Tar Heels fall to Miami, lose coach Mike Fox to suspension

GREENSBORO — Judging by his reaction, Colin Moran couldn’t quite believe the call.

Neither could head coach Mike Fox.

A game of missed opportunities reached its climax with two outs in the ninth inning of Thursday’s ACC tournament matchup. With the bases loaded, down 5-3, North Carolina had its greatest chance to finally defeat Miami for the first time in four tries this season.

The pitch from A.J. Salcines looked outside. It was called strike three.

Moran slammed his bat in frustration. Fox argued with the umpire, then was ejected from the field and — per NCAA rules — will miss Saturday’s game with N.C. State because of it.

“You can look at the video. You look at it and come tell me,” Fox said. “The kid should decide the game.

“They think there’s no emotion involved here after the game apparently. You’re not supposed to say anything. It’s hard to play this game without emotion. Sometimes you have to let things go.”

According to a statement by umpire crew chief Bryant Woodall, Fox was warned twice but “continued to engage with a member of the crew.”

The moment capped off a day of steadily rising frustration. UNC had chance after chance to get on the board against Miami, but the Tar Heels consistently came up empty.

UNC tallied a leadoff hit — three for extra bases — in four different innings but didn’t score in any of them.

“That’s a recipe on how not to win a game against a really good team,” Fox said.

“Leadoff single to start the game: first pitch, hit into double play. Leadoff double, don’t get him in. Leadoff double, don’t get him in. Leadoff triple … don’t get him in. Those things come back to get you in the course of a nine-inning game. And that was exactly the case.”

When the Tar Heels did finally break through on a pinch-hit, game-tying, two-run homer by Grayson Atwood in the seventh inning, Miami wasted little time in returning the favor.

With two outs in the bottom of the frame, Miami centerfielder Dale Carey drilled a 1-2 inside fastball over the left field wall to give the Hurricanes a two-run lead.

UNC starter Kent Emanuel wasn’t at his best Thursday, but he had pitched well enough to that point to keep the Tar Heels in the game.

UNC finally had some momentum after the Atwood homerun. Carey’s homerun stole it back.

“Believe it or not, out of all the hits they got, I think that was the one where I didn’t miss my spot,” said Emanuel, who finished the day with four earned runs and nine strikeouts in seven innings.

“It was kind of funny how it worked. I feel like he didn’t even get all of it to be honest with you.”

That wasn’t the fatal blow — at least, not yet. The Tar Heels still had a shot in the ninth inning when they managed to load the bases for their leading hitter.

But the umpire’s strike call on Moran ended the game and also put an end to North Carolina’s (43-14) 14-game winning streak.

“We obviously wanted to keep the ball rolling in terms of the streak,” Emanuel said. “But I mean regardless of what our defense and hitters do, I want to go out there a throw up zeros every inning.”

By the time Moran stepped to the plate in the ninth, the game was no longer in Emanuel’s control.

Some could argue it wasn’t in Moran’s control either.