After win over Tennessee, UNC advances to Super Regional where it will host Auburn
North Carolina pitcher Joey Lancellotti slipped into the players’ lounge where the post game conference was being held and asked an attendant for seven bottles of water.
He waited with glee, his hair wet with sweat, and his hands and jersey stained with dirt after UNC’s 5-2 win over Tennessee in the NCAA tournament’s regional final. He had just pitched the game’s final two innings and earned the save, sending his team into the next round.
When the attendant handed him the Dasani water bottles he raced across the hallway on his tip toes and disappeared into to the locker room where his teammates were waiting for him. The door that read “UNC Players & Staff only” shut behind him. And the party began.
The Tar Heels were heading to the NCAA Tournament’s Super Regional round for the second consecutive year.
“I couldn’t be more prouder of this group,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “They’re so happy. It’s the best part of coaching. Seeing kids happy after winning.”
What began as a chance for UNC to regain the momentum it lost at the end of the regular season has turned into an improbable run for the Tar Heels.
After losing five of its last eight regular-season games, UNC has won its last seven postseason games, including its seventh ACC title, and as of Sunday, its 14th NCAA tournament regional title.
The Tar Heels will face Auburn in the Super Regionals.
Because North Carolina (45-17) is seeded higher than Auburn, it will be the host. Had Georgia Tech beaten Auburn, UNC would have traveled to Atlanta to face the Yellow Jackets in the super regional.
Freshman Aaron Sabato, who had two home runs in the first two games, finished Sunday’s game 2 for 5 with one run scored.
“Sabato, that guy might be the best hitter in the whole dang regional,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said during his post-game press conference, as LMFAO’s song “Shots” blared across the hall in UNC’s locker room.
Outfielder Dallas Tessar was 2 for 4 and extended his hitting streak to seven games.
This run began in the ACC tournament. The Tar Heels entered the tournament as a No. 5 seed after coming off two losses to N.C. State to end the regular season.
But that didn’t matter. They won all four games of the tournament, including the title game. The Tar Heels continued their streak in the NCAA Tournament Regional Round. The Tar Heels, which never faced elimination in the regional, outscored their three opponents 28-9.
The final win was against Tennessee.
“Pitching and defense,” Fox said. “That’s why we’re winning.”
The Volunteers were playing their second game of the day, a little more than two hours after their 10-inning game against Liberty ended. The Tar Heels took advantage.
Second baseman Ashton McGee got things started for the Tar Heels when he hit a two-RBI single to center field to put UNC on the board 2-0. Centerfielder Dylan Harris also had an RBI-single, and the Tar Heels added their fourth run on a wild pitch to take a 4-0 lead.
That was the last straw for Tennessee’s coaching staff, which decided to go to its bullpen before the inning was over.
Austin Bergner, who got the start and the win for the Tar Heels, pitched well. He gave up a run in the second after a wild pitch, and one in the fourth. But he got stronger as the game got into the later innings.
“My fastball was working really well for me,” Bergner said. “Some innings I struggled getting behind in the count, and I just had to go back out there and start getting back ahead, and that’s when it started to roll.”
He struck out four batters in the sixth and seventh innings. He pitched seven innings, his longest outing since pitching eight innings against Pittsburgh on May 11.
Bergner also struck out eight batters.
The Tar Heels needed a strong outing from their starting pitcher and got it. The Tar Heels’ bullpen had pitched more than 35 innings in the last six games entering Sunday’s contest.
The Tar Heels added another run for insurance in the top of the sixth inning.
Tennessee put two runners on base in the final inning. But with two outs and runners on first and second, Lancellotti struck out the final batter for the save.
This story was originally published June 2, 2019 at 9:47 PM.
