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Chapel Hill became Heartbreak Hill on a baseball weekend that went downhill.
Especially after the Tar Heels whomped Arizona in the opener of the NCAA Super Regional at the Bosh, we all knew they were going back to the College World Series and maybe win their first.
Who beats a team with proven pedigree by the sorta-football score of 18-2? The Wildcats must have had “Shake It Off” playing in their locker room Saturday, when they somehow came back to even the best of three series with a 10-8 win, which wasn’t one of the Tar Heels best games of a season that is suddenly over.
It was reminiscent of the regional round in which Oklahoma had a bad first game loss and a similar second game win but got buried in the decider by Gavin Gallaher’s home run shots.
But it is Arizona that is going back to Omaha for the 20th time. The Wildcats have won four College World Series titles and have lost in the championship game five times.
This UNC team that won its first 13 games of the season, plus the ACC championship, and never lost back-to-back to the same opponent (until Sunday) were looking as good, or better, than the Heels who left the CWS early a year ago. They were the fifth overall seed in this year’s Big Bat Dance and became the fourth of the top five to cancel their travel plans to Nebraska.
If it helps, State and Wake Forest also lost out, while Duke will play a winner-take-all game against Murray State in Durham today.
Scott Forbes will bring back another very good team in 2026, but it may take him until that opening day to get over this closing calamity.
After winning by 16 runs, Carolina could not get batters out when it counted. On Saturday, one of the best pitching staffs in the ACC gave up runs in four straight innings and let Arizona score the decisive last four runs. On Sunday, the Diamond Heels were ahead through seven innings and then gave up three runs and the lead for good in the eighth and went three-up and three-down in the ninth.
It was the last game for another sellout home crowd that left in shock after expecting late rallies and victories like it has seen regularly the last two years.
There is no question Carolina has a gem of a baseball program that has set expectations high in a sport that plays at home after all the other UNC teams are done. It is a sight to behold with Heels up and down the lineup getting big hits and scoring a lot of runs.
In the bottom of the third, second baseman Jackson Van De Brake bombed a three-run homer to left for a 3-1 lead that could not hold up after a disastrous eighth when Arizona scored thrice thanks to his error and hit into a double play to keep it a one-run game.
But a three-run homer and four singles didn’t do it this day on Heartbreak Hill.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Joe Bray
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Art, This season’s Carolina Baseball Team was a total pleasure to behold. So many key plays, top shelf performances & team victories were achieved. As in each NCAA Championship Tournaments, at their closure, only #1 squad is totally 💯 happy with their school’s outcome. GO TAR HEELS ⚾️!
I’ve been watching the Diamond Heels for a long time. Graduated 60 years ago. This season provided the joy and anguish of 2006. Two games to win one and just couldn’t do it. Thanks to technology our 10 hour journeys to the Bosh over the past 30+ years are tele-journeys now, and we get to keep in contact. Thank You all for the memories.
Broke my heart, for sure. A fantastic season ending as the #1 ranked baseball team.
Thank you to every member of the team, the coaching staff, the groundskeepers, and anyone else involved!
Art is right… we were good, just could not close!