DURHAM — Patrick Johnson pushed North Carolina baseball to the brink of elimination. Then he almost pitched them out of it.
With only one out on the board and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning Saturday Johnson faced a difficult task: Get the next two Clemson batters out cleanly.
Since even a walk or a sacrifice fly would win the game for the Tigers Johnson had no margin for error — and appropriately so. Johnson put the Tar Heels in the predicament by making a bad throw while fielding a bunt that sent Clemson's Mike Freeman all the way to third.
The first batter worked a full count before striking out. The second raised the stakes further — fouling off two off Johnson's fastballs with the count at 3-2 and Durham Bulls Athletic Park in a frenzy.
But the Tiger's Wilson Boyd sent the next pitch all the way to the left field wall" bringing Freeman home and securing a 4-3 win for No. 15 Clemson (40-19). Johnson's error voided a ninth-inning comeback by the Tar Heels as the team was bounced from the ACC tournament.
""We tell our pitchers try to make plays on balls like that"" coach Mike Fox said of the error. We should have been backing up that play — that guy wouldn't have ended up on third.""
But the Tar Heels will turn their focus to their NCAA Regional" which they will host at Boshamer Stadium. They face Dartmouth in the first game and the other teams in the regional are Coastal Carolina and Kansas.
No. 15 CCU is especially dangerous" having beaten UNC 7-3 on Feb. 24.
""We gotta shore up some things this weekend and get a little bit of our confidence back" Fox said.
I don't know that we lost any today but any time you lost two going into regionals we got to get back with some good practices some enthusiasm" and get some guys going a little bit.""
UNC's first tournament lost was an 11-1 blowout at the hands of No. 14 Virginia (43-12-1).
Starting pitcher Alex White looked to be off to a great start. He had four strikeouts in his first six batters and took only eight pitches to get through the second.
But it all unraveled from there" as the Tar Heels (42-16) gave up 10 runs in a crushing third inning. White allowed a double by Virginia's Tyler Cannon to start the frame.
He then went through the entire Cavaliers lineup getting only one out. White gave up a total of six hits and two walks before being pulled for Brian Moran" who faced another six batters before he got the last two outs.
""I made some bad pitches that got hits" and I made some pretty decent pitches that got hits" White said.
It was just one of those innings.""
By the time they escaped from the inning"" the Tar Heels were down 10-0. It was the most runs given up in an inning since 1998 for UNC.
""You wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night dreaming about those kind of innings at times where you just cannot get an out" Fox said. You can't get the first one you can't get the second one" can't get the third one.""
Dustin Ackley and Levi Michael provided a pair of bright spots for the Tar Heels on the weekend. They hit home runs on separate days that cleared the left field wall (nicknamed ""The Blue Monster"") at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Michael scored UNC's lone run Friday" while Ackley — currently tied for the lead in the ACC with 20 home runs — hit one in the fifth that cut Clemson's lead to 3-2.
UNC had opportunities in the eighth ninth and tenth innings Saturday but got only one run out of all three. The Tar Heels finished the game with 13 runners left on base.
In the top of the 10th Mark Fleury was tagged out at the plate while trying to score from second on a Cavasinni hit — ending the inning and the Tar Heels' last good scoring chance.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu
Baseball: Heels set for regionals
In the Tar Heels? ACC tournament opener first baseman Dustin Ackley paced UNC with two home runs and four RBIs. But against Virginia UNC was held to five hits and only one run. Ackley redeemed himself the following day with his 20th homer of the season but the team still fell.
