The Tar Heels spoil N.C. State's ACC title hopes

GREENSBORO — Before the North Carolina baseball team’s Saturday night match-up with N.C. State in the 2012 ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels’ chance at making the title game Sunday had already been squashed.

But the same was not the case for the Wolfpack. An N.C. State win would have matched them up with Georgia Tech Sunday at noon for all the marbles.

“I can’t lie about that, you asked me a direct question,” freshman starter Benton Moss said with a grin about the motivation provided by the chance of playing spoiler to the Wolfpack. “Our philosophy here is that it doesn’t matter – a win is a win. Every single game, whether is a gauranteed last game of the season or what we want to go out with a bang.”

It took a while for that bang to take place, but when it did the Tar Heels came out on top 4-0 after 12 innings Saturday night.

ACC Freshman and Pitcher of the Year Carlos Rodon started for the Wolfpack and gave his teammates, the coaching staff and the more than 10,000 fans on hand a spectacular show. The crowd at NewBridge Bank Park on Saturday night set a new record for the largest crowd to ever see a college baseball game in the state of North Carolina and did they ever see a great one.

Rodon pitched nine scoreless innings, gave up just four hits and struckout 12 Tar Heels batters.

“You have to give N.C. State a whole lot of credit,” pitching coach Scott Forbes said after the game. He took Mike Fox’s role tonight after Fox received a one game suspension after being ejected at the end of the Miami game on Thursday. “Rodon, I mean, man he really threw the ball well.”

But with a team effort, the Tar Heels matched Rodon zero-for-zero. Moss gave UNC 5.1 innings of two-hit ball and closer Michael Morin finished off the game with 5.0 strong innings. Morin retired the last 14 batter he faced and earned the win.

The game was tied at zero all the way to the top of the 12th inning when the Tar Heels put together the game-winning rally.

Colin Moran and Jacob Stallings led off the inning with back-to-back singles and Cody Stubbs was walked. Both Stallings and Stubbs were trying to lay down bunts but a combination of too many balls and missed attempts led to UNC loading up the bases.

Freshman Adam Griffin came up with a big single that broke the deadlock, and it came in his first at bat of the game.

“The first two strikes were fastballs right down the middle,” Griffin said about his game changing at bat. “For some reason, I had trouble seeing them. I was just hoping to get a pitch on the outside corner to just slap the other way and that’s what I did.”

UNC went on to add on three more runs in the 12th with RBI from Mike Zolk, Parks Jordan and a sacrifice fly from Chaz Frank. After Rodon held the Tar Heels to four hits through nine innings, UNC put up five hits in the 12th alone and the biggest of all came from a freshman off the bench.

“I told Griffin,’ you’re not in the lineup but in some way shape or form you’re going to help us win this game,’” Forbes said. “I’m glad that when he got up there he came through for us and got a hit.”