Canisius falls short with too many runners left on base

Starting pitcher Benton Moss got the North Carolina baseball team out of a bases-loaded situation in the first inning of Friday night’s 6-3 win over Chapel Hill Regional no. 4 seed Canisius.

Then the Tar Heels scored three runs in the bottom of that same inning.

Lead-off hitter Chaz Frank made a statement by singling through the right side to answer the 2-2 count he’d been thrown, then again by advancing to second on Landon Lassiter’s ground out.

Colin Moran flied out to deep left field, and Canisius starter Garrett Cortright walked Skye Bolt on a full count, but Cody Stubbs kept the offense going by doubling to score Frank and move Bolt into scoring position.

Michael Russell was hit by a pitch, and Brian Holberton came to bat with the bases loaded.

Holberton hit a 2 RBI double down the first base line and gave his team that 3-0 lead.

Mike Zolk struck out swinging, leaving two runners on base.

And as the inning ended, coach Mike Fox said he heard one of the players in his dugout say, “Well, we gave them a little bit of hope, then got them out with the bases loaded — then we just scored three runs,” — as if that would be the way the rest of the game unfolded.

And in some ways, it was. Both North Carolina and Canisius left a high number of runners on base throughout the game.

The first inning was unique in the way the Tar Heels dominated, but North Carolina was able to work itself out of three bases-loaded situations in the game. They also stranded five other Canisius runners during the game.

“There was a little frustration when they’ve got runners on base,” Frank said. “But at the same time it’s a good thing that we were getting runners on base (too), that we were making aggressive plays, trying to score runs.”

UNC fared only somewhat better than its opponent when it came to converting on having runners on base.

Fox said he’d written ‘Be Aggressive,’ on the back of his lineup card at the beginning of the game, but admitted that some of the outs that ended innings and left runners on bases — particularly Zolk being tagged out at home to end the third inning — were his own fault.

The Tar Heels left runners on in six different innings, totaling to nine total in the game.

But it was the last three Canisius runners left on base, in a one-out, bases-loaded situation that ultimately shifted the momentum of the game in the top of the eighth inning, said Canisius coach Mike McRae.

Freshman closer Trent Thronton worked his way out of the jam, striking out two consecutive batters to get the save for UNC and give UNC the momentum to score two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth.

“It was a turning point,” Holberton said. “From there on out, everybody was just kind of … not nervous, but had nerves … and as soon as Trent got those strikeouts, you could feel the dugout completely change.”

And although the Diamond Heels had confidence in Thornton in the situation — they’ve seen him do similar work at the plate before, most recently against NC State in last weekend’s 18 inning marathon — it was the fact that the team was able to work through a tight win that will resonate most moving forward.

“It’s pretty key for us,” Frank said. “It was good that we didn’t (steamroll past Canisius). It was good that we had a close game so that we can have that confidence.

“We’re going to need that down the road, that knowledge that if we’re having a close game we can go right after them. That was pretty important for us.”