Heels Fall to Fresno State 5-3 in Game 2
Posted on June 18, 2008UNC could not hold on to a 3-1 lead, going scoreless over the past five innings, as underdog Fresno State upset the Tar Heels 5-3 in their second game of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday.
“Fresno State certainly outplayed us, out-executed us,” Carolina coach Mike Fox ’78 said. “Everybody is equal once you get here.”
The No. 2-ranked Tar Heels now play an elimination game at 7 p.m. Thursday against the team they beat in the first game, LSU. The Tigers rallied from four down in the ninth inning to eliminate Rice 6-5 and avoid elimination themselves.
The loss was a big one for the Heels as they’ll have to beat LSU for a second time and then beat Fresno State twice to advance to the finals.
“Once you get in the loser’s bracket, it’s tough,” UNC senior Chad Flack said. “You just take it one game at a time, one inning at a time.”
For the second game in a row, Carolina fell behind early on a solo home run – this one by the Bulldogs’ Ryan Overland in the second inning off starter Adam Warren.
But Carolina roared back in the fourth inning. UNC’s Kyle Shelton led off with a single to left and then scored on a Tim Fedroff triple to deep center. With one out, Kyle Seager doubled to score Fedroff and give the Heels a 2-1 advantage. Flack extended the lead to 3-1 with a single to center that scored Seager.
The Heels, although they finished with 11 hits, could add no more runs in that inning or any of the remaining five as they left 10 runners on base.
Fresno State drew the score to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by Steven Susdorf, a left-hander who lofted it out to right.
In the fifth, the Tar Heels managed to load the bases with one out, but Seager struck out and Flack flew out to end the threat.
The bottom of the fifth proved to be Carolina’s undoing. Warren gave up a pair of sharp singles and then a bunt that turned into a single to load the bases with no outs.
Left-hander Brian Moran relieved Warren. After a force out at home, Alan Ahmady singled to center to drive in two and give the Bulldogs’ a 4-3 lead, which they would not relinquish.
The Heels wasted a lead-off double by Mark Fleury in the sixth when they made three straight outs, including two strikeouts. “Tonight we swung at a lot of balls,” Fox said. “I thought the strike zone was small. I don’t think we took advantage of it.”
In the eighth, Seager hit a long foul ball that had home run distance but then he lined out. Still, Carolina had men on second and third with two outs after hits by Flack and Seth Williams.
Fresno State brought in its closer, Brandon Burke, who got UNC pinch-hitter Garrett Gore to hit a high bouncing ground ball to third baseman Tommy Mendonca, who adeptly threw out Gore on a close play for the third out.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Bulldogs picked up an insurance run off UNC reliever Rob Wooten when Erik Wetzel singled in Danny Muno.
Fedroff singled with two outs in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Tim Federowicz flew out to right to end the game.
Fresno State used four pitchers in relief of starter Justin Miller, who went four innings, and they each held Carolina scoreless.
“Their relievers got it done and made big pitches,” Fox said. “We couldn’t get a big hit – couldn’t get a two out hit, which I think you have to at this stage to advance.”
With the loss, Warren records only his second loss as a Carolina pitcher. The UNC junior was 22-1 over his career coming into the game.
The Tar Heels fall to 52-13 while Fresno State, dubbed the darlings of the tournament because the Bulldogs are the lowest-rated team ever to reach the World Series, advance to 44-29.
Fedroff, a sophomore who earlier in the day earned first-team All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association, extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games. He went 2-for-5 and now has 110 hits on the season to move into third place on the Heels’ single-season list.
Carolina fought its way out of the loser’s bracket just last year when the Tar Heels also suffered a loss in their second game only to rally for three straight wins in elimination games to reach the championship final series. To get to the finals, UNC will have to beat LSU on Thursday, Fresno State on Friday and Fresno State again on Saturday. All games begin at 7 p.m.
– Clifton Barnes ’82
Related coverage is available online:
- Box Score
- Heels Pound LSU 8-4 to Win First College World Series Game
News report from June 2008 - View a photo gallery from the Super Regional. All photos by Clifton Barnes ’82
- Complete bracket including all eight teams participating
- Mike Fox: Feet on the Ground, an Eye for the Loose Ball
Profile of Coach Mike Fox ’78 from the March/April 2008 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review. - Heels Win Their Most Ever, But the Trophy Goes West Again
Coverage of Carolina’s 2007 run in the College World Series - Fever Pitch at the Bosh:Heels Go to Omaha
Coverage of Carolina’s 2006 excitement in going to the College World Series - Visit tarheelblue.com for additional details.
