The Diamond Heels at least temporarily staved off elimination Sunday afternoon, fighting off a desperate Georgia rally to win 6-5 at Boshamer Stadium, despite giving up three runs in the ninth inning. The Bulldogs are eliminated, while Carolina will take on VCU at 6:06 p.m. Sunday night. The Tar Heels will need to win again to force a winner-take-all game in Chapel Hill Monday night.

 

“I told our team just now, ‘That’s about the story of our year,'” said acting head coach Bryant Gaines. “Had some adversity throughout the year, and just when you think you’ve got it done… you have to make some big plays and make some big pitches, and that’s what we did.”

The game was Carolina’s first without the services of head coach Scott Forbes, who was serving a two-game suspension for arguing several calls in Saturday’s loss to VCU. Gaines coached in his place.

“Obviously, we miss having Coach Forbes around,” Gaines said. “But at the end of the day, it’s always about the players.”

Should the Tar Heels win the Sunday’s nightcap against the Rams, Forbes would be available for Monday night’s game.

Tomas Frick continued to swing a hot bat, hitting his second home run of the regional in the bottom of the sixth. Frick reached base three times on the day and is now batting 6-9 with four walks in the Chapel Hill regional.

Mikey Madej accounted for three of Carolina’s runs, scoring two on a single in the top of the third (UNC was once again the road team by virtue of a coin flip) and beating out an infield single to score another in the seventh. Madej also scored a run on a wild pitch. The bottom of UNC’s order was productive all day long, as Frick, Madej and Johnny Castagnozzi each recorded at least one hit and one RBI.

It was a bullpen day on the mound for Carolina, as starter Will Sandy went just 1.2 innings before being pulled. Shawn Rapp, Nik Pry, Gage Gillian, Davis Palermo, Connor Bovair and Caden O’Brien each came in from the bullpen, with all but Rapp throwing at least 21 pitches. Palermo threw 2.1 innings and began the bottom of the ninth, but was pulled after giving up a leadoff single. Bovair entered for him, but promptly gave up a ground-rule double (originally ruled a two-run home run) and then a three-run home run, bringing the Bulldogs within a run.

Georgia’s next batter, Joshua McAllister, looked to have tied the game up on a long fly ball to center field. The ball kept carrying and carrying and would’ve flown over the fence, were it not for a leaping catch at the wall from Vance Honeycutt. The freshman phenom has done it all year for the Tar Heels, and his catch kept Carolina on top by a run.

 

“I thought the ball was out of the ballpark,” Gaines said.

“I knew he was gonna catch it the whole time,” said the more confident Sandy.

The veteran O’Brien, UNC’s only player to have appeared in the College World Series, earned the final out of the game with a strikeout. It was his fifth save of the season and first since March 20.

“When you have a guy on your pitching staff that’s gotten it done in Omaha, you feel pretty good about him going back out there,” said Gaines.

Connor Ollio will start the second game of the doubleheader. The junior pitched one inning and threw 15 pitches against Hofstra on Friday, but did not pitch against VCU. He will be one of the only fresh arms at Carolina’s disposal.

“I think he’s gonna have one of his best outings,” Gaines said.

Though the Tar Heels are already preparing for Sunday’s nightcap, the win guarantees the team’s fourth 40-win season in the last five completed campaigns.

 

Featured image via Inside Carolina/Jim Hawkins

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