NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: UNC Eliminates Stanford In Rain Delayed Game, 7-5

The North Carolina Tar Heels and Stanford Cardinal were forced to the dugout in the ninth inning of Saturday’s Super Regional matchup as rain and lightning pelted the field in Chapel Hill. Stanford was trailing at the time, and needed to pull out a comeback win to survive and force a third game. But when play resumed, the Tar Heels tacked on an insurance run and the Cardinal were unable to answer, ending their NCAA Tournament with a 7-5 loss.

Stanford scored first, plating in a run in the bottom of the first, but was unable to find the offense again until the eighth inning. By then, North Carolina had opened a 6-1 lead, putting the Cardinal on the ropes late in the Super Regional matchup. It came in bunches as the Tar Heels scored three in the fourth and three in the seventh to take control of the game.

The Stanford Cardinal jumped out to a 1-0 lead in Chapel Hill, NC against the North Carolina Tar Heels in Game 2 of their NCAA Baseball Tournament Super Regional, but UNC have fought back with some great hitting in the top of the 4th inning, and as a result they have a 3-1 lead in the middle of the 4th inning.

Jordan Pries started his first three innings strong, but he finally met his match when the bottom half of the North Carolina lineup came up for the second time around. Ben Bunting hit the RBI single that tied the game up, but it was DH Brian Holberton who dealt the real blow to Pries and Stanford, as he muscled out an impressive two RBI double down the first base line, out of the reach of Brian Ragira. Pries was pulled and Brian Busick got out of the inning without letting UNC do any more damage, but that two-run lead will be a big boost to UNC. Their bats are coming alive and Kent Emanuel is pitching well.

They made things interesting with some questionable defense in the eighth inning, but North Carolina finally pulled out a Game 1 win in their NCAA Baseball Super Regional against the Stanford Cardinal, winning by a final score of 5-2 after strengthening their lead late.

Starting pitchers Mark Appel and Patrick Johnson both put in fantastic performances, as they both threw well enough to earn shutouts. However, both teams had some bad defense, while Appel had a bit of bad luck. North Carolina scored the opening run in the second inning on series of defensive errors, then made it 3-0 when Seth Baldwin hit an impressive opposite way home run off Appel in the seventh inning. Johnson was pulled in the eighth inning with two runners on base, and a defensive error by Levi Michael allowed two runs to score, bringing Stanford back within one run.

North Carolina Tar Heels starting pitcher Patrick Johnson has started extremely strong in Game 1 of his team’s Super Regional against the Stanford Cardinal, and it’s looking like the visitors are going to have a tough time scoring any runs in Chapel Hill this afternoon. Johnson has four strikeouts, one hit allowed, and no runs allowed in 41 pitches through three innings. He’s been great, but he’s going to have to continue to be - Mark Appel is nearly as good. However, UNC have a 1-0 lead through three innings, thanks to a bit of luck.

Some poor defense is what has allowed UNC to take the lead, and their one run was not charged to Appel as a result. In the second inning, Jesse Wierzbicki reached on a single, then advanced to third when Tommy Coyle reached base on a throwing error. Jacob Stallings lined out to shallow center, keeping Wierzbicki from tagging, but he would score on the next at bat. Ben Bunting hit a ground ball between first and second that Lonnie Kauppila almost reached, but he bobbled the ball, allowing Bunting to reach first safely and Wierzbicki to score from third.

There was once a time when Stanford was a fixture at the College World Series. They made it to Omaha in five straight seasons from 1990 to 2003 and might as well have booked their hotel before the season even started. You could bet on seeing the Cardinal show up with their old-school pullover uniforms, ready to play for a national title. That was eight years ago, and Stanford has only been back to Omaha once since.

In Stanford’s absence, North Carolina became the team you could bet on seeing in Omaha. They made it to four straight College World Series from 2006 to 2009, missing out on making it five straight last year when they fell to Oklahoma in the Regional final.