By Eddy Landreth
Staff Writer
The North Carolina baseball program is breathing the rarified air that has long sustained such elite programs as Texas, Arizona State, Miami, Florida State and LSU.
This particular oxygen fills the city limits of Omaha, Neb., home to the NCAA’s College World Series (CWS). Those five schools frequent the CWS more than any other. Yet since 2006, no team has won as many games in the NCAA Tournament (37) as the Tar Heels have. Carolina has missed only a single series during this span.
UNC (50-14) earned its fifth trip in six years after defeating Stanford in consecutive games in last weekend’s super regional in Chapel Hill.
“It’s a proud moment,†said junior catcher Jacob Stallings, who is going to his second CWS. “I’m proud of the guys in the locker room, proud of our coaches. It’s been a really tough couple of weeks on our coaching staff [because of deaths in their families].
“The focus they and our team have been able to have in the tournament so far is pretty remarkable.â€
UNC will play Vanderbilt (52-10) at the brand new TD Ameritrade Park at 2 p.m. EDT on Saturday in the opening game of the series for both teams.
TD Ameritrade Park cost $128 million to build and seats 24,000. The stadium is located in the heart of downtown Omaha. Rosenblatt Stadium, located three and a half miles from the new park, has been the site of the CWS since 1950. (The first two CWS were played in Kalamazoo, Mich. The University of California won the first series in 1947 and Southern California won the second in 1948. The third was played in Wichita, Kan.)
In defeating Stanford twice, the Tar Heels once again rode the excellence of their starting pitching and defense. Their outfielders made thrilling catches after chasing down hard-hit balls, and the infielders turned timely double plays to cut short potential Cardinal rallies.
Senior right-hander Patrick Johnson, who is expected to pitch the opening game in Omaha, allowed one run in seven and two-thirds innings in a 5-2 victory in the opening game of the super regional. That one run ended his scoreless innings streak at 30 and two-thirds, but no one from the Carolina dugout was complaining.
Johnson proved as brilliant as he has been since throwing a complete game shutout against then-No. 1 Virginia in the regular-season finale at Boshamer Stadium.
“His stuff is good,†Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. “You don’t have that many scoreless innings without having good stuff. But he pitches. He’s firm with the fastball. He has great command.
“I thought he did a great job of throwing the ball on the outside corner, especially with the fastball and slider. When you do that, it’s tough on hitters.â€
Maybe the most impressive part of the Tar Heels’ run in this NCAA Tournament has been that so much of their offense has come without significant contributions from junior shortstop Levi Michael and freshman All-America third baseman Colin Moran. Their bats carried the Tar Heels throughout much of this season.
A switch-hitter batting .300 with 48 runs batted in, Michael was chosen in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft on June 6 by the Minnesota Twins. He has played superb defense throughout the tournament but has struggled at the plate.
The same can be said for Moran, who led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 69 RBI. He leads UNC with a .335 average.
In their place, everyone else in the lineup has contributed at some point or another in the NCAA Tournament. Right fielder Seth Baldwin is a great example.
In the last two weekends, Baldwin has had some of the worst at-bats one will ever see from a collegiate player. Yet he slammed a crucial two-run home run to extend Carolina’s lead to 3-0 in Friday’s game.
Saturday, Stallings provided the clutch hits. He drove in three of the Tar Heels’ seven runs and had three hits in five at-bats.
Stallings has been excellent on defense as well, nullifying every opponent’s running game with his strong right arm.
Now the Tar Heels will move on to try to win a national championship.
“That is the goal from day one,†coach Mike Fox said.