NORTH CAROLINA TURNS UP HEAT
Owls Offense Cooked by North Carolina Pitching, Mistakes

by Mark Anderson

Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha—As if it wasn’t already hot enough on the field, Robert Woodward turned it up a notch with his great pitching, leading the Tar Heels to victory over Rice by a score of 6-1.

Ryan Berry started in a similar fashion as he did the previous start—by hitting the first batter. But while Whiting stuck his elbow out to get on, Fronk got drilled in the knee. Fronk shook off the effects as Federoff singled to left and advanced to third. Horton followed with a single that brought across the Heel’s first run. But with runners on first and second and no outs, Berry struck out Federowicz, and induced Seager to line into a double play at first to end the inning with the Heels up, 1-0.

The bottom of the first started off promising when Brian Friday opened with a single to left. After Gayhart popped out, Woodward caught Friday off first. Depending on whom you listen to, Friday may well have been safe at second, but was called out. That play would define the day for the Owls, and be just the beginning of a nightmare for Friday. Henley grounded out to end the inning, and Rice was still down, 1-0.

In the second, Berry got Flack to pop up to Brian Friday. But the usually sure-handed shortstop dropped it, and that opened the door for the Tar Heels. The next batter grounded to what looked lie a sure double play, but another error—this time by Luna—left two on and no out. Williams struck out swinging for the first out, but Gore singled to center, but Fox held Flack at third. Berry then walked Fronk to force across the second Tar Heel run. Fedroff hit a sacrifice fly tobring across the third run and Gore took third on a good throw from Gayhart. Berry then hit Horton to load the bases again. But Berry struck out Federowicz again, and the nightmare seemed to be over. The third inning started off well for Berry as he got the side in order. But that would be his last hurrah in this game.

In the fourth, Berry walked Williams to open the frame, and Gore moved him to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a grounder to Savery sent Fronk to third, Berry went wild, in a manner of speaking, hitting Fedroff and Horton in consecutive at-bats. That was all Coach Graham’s blood pressure could take, as he lifted Berry in favor of Chris Kelley. Federowicz flied out to end the inning, but the damage was done, and the Heels were up by a count of 3-0. The next three innings were uneventful, unfortunately, for both sides.

While it may have seemed the offense had gone to sleep, that really wasn’t the case. Balls were hit hard by Rice, but simply didn’t fall in. Rice just couldn’t find the holes. And the defense was playing well. While Woodward was making great pitches along the way, the Owls didn’t give in a single inch. IN the seventh, however, it began to slip away for the Owls. With two outs, Seager walked, and Flack singled up the middle, with Seager moving to third. Ackley hit a home run just out of the reach of right fielder Jared Gayhart, and suddenly, the Heels had a bigger lead and scored more runs than they had in the previous meeting with Rice on Sunday.

In each of the last three innings, Rice tried to mount a comeback. In the seventh, Gayhart opened the inning by singling up the middle, and Henley singled to right to put runners on first and second with no outs. Savery grounded into a double play, but Gahart moved to third. Luna walked, and Danny Lehmann doubled down the leftfield line to put Rice on the board. But Seastrunk grounded out to first to end the inning.

In the eighth, Dodson walked with one out, and Friday singled to right to put runners on first and third with one out. At that point, North Carolina brought in their third pitcher of the day—Andrew Carrigan, the closer who was throwing bullets. Gayhart and Henley flied out, and that opportunity went by the boards.

Savery opened the ninth for the Owls with a single to right off the flame-throwing closer. Luna walked again, and Danny Lehmann came to the plate and ripped a hard line drive down the left field line—but the third baseman snagged it for the first out. Seastrunk hit into the second one on a fielder’s choice, and Savery advanced to third. But Buenger grounded out to second, and that was it for the Owls today. Matt Langwell will face North Carolina in a winner goes to the finals, loser goes home game. No word yet on North carolina’s starter.