University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
Lucas: Right Now
June 17, 2024 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Carolina now finds itself in a difficult spot, and to crawl out of it they can't think of it that way.
By Adam Lucas
OMAHA—Now it gets difficult.
Still doable, but difficult.
Carolina fell 6-1 to Tennessee on Sunday night in Omaha, as the Tar Heels simply weren't threatening enough offensively to keep it close with the big-hitting Volunteers. The offense has fallen into a lull in which it is very Vance Honeycutt-centric; the Tar Heel center fielder is hitting .333 in the last three games. All the other Heels combined, meanwhile, are hitting .181.
It was Honeycutt who provided the only offense on Sunday, blasting a solo homer. The lack of production otherwise now drops the Tar Heels into the loser's bracket, where the challenge is formidable: Carolina must beat Florida State on Tuesday, then beat Tennessee both Wednesday and Thursday in order to make the championship series.
In other words, it's going to be tough. Both of those opponents are among the best teams in the country. It will take a great run to win three straight games. But Forbes has seen it done before.
"That's the great thing about this format, and I've been in it," he said. "In 2007 we lost this same game and made it to the national championship."
He's exactly right. That season, Rice thumped the Tar Heels in Omaha, 14-4. Advancing to the best-of-three championship series looked extremely unlikely. But Carolina came back to beat Louisville, then defeated the Owls—the #2 national seed—two straight times to make the finals.
Future major leaguer Luke Putkonen pitched the Heels past Louisville. The UNC bats helped win the first of those two matchups with Rice. Adam Warren won the second on the mound. And that's what it will take to do this now. Warren eventually became a Carolina standout and a major leaguer, but no one knew that in 2007. It was an unexpected performance, and the Tar Heels will need that at some point over the next few days.
But here's the tricky part about advancing: they can't get caught up in thinking about the next few days. It's too difficult. Winning three games is too hard—and Florida State is too good—to think about anything other than simply competing with the Seminoles on Tuesday.
"You don't look at what you have to do," Forbes said. "You just look at what you can do right now."
These aren't the grizzled teams of the late 2000s that were stocked with players who had made multiple Omaha appearances and understood how to claw their way out of this spot. The challenge for Forbes and his coaching staff--who have been terrific at narrowing the team's focus all season--in the next 24 hours is to convey the message of immediacy, to get them focused only on one manageable game rather than three daunting ones.
What the Tar Heels can do right now is wake up the bats. They've scored six runs in the past three games. The previous low for a three-game stretch is 14 runs. If you're just tuning in to the baseball team for the postseason, you might think this is typical for the offense. It isn't, and there's some history that suggests Tuesday's offensive output will be more proficient. During the regular season and regional, Carolina was held to two runs or fewer in just six games. In the next game after those outings, the Heels averaged nearly ten runs per game.
It's true that they're facing the best pitching in the country in Omaha. Tennessee starter Drew Beam was very good on Sunday night.
"The first time through the order he attacked with fastballs," said Parks Harber. "The second time around he landed his offspeed to get ahead in the count and kept us off balance. Credit to him and his preparation tonight."
Tuesday, the story needs to be the credit going to the Carolina offense. It felt like they had just one chance against the Vols to crack open a big inning, but a baserunning miscue helped snuff a threat in the sixth.
Those limited single-game opportunities are why baseball is a series game. It's not a one-and-done game. Once it becomes win or go home, one hot arm, one big bat, one miscue in the field can end an entire season. It's not an easy spot to be in.
And that's where Carolina finds itself now. But they're also still playing, as Harber reminded everyone in the late hours on Sunday.
"This is the most fun I've ever had playing baseball," he said. "And I'm grateful to have another opportunity to play."
OMAHA—Now it gets difficult.
Still doable, but difficult.
Carolina fell 6-1 to Tennessee on Sunday night in Omaha, as the Tar Heels simply weren't threatening enough offensively to keep it close with the big-hitting Volunteers. The offense has fallen into a lull in which it is very Vance Honeycutt-centric; the Tar Heel center fielder is hitting .333 in the last three games. All the other Heels combined, meanwhile, are hitting .181.
It was Honeycutt who provided the only offense on Sunday, blasting a solo homer. The lack of production otherwise now drops the Tar Heels into the loser's bracket, where the challenge is formidable: Carolina must beat Florida State on Tuesday, then beat Tennessee both Wednesday and Thursday in order to make the championship series.
In other words, it's going to be tough. Both of those opponents are among the best teams in the country. It will take a great run to win three straight games. But Forbes has seen it done before.
"That's the great thing about this format, and I've been in it," he said. "In 2007 we lost this same game and made it to the national championship."
He's exactly right. That season, Rice thumped the Tar Heels in Omaha, 14-4. Advancing to the best-of-three championship series looked extremely unlikely. But Carolina came back to beat Louisville, then defeated the Owls—the #2 national seed—two straight times to make the finals.
Future major leaguer Luke Putkonen pitched the Heels past Louisville. The UNC bats helped win the first of those two matchups with Rice. Adam Warren won the second on the mound. And that's what it will take to do this now. Warren eventually became a Carolina standout and a major leaguer, but no one knew that in 2007. It was an unexpected performance, and the Tar Heels will need that at some point over the next few days.
But here's the tricky part about advancing: they can't get caught up in thinking about the next few days. It's too difficult. Winning three games is too hard—and Florida State is too good—to think about anything other than simply competing with the Seminoles on Tuesday.
"You don't look at what you have to do," Forbes said. "You just look at what you can do right now."
These aren't the grizzled teams of the late 2000s that were stocked with players who had made multiple Omaha appearances and understood how to claw their way out of this spot. The challenge for Forbes and his coaching staff--who have been terrific at narrowing the team's focus all season--in the next 24 hours is to convey the message of immediacy, to get them focused only on one manageable game rather than three daunting ones.
What the Tar Heels can do right now is wake up the bats. They've scored six runs in the past three games. The previous low for a three-game stretch is 14 runs. If you're just tuning in to the baseball team for the postseason, you might think this is typical for the offense. It isn't, and there's some history that suggests Tuesday's offensive output will be more proficient. During the regular season and regional, Carolina was held to two runs or fewer in just six games. In the next game after those outings, the Heels averaged nearly ten runs per game.
It's true that they're facing the best pitching in the country in Omaha. Tennessee starter Drew Beam was very good on Sunday night.
"The first time through the order he attacked with fastballs," said Parks Harber. "The second time around he landed his offspeed to get ahead in the count and kept us off balance. Credit to him and his preparation tonight."
Tuesday, the story needs to be the credit going to the Carolina offense. It felt like they had just one chance against the Vols to crack open a big inning, but a baserunning miscue helped snuff a threat in the sixth.
Those limited single-game opportunities are why baseball is a series game. It's not a one-and-done game. Once it becomes win or go home, one hot arm, one big bat, one miscue in the field can end an entire season. It's not an easy spot to be in.
And that's where Carolina finds itself now. But they're also still playing, as Harber reminded everyone in the late hours on Sunday.
"This is the most fun I've ever had playing baseball," he said. "And I'm grateful to have another opportunity to play."
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