OMAHA, Neb. – LSU thrived on late-inning heroics to become one of the hottest teams in college baseball during the second half of the season.
And the Tigers found themselves in another nail biter in a College World Series elimination game Friday night against North Carolina.
Only this time LSU came up on the wrong end of the heroics and had the Tar Heels end its season, 7-3.
“My most overwhelming emotion is I hurt very badly for my kids,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “They gave it everything that they had. They left it all out on the field, and we just came up a little bit short tonight. I guess you could say we ran out of miracles.”
Things seemed to be going LSU’s way as the teams entered the bottom of the eighth tied at 3.
LSU sophomore left fielder Jared Mitchell led off the inning by reaching on an error, and freshman catcher Micah Gibbs and junior first baseman Matt Clark earned back-to-back walks to load the bases with one out.
“We had a tremendous opportunity there,” Mainieri said. “I had given Matt Clark the green light even on 3-0 there. He was hitting all the way, but it looked like they didn’t want anything to do with him.”
North Carolina sophomore pitcher Alex White, who picked up the win in the opening round matchup with the Tigers on Sunday, managed to get out of the inning without allowing a single run when freshman shortstop DJ LeMahieu popped up and freshman center fielder Leon Landry to grounded out.
“We counted on freshmen all year,” Mainieri said. “And here we get the two biggest at bats of the year in the College World Series with the season on the line and two freshmen coming up, but I still will always have a lot of confidence in those kids. It just didn’t happen for us.”
North Carolina sophomore shortstop Ryan Graepel got things going in the top of the ninth with a one-out double to right-center field.
LSU junior reliever Louis Coleman then intentionally walked North Carolina sophomore first baseman Dustin Ackley, who was 4-for-4 on the day, to put runners on first and second before allowing Graepel and Ackley to advance on a wild pitch to pinch hitter Mark Fleury.
Coleman rebounded from the wild pitch by striking out Fleury before intentionally walking sophomore right fielder Tim Fedroff to load the bases for junior catcher Tim Federowicz.
Federowicz, 0-for-3 on the night at that point and 11-for-51 in the College World Series since 2006, responded by launching a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to put the Tar Heels ahead, 7-3.
“We finally hit a mistake,” said North Carolina coach Mike Fox. “They didn’t make many mistakes on the mound.”
The grand slam was the first in College World Series play since Georgia hit one in 2001.
“I’ve already asked myself several times if I did the right thing by walking [Fedroff],” Mainieri said. “I think if I had to do it a thousand times, I’d do the same thing. It just didn’t work out for us.”
And after the many miracle comebacks the Tigers made to reach this point – including a four-run ninth-inning comeback Tuesday against Rice – LSU came up one short of advancing any further as White took care of the bottom of the ninth in three batters.
The game originally started Thursday before being stopped for a weather delay with one out and the bases loaded for North Carolina in the top of the first inning and the Tar Heels already leading, 2-0.
After more than three hours of waiting, NCAA officials decided to postpone the game until Friday.
LSU senior pitcher Jared Bradford started the Friday portion of the game after junior Blake Martin had pitched 1/3 of an inning Thursday night.
Bradford came back on short rest after starting Tuesday against Rice and allowed one run on four hits and two walks and chalked up five strike outs in five and two-thirds innings.
“What Jared Bradford did for our team tonight on two days rest is what legends are made of,” Mainieri said. “Not only is Jared Bradford one of the greatest competitors I’ve ever coached, he’s one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met.”
Coleman picked up the loss for the Tigers, allowing the four runs on the grand slam and two other hits and earning six strike outs in three innings.
“Their two pitchers were outstanding for them – Bradford and Coleman,” Fox said. “We just kind of hung around.”
The Tigers only managed four hits in the game, including a two-run shot to right field by Clark to tie the game at 3 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“I kind of set myself up for a fastball,” Clark said. “I knew [North Carolina sophomore reliever Brian Moran] was going to come with it, and I just put a good swing on it and made sure I didn’t miss it.”
The home run was Clark’s nation-leading 28th of the season. No Tiger has led the country in home runs since Brad Cresse hit 30 in 2000.
The official attendance for the game, spanning Thursday and Friday, was announced at 30,422 – a College World Series record, the second largest crowd in Division I baseball history and almost 7,000 more than the capacity of Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium.
The attendance recorded counted tickets used both Thursday and Friday only once but also any ticket used either Thursday or Friday.
The Tar Heels will now move on to play Fresno State at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
“They have an outstanding ball club – a very well-coached team,” Mainieri said. “Obviously they have outstanding pitching, and they deserve it. They deserve to move on.”
Fresno State defeated North Carolina in the teams’ earlier meeting Tuesday, 5-3.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]