UNC knocked out of College World Series

OMAHA – Playing in the College World Series has become a familiar experience for North Carolina.

But unfortunately for the Tar Heels, so, too, has leaving without a national championship in hand.

In its fifth appearance in six years, UNC was eliminated from the College World Series with a 5-1 loss to Vanderbilt on Wednesday in TD Ameritrade Park.

And although UNC (51-16) once again fell short of the ultimate prize, coach Mike Fox expressed nothing but gratitude for a team that worked so hard to defy the odds.

“I don’t think anybody expected us to be here, to end our season here or to even be here at the start of the season,” Fox said. “So (it’s) such a great credit to our players and how committed they were just to make it this far. It’s obviously very difficult to win the national championship.”

From the onset of Wednesday’s game, the Tar Heels realized just how difficult keeping their national title hopes alive would be. UNC had just four hits in the game, as they struggled to create a spark offensively.

And on the mound, North Carolina didn’t fare much better.

Senior Greg Holt made his second start of the season against Vanderbilt, and allowed five runs, four hits and walked one in 2 2/3 innings pitched.

In the bottom of the second inning, Vanderbilt center fielder Connor Harrell blasted a three-run homer to left center field. Harrell also had a home run in Vanderbilt’s 7-3 win against UNC on Saturday.

In the very next inning, the Commodores widened the gap a little more. A solo home run from catcher Curt Casali gave Vanderbilt a 5-0 lead.

The Tar Heels strung together a couple of base hits in the fifth, and center fielder Ben Bunting batted in UNC’s only run of the game.

Later in the inning, the Tar Heels loaded the bases and catcher Jacob Stallings represented the tying run at the plate.

But after doubling in his first two at-bats, Stallings’ luck had run out. The junior struck out swinging, adding three to UNC’s total of nine men left on base.

“I got a first pitch slider, and it was the best pitch of the at-bat to hit, and I just missed it,” Stallings said. “You know, (Vanderbilt starting pitcher Taylor Hill) really kind of bumped up during that at-bat. His stuff was a lot better just that whole at-bat than it has been in my previous times.”

Missed opportunities plagued the Tar Heels during their College World Series stint, as UNC left a total of 34 men on base in its three games.

“You’re down four and you have the bases loaded and you’re thinking to yourself one swing of the bat, ball in the gap and we’re right back in the game and we get the momentum in our dugout,” Fox said. “They were in that situation several times while we were out here, and it just didn’t happen for us.”

UNC used four different pitchers from the bullpen during the Wednesday’s game, including R.C. Orlan, who pitched a career-high 3 2/3 innings. The Tar Heels shut out Vanderbilt in the next six innings.

But against Hill, a UNC comeback just wasn’t in the cards.

Though the sting of disappointment weighed heavy on the Tar Heels after the game, Fox didn’t have to look very far for a silver lining.

Fox wasn’t going back to Chapel Hill with a national championship. But he wasn’t leaving Omaha empty handed, he said.

“You hear a lot of coaches say it’s all about relationships, and that is so true,” Fox said. “As a young coach, you don’t think of that. You know, you wallow in self pity that you didn’t win, you know, and everybody talks about you didn’t win it again. The heck with that. I take these memories of these kids… But we’re going to keep trying to come back and win this thing, all that aside.”