Chapelboro.com’s coverage of Carolina baseball in the Men’s College World Series is proudly presented by High & Rubish Insurance Agency.
Chapelboro’s Michael Koh is in Omaha to cover UNC Baseball as it plays in the Men’s College World Series. During Michael’s stay, he’ll publish a daily series featuring his thoughts and observations from Omaha, as well as his usual coverage of the team.
Day 1: The Venice of the Midwest
Day 2: Autographs
Day 3: The Center of the Universe
Day 4: Scenes from Rocco’s
Day 5: Easy Like Sunday Morning
Day 6: Last Flags Flying
Day 7: David’s Team
Erik Paulsen’s first Father’s Day without his dad, Erik Sr., saw him playing first base in Game 2 of the national championship series. If UNC lost, its season would have been over, and Erik Jr.’s collegiate career potentially along with it. Paulsen – and his teammates – weren’t about to let that happen.
Erik Sr., a former NYPD detective, died the morning of July 4, 2025. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2024, a consequence of the toxic dust exposure he suffered as a first responder after the September 11 attacks 23 years prior. Erik Sr. lived long enough to see his son commit to UNC in the summer of 2025, but tragically never saw him compete in a game as a Diamond Heel.
But Erik Jr. has no doubt his dad has been with him throughout this season, one which has seen the Diamond Heels play as deep into June as a team can possibly play. And before Sunday’s game in Omaha, all of his teammates’ fathers wore No. 44 buttons in support.
When asked how his first baseman embodies the values he preaches in his program, UNC head coach Scott Forbes had to take a moment to compose himself. Forbes’ father, Harvey, is battling health issues of his own, and his wife Mandy’s father died unexpectedly in 2011.
“I learned going through that with my wife that the best thing you can do is just be there and learn to listen,” Forbes said. “Have some feel and not ask them every day about it. But my wife was also 30 years old, and this kid was showing up at UNC still in his 20s.
“To see what he’s done, and to see his team embrace him… good night.”
Fortunately, Forbes did have the opportunity to meet Erik Sr. before his death. It’s clear the head coach came away impressed: he referred to Erik Sr. as “awesome” and “a bad dude.”
Erik Jr. was a bad dude himself in Sunday’s UNC win, finishing with three hits in five at bats and coming in to score on a two-run home run in the seventh inning. He presents a stoic demeanor on the field – he temporarily stopped the postgame celebration as Oklahoma challenged a call, for crying out loud – but afterward in the dugout, with his mother in the stands above him, Erik Jr. finally let his emotions take over.
“That was the first time I broke down in a while,” Paulsen said. “He just raised me to be a strong man. And I just try to carry that out every day.”
There is no doubt Erik Sr. was proud of his son’s performance on college baseball’s biggest stage. Games like these are the reason players like Erik Jr. transfer from Stony Brook to UNC — a move which, despite taking him far away from his native Long Island, had his father’s blessing.
Erik Sr. envisioned this moment when Forbes first called his son. He envisioned the clutch hits, the long home runs, the steady leadership. And he surely smiled when the last out in Game 2 of the national championship series was fired from second base – its velocity perhaps increased by factors none of us can explain – and landed in the glove of Erik Paulsen, Jr.
Click to find more Carolina baseball coverage from Chapelboro.com, onsite in Omaha! Proudly presented by High & Rubish Insurance Agency.
Featured image via Associated Press/Vera Nieuwenhuis
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