University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Lucas: Omaha History
June 13, 2024 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Five memorable Tar Heel performances at the College World Series.
By Adam Lucas
Before the attention turns tomorrow to the 2024 Tar Heels and their 2 p.m. Eastern first pitch against Virginia at the College World Series, a quick look back at five key Carolina games in Omaha. A good problem to have: there were too many from which to choose. Will another game from the next ten days end up on this list? We can hope so.
2006: Carolina 7, Cal State Fullerton 5 (13)
This game requires some context. Nearly 20 years later (!), maybe a 7-5 win over Cal State Fullerton in the first game of bracket play doesn't seem that impressive. After all, the Titans have been to just one NCAA Tournament in the past five opportunities.
But things were different in 2006. At that point, Fullerton had been to the College World Series five times in the past eight years, and had won the national championship in 2004. They were an Omaha favorite—they were such regulars that they rented a "Fullerton House" near Rosenblatt so alums would have a place to hang out between games.
Carolina, meanwhile, was making the program's first CWS appearance since 1989. But the Tar Heels quickly proved they belonged, outlasting the more seasoned Fullerton squad 7-5 in 13 innings.
The game had everything, including an 11th inning in which the Titans got five baserunners…but couldn't score a run. A Matt Danford pickoff throw to third base was the key play in that inning, and then Josh Horton and Tim Federowicz had RBI singles in the 13th to provide the final margin. At four hours and 53 minutes, it was the second longest CWS game ever played at that point.
Here's the postgame column from 18 years ago.
2006: Carolina 4, Oregon State 3
This game belongs on the list because it's the closest the Diamond Heels have ever been to a national championship. After breezing through bracket play at 3-0, the Tar Heels had two days off to rest the pitching staff and get ready for Oregon State in the best-of-three championship series.
They responded with a 4-3 win, even after a 71-minute rain delay forced ace Andrew Miller from the game just five innings and 77 pitches into his outing (Miller would later credit Mike Fox's decision to remove him to protect his arm as a key moment in his career).
With the game tied 3-3 in the eighth inning, Chad Flack tripled. That put him in position to score on a passed ball by current Oregon State coach Mitch Canham, and the Tar Heels had a lead they would not relinquish.
A bullpen headlined by Jonathan Hovis and Andrew Carignan threw four shutout innings in relief of Miller to seal the game.
The postgame column from that night at Rosenblatt.
2008: Carolina 7, LSU 3
Once again, the Tar Heels were facing an Omaha mainstay. And once again, they prevailed.
This time, it was LSU—a team that at one point in the regular season won 23 straight games. But with elimination at stake, the Tar Heels got stellar work out of the bullpen from normal starter Alex White with the game on the line in the eighth. And then, with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, Tim Federowicz cranked a grand slam into the Rosenblatt Stadium stands.
Here's the postgame column from that night in 2008.
2011: Carolina 3, Texas 0
Five years and one day after Robert Woodard shut out a very good Clemson team, freshman Kent Emanuel shut out a very good Texas team. Those two games—one by a righty and one by a lefty—are the best Tar Heel pitching performances ever in Omaha.
This one kept Carolina alive and was exquisite. Emanuel allowed just four hits and walked only one, with only one Texas runner reaching second base.
The parallels with Woodard's game—including the key roles in both played by Woodard and Scott Forbes—are part of the postgame column from 2011.
2013: Carolina 7, NC State 0
This victory is one of the most satisfying Tar Heels wins in Omaha ever. It's also a firm reminder (which, unfortunately, Carolina experienced in 2018) that losing the first game to an opponent at the College World Series doesn't mean the tournament is over. State had beaten the Heels, 8-1, in the Omaha opener (the two teams had already played an epic 18-inning game at the ACC Tournament three weeks earlier). Carlos Rodon was nearly unhittable for eight innings and the Pack relished their rout over the number-one seeded Tar Heels.
The rematch came quickly, as they met in an elimination game just four days later. The Pack went back to Rodon, who lasted five innings and gave up one run. Then the Heels exploded against the State bullpen, cruising to a 7-0 victory. The pitching standout was not Rodon, but Carolina's Hobbs Johnson, who went 8.1 shutout innings and allowed only five hits.
Before the attention turns tomorrow to the 2024 Tar Heels and their 2 p.m. Eastern first pitch against Virginia at the College World Series, a quick look back at five key Carolina games in Omaha. A good problem to have: there were too many from which to choose. Will another game from the next ten days end up on this list? We can hope so.
2006: Carolina 7, Cal State Fullerton 5 (13)
This game requires some context. Nearly 20 years later (!), maybe a 7-5 win over Cal State Fullerton in the first game of bracket play doesn't seem that impressive. After all, the Titans have been to just one NCAA Tournament in the past five opportunities.
But things were different in 2006. At that point, Fullerton had been to the College World Series five times in the past eight years, and had won the national championship in 2004. They were an Omaha favorite—they were such regulars that they rented a "Fullerton House" near Rosenblatt so alums would have a place to hang out between games.
Carolina, meanwhile, was making the program's first CWS appearance since 1989. But the Tar Heels quickly proved they belonged, outlasting the more seasoned Fullerton squad 7-5 in 13 innings.
The game had everything, including an 11th inning in which the Titans got five baserunners…but couldn't score a run. A Matt Danford pickoff throw to third base was the key play in that inning, and then Josh Horton and Tim Federowicz had RBI singles in the 13th to provide the final margin. At four hours and 53 minutes, it was the second longest CWS game ever played at that point.
Here's the postgame column from 18 years ago.
2006: Carolina 4, Oregon State 3
This game belongs on the list because it's the closest the Diamond Heels have ever been to a national championship. After breezing through bracket play at 3-0, the Tar Heels had two days off to rest the pitching staff and get ready for Oregon State in the best-of-three championship series.
They responded with a 4-3 win, even after a 71-minute rain delay forced ace Andrew Miller from the game just five innings and 77 pitches into his outing (Miller would later credit Mike Fox's decision to remove him to protect his arm as a key moment in his career).
With the game tied 3-3 in the eighth inning, Chad Flack tripled. That put him in position to score on a passed ball by current Oregon State coach Mitch Canham, and the Tar Heels had a lead they would not relinquish.
A bullpen headlined by Jonathan Hovis and Andrew Carignan threw four shutout innings in relief of Miller to seal the game.
The postgame column from that night at Rosenblatt.
2008: Carolina 7, LSU 3
Once again, the Tar Heels were facing an Omaha mainstay. And once again, they prevailed.
This time, it was LSU—a team that at one point in the regular season won 23 straight games. But with elimination at stake, the Tar Heels got stellar work out of the bullpen from normal starter Alex White with the game on the line in the eighth. And then, with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, Tim Federowicz cranked a grand slam into the Rosenblatt Stadium stands.
Here's the postgame column from that night in 2008.
2011: Carolina 3, Texas 0
Five years and one day after Robert Woodard shut out a very good Clemson team, freshman Kent Emanuel shut out a very good Texas team. Those two games—one by a righty and one by a lefty—are the best Tar Heel pitching performances ever in Omaha.
This one kept Carolina alive and was exquisite. Emanuel allowed just four hits and walked only one, with only one Texas runner reaching second base.
The parallels with Woodard's game—including the key roles in both played by Woodard and Scott Forbes—are part of the postgame column from 2011.
2013: Carolina 7, NC State 0
This victory is one of the most satisfying Tar Heels wins in Omaha ever. It's also a firm reminder (which, unfortunately, Carolina experienced in 2018) that losing the first game to an opponent at the College World Series doesn't mean the tournament is over. State had beaten the Heels, 8-1, in the Omaha opener (the two teams had already played an epic 18-inning game at the ACC Tournament three weeks earlier). Carlos Rodon was nearly unhittable for eight innings and the Pack relished their rout over the number-one seeded Tar Heels.
The rematch came quickly, as they met in an elimination game just four days later. The Pack went back to Rodon, who lasted five innings and gave up one run. Then the Heels exploded against the State bullpen, cruising to a 7-0 victory. The pitching standout was not Rodon, but Carolina's Hobbs Johnson, who went 8.1 shutout innings and allowed only five hits.
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