-2. Oral Roberts got a run in the bottom of the 5th to get within 6-3 but with runners on 1st and 2nd and the tying run at the plate Chris got a groundout to avoid further damage.
In the top of the 6th two of the Heels' most special seniors Mike Cavasinni and Ryan Graepel, playing the last day of their career, teamed up to put the game further out of reach. Cavi hit a single on the first pitch of the inning to get things started. Ryan followed with a triple to bring him around and make it 7-3. A Levi Michael sac fly scored Ryan too to get it to 8-3.
Oral Roberts got runners on 1st and 2nd to start the bottom of the 6th and the Heels went to the bullpen for Greg Holt. The first hitter he faced grounded out to move the runners into scoring position and then Greg came up with a pair of strikeouts to leave them there and preserve the 5 run lead. The Golden Eagles got runners on 1st and 2nd to lead off the 7th but Greg got a double play and then Zach Bernard came in to get a pop out to end the inning and again keep them off the board.
The Heels had one last rally left in them in the 8th. Levi Michael got hit by a pitch, Brian Goodwin singled, and Jacob Stallings singled too to load the bases with nobody out. Ben Bunting singled in a run. 9-3. Jesse Wierzbicki brought in a run on a grounder. 10-3. A wild pitch scored a run. 11-3. An error scored a run. 12-3.
Oral Roberts got a run in the 8th to get within 12-4 and the Heels sent out Nate Striz for the 9th. He got a couple groundouts and struck out the last hitter of the game swinging to give the Heels the win and send them on to the regional championship game against Oklahoma. Chris Munnelly got the win for 5 solid innings of work.Â
Ryan Graepel (including a triple, an RBI, and a run), Jacob Stallings (including 3 runs), and Jesse Wierzbicki (including 2 RBI and a run) each had 3 hits for the Heels. Seth Baldwin (including a home run, 3 RBI, and a run), Levi Michael (including a home run, 2 RBI, and 2 runs), and Mike Cavasinni (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits. Ben Bunting had a single, scored twice, and drove in a run and Brian Goodwin singled and scored a run to round out the hits for the Heels.
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