Game Blog: Carolina vs. Fresno State

Greetings from Omaha,

Jeff Gravley here to take you through the Tar Heels and Bulldogs in the second round of the College World Series...

It's a picture perfect night for baseball here in Omaha. Clear skies and a cool 82 degrees. Carolina is hoping for a "pitcher" perfect night from Adam Warren. Not that he has to toss a perfect game but he can't let Fresno State's bats come alive.

Not many teams score 17 runs on pitching stingy Rice but the Bulldogs did--including a 7 run 4th.

Adam Warren brings a 22-1 career record to the hill tonight...21-1 !! are you kidding?! He won 2 games last year in the College World Series (CWS in future references). The one thing about Warren that may raise eyebrows is his 4.09 ERA. That's pretty high on the nation's top ranked ERA staff.

Carolina coach Mike Fox feels his team is playing well...especially defensively. He thinks the Heels will need to score some runs on the Bulldogs.

A look ahead---

If Carolina wins, the Heels play Friday night at 7 against the winner of LSU and Fresno State.

If Carolina loses, the Heels face LSU Thursday night at 7. The Tigers scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th today to eliminate Rice. Blake Dean hit a 3-run double off the wall in left to keep the Tigers alive.

First pitch...7:09 and Carolina lead-off man Dustin Ackley grounds out to short. Pretty significant since Ackley has reached base in his first at bat 4 of the 6 games the Heels have played in the NCAA tourney.

 Kyle Shelton singles past short but Tim Fedroff lines into a double play to first. Carolina continues to make contact showing signs of aggression at the plate. They have all post season...

Adam Warren escapes the first after a lead-off walk. He promptly picks off Danny Muno then gets a couple of ground outs to end the inning. More balls thrown than strikes but no harm from the Dogs.

 The only change in the Tar Heel batting order tonight is Mark Fleury is the DH. Mike Fox goes lefty-righty through the line-up until you get to the bottom with right handers Seth Williams and Ryan Graepel hitting back to back. It's a 1-2-3 2nd for the Heels.

As a team, Fresno State hits more homers than North Carolina. Leading the way is Tommy Mendonca with 16. Warren freezes the third baseman on the outside corner for the 2nd out but catcher Ryan Overland follows it up with an opposite field homer to left. Mendonca I'll give you but Overland?? That's his 4th homer of the season...Fresno 1-0 after 2.

Fresno State pitcher Justin Miller has an interesting delivery from the windup. He'll pause on the drop step then another pause before delivery. Sometimes herky-jerky deliveries are difficult for hitters to decipher. Miller is a little smoother in the stretch as we see after Mark Fleury worked the righty for a 10 pitch walk.

Ryan Graepel forced Miller to throw quite a few pitches but strikes out looking to bring up Dustin Ackley. A sharp, one hop ground out fielded by the pitcher. One hit for the Heels through three.

Fresno State can flat hit with 2 strikes. Danny Muno just collected another 2 striker. Gavin Hedstrom lays down a bunt that Chad Flack can't come up with. Oh gosh...not another misfielded bunt in Omaha! In defense of Flack, it would have been a gold glove play but it sure did bring back memories of CWS past for Carolina.

1st and 2nd with 1 out but what a way to end the innings.  Warren with the strikeout and Tim Federowicz guns down the 2nd stray Bulldog....That's a  little harsh huh? OK, Federowicz throws out Hedstrom to complete the double play. Fed-Ex has no fear of throwing behind runners. As a part-time relief pitcher, he has confidence in his accuracy.

Carolina rides the momentum of the inning ending double play and begins the 4th with a single by Kyle Shelton.

Miller leaves a fastball up and Tim Fedroff sends it to center. Gavin Hedstrom tries to make a Willy Mays, over the shoulder basket catch but it drops in for a run scoring triple for Fedroff. (Earlier today he became a consensus All-American being named first-team by the American Baseball Coaches Association)

Miller is not as confident or accurate in the stretch. Lefty Kyle Seager drives one to left for a run scoring double. 2-1 Carolina.

The Heels may not hit many homers (only Fedroff is in double digits with 12) but they can drive the gaps. Chad Flack gets the RBI when centerfielder Hedstrom can't hold the fly. Carolina is now leading 3-1 as the sun begins to creep below the fan, filled stands.

Steve Detwiler draws a 2-out walk and that brings out Carolina pitching coach Scott Forbes. Warren has thrown 65 pitches...36 for strikes and that's a dangerous ratio. Nice in between stop by Ackley at first to the covering Warren to retire the side.

Pitchers covering first may look easy but there's an art to it. As a pitcher, you can't hesitate and you don't run straight to the bag. Banana that thing, my coach used to say...referring to the bended angle pitchers should take to the bag. Adam Warren did just that to keep it a 3-2 game in favor of the light blue.

Ackley leads off the inning with a liner to left...Shelton is hit and Justin Miller's night is over...4 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs.

Carolina loads 'em with one out and Kyle Seager at the plate. A weak swing sends Seager back to the dugout. This is a taylor made situation for a left-handed hitter. Make contact and get a run home. Just a poor at bat by Seager.

So bring up one of the cornerstone seniors...Chad Flack with 2 outs and the bases loaded. He missed a fat, 84 mile per hour fastball then flies out to end the inning. Mark this one...Carolina should have at least one run after having runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.

3 batters, 3 runners for Fresno State to start the 5th. That's it for Warren after 76 pitches...44 for strikes. Brian Moran will be the first to try and put out the fire against hitters 4, 5 and 6.

Susdorf, Ahmady and Mendonca have combined for 40 homers. First baseman Ahmady singles in a pair after Susdorf grounds out to 3rd. 4-3 Bulldogs.

A double-steal by the Dogs puts runners on 2nd and 3rd. Fresno has been more aggressive on the bases than Carolina.

Nice move by Fox as Grubb hits a weak, floater to shortstop Graepel. Remember those runners Carolina left stranded in the 5th?? Fresno State 4---Carolina 3.

These outfielders have been running all night. DH Mark Fleury bangs a double off the wall in left to lead the 6th. Seth Williams missed an opportunity for a bunt and went back after a strikeout...Ryan Graepel grounds to 3rd...Dustin Ackley looks at a 3rd strike and the Heels couldn't score on reliever Holden Sprague...what a name for a reliever...Holden.

Error on Graepel to lead off the inning. On the error, he let the ball play him instead of him playing the ball. That one step back led to the boot. Rob Wooten threw a wild pitch, walked a batter and hit another to load the sacks with nobody out.  Wooten has been through a lot in his 5-year career on the Hill. A strikout and 2 groundouts keep this a 1 run game. Mark that one down with the 2, 3 and 4 hitters coming up for Carolina.

Nothing going for Carolina as the crowd stands to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Wooten warms up to take part in his 3rd inning of relief.

Graepel makes a whale of a scoop and throw to first but not in time to get Ahmady....another lead-off baserunner for Fresno State. Graepel keeps runners at 2nd and 3rd with a nice play up the middle. It remains Fresno State 4 and Carolina 3.

I HAVE TO RUN AND GET IN PLACE FOR POSTGAME INTERVIEWS. TAKE CARE...

JEFF GRAVLEY