The UNC baseball team was three outs away from elimination in its own NCAA Tournament Regional on Monday night.
LSU’s bullpen was mowing through the Diamond Heels’ star-studded lineup, which included the powerful bats of Vance Honeycutt, Casey Cook and Parks Harber. North Carolina only managed two hits after the first inning, with both coming against star Tigers reliver Will Hellmers.
Tar Heel Nation hoped, but didn’t necessarily expect based on how Monday’s game went, for what happened in the ninth and 10th innings.
Colby Wilkerson drove in Friday night hero Gavin Gallaher to tie the game at three in the ninth inning, Alex Madera drove in pinch-runner Jackson Van De Brake during the 10th for the go-ahead run, then Dalton Pence – North Carolina’s star closer, baited LSU slugger Josh Pearson into a game-ending flyout that advanced UNC to the Super Regionals with a 4-3 victory.
The Diamond Heels will now host West Virginia, which went 3-0 in the Tuscon Regional, this coming weekend.
With North Carolina facing a 3-2 deficit in the top of the ninth (weird, we know), Gallaher found another clutch hit in his bat with a lead-off double. Madera then struck out by bunting a 1-2 pitch just foul, then Wilkerson worked his way back from an 0-2 count to drive in Gallaher.
Pence then worked around a Hayden Travinski single in the ninth, striking out Paxton Kling to end the Tigers’ threat.
Gage Jump, normally a starter for the Tigers, got two quick outs to start the 10th. UNC pinch-hitter Johnny Castagnozzi mashed a two-out pitch to right field, Jump intentionally walked Gallaher, then Madera drove in Van De Brake for the go-ahead run.
It wouldn’t be a Diamond Heels game without a little final-inning drama. Pence recorded two quick outs, walked Jared Jones, then Honeycutt caught a towering fly ball from Josh Pearson to send Chapel Hill into pandemonium.
On a night where North Carolina pitching excelled, it was the hitting that found a way to come through in crunch time.
As a result, UNC will be hosting a Super Regional for the second time in three years.
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