It was a painful day at Rosenblatt Stitch-heads. For different reasons too. It’s always painful to see a team get to this far in the post-season and have a very excusable error cost his team the game. Look people, these guys aren’t high-paid professionals. They’re college kids. Mistakes are expected. But still, even when it happens here, it’s still painful to see.

As for the other type of “painful” day at Rosenblatt? It was difficult to watch the faux pas-fest between Texas and Southern Miss. I’d even venture to say it was the most painful baseball to watch since the 1998 dinger-fest of a series. There I said it.

Here are how things turned out on this second day of action at the Mecca of college baseball.

Jason Kipnis gives home run hero Kole Calhoun a welcome chest-bash.

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GAME ONE
Conditions at game time:
Partly cloudy, 73 degrees, 61% humidity, winds from the South at 13mph.

Arizona State – 010 000 000 4 – 5 11 1
North Carolina- 000 001 000 1 – 2 11 3

WP- Mitchell Lambson (9-3)
LP- Colin Bates (4-3)
Sv- none

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- In A Nutshell:
Starting pitchers Alex White and Josh Spence put on the kind of pitching clinic everyone was expecting. First off, before we get to the rest of the game story, check out their two lines for the day:

White:
9.0inns., 7H, 1R, 1ER, 12Ks, 3BBs, 131pitches

Spence:
7.0inns., 8H, 1R, 1ER, 8Ks, 3BBs, 122pitches

Both gave up some hits here and there, but were tough as nails and had a competitive streak in them… well, the coaches will cover that part in the post-game quotes you’ll see in a bit.

But in the end, both gave way to relievers, and the tough luck award goes to Carolina’s Colin Bates, who was credited with giving up the go-ahead run in the 10th, after Drew Maggi got a one-out single off him. But disaster soon struck. Brian Moran came on and induced a pop-up that was lost in the sun, putting two men on. Carlos Ramirez then sliced an RBI single to score Maggi with the game-winning run. Kole Calhoun came on to blast a three-run bomb to put the game out of reach.

Brilliant game. Well played. Well pitched. And then a little bad luck that went a long way.

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- Key Moment:
The curse of Mother Nature.
Twice the UNC Tarheels were victimized by the elements in today’s game. I remember back during the 1991 College World Series, then-ESPN color commentator Larry Sorensen (no relation, note the spelling) stated that Rosenblatt was “one of the toughest sun fields in the country for right fielders.” Today, it proved true as UNC’s Garrett Gore became the unfortunate victim of Sorensen’s assessment. In the 10th inning, he couldn’t overcome the sun that was poking through the hazy sky blinding his eyes, allowing a simple pop up to fall between his wickets and allowing men to get on 1st and 2nd with one out, instead of just a guy on 1st with two outs. A batter later, Ramirez sent home the go-ahead run with a single to left.

It would’ve stayed a one-run game, but the elements struck again as the wind, which was a non-factor early on in the game, had picked up enough to give Kole Calhoun’s sharp blast to left just enough umph to get over the outfield wall, plating the deciding three runs of the game.

- Key Moment II:
With one on and two out in the bottom of the 9th inning, the most dangerous batter in the country, Dustin Ackley, came to the plate. But instead of putting a charge into the ball and the Heel hopes, he watched three strikes go past him from Mitchell Lambson, sending the game to the fateful 10th inning.

Dustin Ackley stands in shock as he is called out on strikes in the 9th inning.

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- Throwing Strikes.
Both pitchers were totally spot-on today. White had 87 strikes in his 131 pitches, including 17 strikes in his first 19 throws of the day. THAT’s establishing a presence. Spence threw 77 strikes in his 122 pitches.

- Bottom of the Order Help:
ASU’s 7-8-9 hitters accounted for six of the team’s 11 hits. Freshman Johnny Ruettiger went 3-for-5, Raoul Torrez went 2-for-3 and Zack MacPhee was just 1-for-4, but had a crucial RBI double in the 2nd.

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QUOTES.

Carolina Coach Mike Fox.
- Opening Statement:
Terrific game, two outstanding pitchers going at it. In a close game like that it’s always going to come down to a big hit and we didn’t get it done. We had a couple of opportunities to score in the game and didn’t get it done and that comes back to bite you later on in the game.

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- On the misplay by Garrett Gore in right field:
Not exactly sure what happened on that. The wind was swirling out there, you saw that when the Arizona State guy misplayed a ball in the 10th. It was just one of those unfortunate things. I feel bad for Garrett, those things happen.

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- On Alex White’s performance today:
I’ve seen him throw some great games. This one ranks right up there with the some of the best performances he’s had. But he was at his limit there in the 9th, it was enough for him.

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- Kyle Seager on facing Spence:
He mixed his off-speed stuff up very well. He was moving it all around the zone and did a good job. He might’ve changed up more than most lefties. He also changed arm angles a lot which we haven’t seen before.
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Coach Pat Murphy
Okay, try to follow me here stitch-heads. I was going to pick and choose some quotes from Murphy here, but he was his own show here in the post-game press conference, so without further adieu here’s the first four minutes of his presser.

- Opening Statement:
First of all, for North Carolina and the kid that pitched for them and they’re whole team, they need to be commended. We hung in there with them, but Alex White was tremendous. Who picked him in the first round?…. (answer from the press is Cleveland)… Then Cleveland’s got a good one. And it’s not just about ’stuff’ for him. That kid can compete. Every situation we had, he turned it up a notch. Ya’ know, you knew you were in a fight with somebody pretty special. I think that’s why Cleveland should pay him… even more than they’re set out to pay him. He’s pretty special.

Ummm, you know the job that our guys did wasn’t pretty, but we hung in there.

The job that The Mate (Josh Spence) did was… (shaking his head) what can you say? The kid just continues to perform. Then the job Mitch Lambson did, he’s been our unsung hero all season long. And then Red Head here (Kole Calhoun), he decided he was going to show up. He didn’t show up until the 10th, he was busy signing autographs and making friendships out there in left field. But really, Kole’s the kind of kid where he’s the definition of competition, ya’ know. He’s a great competitor and I think that was the difference in the game.

After looking down at his stat sheet for the game:
Did we really strike out 14 times? Wow. How many games do you strike out 14 times, get picked off twice, make an error, and still win? We’re lucky.

Great crowd. Great weather. Great pulled pork sandwich I had in the second inning. I was starving and I realized I hadn’t ate. So…

(Question from press):
Can you describe the decision to start Spence…

(Interrupting the question) Brilliance.

(reporter again)
Did it have mostly to do with their left-handed lineup?

It mostly had to do with my brilliance. (pause for laughter to die down). No really, Tim Corbin of Vanderbilt called me and we talk all the time, and he said “I don’t know a lot about them but they do have a left-handed dominating lineup.” And I had said after we beat Clemson last week that I was going to go ahead with Spence in game one. Then (pitching coach) Josh Holliday said after watching the films of North Carolina, that it would be a good idea to go with Spence.

And you know, Spence and Leake had been interchanging all year long, Spence on Friday night plenty of times before he got hurt. But he was magnificent today.

- Murphy on the ball that Garrett Gore lost in the sun:
If you look at my notes from ‘05 and ‘07, you’ll see in there “tough sun in right field and second base.” And I feel for that young man. He’s been to Omaha a lot of times, but it’s always tough.

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- On Spence, here the last two weeks in wins over Clemson and UNC as compared to earlier this season before he got hurt:
He was a little better earlier in the year. He was a little sharper in his delivery. He switched some grips after the finger injury. His change-up hasn’t been quite as good. His breaking ball hasn’t been quite as sharp. But he’s getting back to it. He’s getting back to it. It’s been his mental toughness and his demeanor. It’s also been his ability to stay calm under pressure, it’s uncanny. It’s really, really special.

Thus is the brilliance that is Pat Murphy.

Russell Muldenhauer picked a great time to hit his first home run of the season vs. USM.

U.S.M.- 000 020 031 – 6 9 0
Texas – 200 001 121 – 7 8 2

WP: Taylor Jungmann (9-3)
LP: Josh Fields (2-1)
Sv: None

- In A Nutshell:
A game like this is never pretty. In fact, it seemed like this one was simply going to come down to whoever made the last bonehead play. And somebody did.

Eventually it was a hit batsman – and a couple more walks – that decided things as USM’s Josh Fields hit Travis Tucker, then walked Brandon Belt to put men at 1st and 2nd with one out in the bottom of the 9th. Then Jonathan Johnston came on to walk Kevin Lusson before seeing fit to issue Brandon Loy four pitches outside of the zone, giving the Horns the win.

So yes, this back and forth struggle was really nothing more than a walk-fest. Each team had pitchers that couldn’t find the zone very well and walked in runs in critical bases-loaded situations. In all, four of the runs were scored by bases-loaded freebies, including all three of UT’s final runs.

- Key Moment:
Well I’d like to say it was some kind of great game-ending full-count hit with the fans screaming or some diving catch that robs a team of a game-winning RBI double at the warning track (think Jim Edmonds sprawling out here). But people, it was that damned bases-loaded walk to Brandon Loy that ended the game with a meek walk that was your key moment.

- Biggest Stat.
3 blown saves in one game.
You kiddin’ me? Ouch. And add to that the two bullpens combining for nine walks on the night.

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- Second biggest stat.
Muldenhauer, who hadn’t hit a home run all season and was curiously given the cleanup hitter role today, ended up with a home run and a double in his game of the season performance.

- Not Very Wood-like.
We’ve all grown accustomed to Austin Wood pitching more like Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man. (Yeah, as if any of you young whipper-snappers know who the hell THAT is.). But tonight, the Ace of Austin was more human than we like to think. In that crucial 8th inning, he gave up two singles and two walks, including walking in the go-ahead run for USM.

His line on the night ended up being:
1.1, 2H, 3R, 1ER, 2BBs, 3Ks, 32pitches, 20 for strikes.

- Cargill not much better.
The USM bullpen stud continued the night’s theme of terrible relieving. He had a pock-marked outing, facing three batters, giving up a hit, two walks and a run in his 15 pitches. Only seven of those pitches were for strikes.

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QUOTES.

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USM coach Corky Palmer.
- Opening Statement:
I thought our team played extremely hard and kept coming back but we just didn’t throw strikes to win. I’d rather somebody hit a grand slam to be honest with ya’. I thought we played hard and had enough hits and made no errors. We had the opportunity to win, but just didn’t get it done.

On pitching that got them through the post-season so far.
We made everybody earn it in the Supers and the Regional. But here we just didn’t throw strikes and they did. We walked nine and Texas walked four. So there’s your ballgame really.

On being in the losers bracket now and how he’ll handle his pitching:
There’s no tomorrow. So J.R. Ballanger will start. We can’t really even think beyond the next game, so we’ll just play it one game at a time.

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- James Ewing on what this team faces now:
We’ve battled back from being down a few runs plenty of times before. It just seems like every game we found a way to close it out. But we didn’t do that tonight. I know Austin Wood is a better pitcher than he showed tonight and Colin Cargill is too, but it just wasn’t their night. We’ll have to come back and play hard tomorrow.

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Texas coach Augie Garrido
- Opening Statement:
I wanna start with the performance of the Golden Eagles. The ending is not befitting the performance. Baseball is a cruel game. It’s a brutal game. For that one position to break down is a tough way for the game to be decided. Some nerves turned into fear and eventually that was the demise of an otherwise very courageous team. It was a hell of a baseball game. It was a tough way to end.

We responded well and that’s been our character lately. We’ve won six different ways in this post-season. It’s the intangibles, we could play 50 games against them and this kind of game would never come about again.

Championships are decided by the unexpected. We were the benefactors of some of the nerves that got the better of them in the end.

What he told Loy before his last at-bat:
That he was going to take until he got two strikes. You’re going to have two strikes on you when you go up there and swing at a pitch. But i told him not to just take the pitches, but study them and approach them as if you are going to swing because you will get only one swing at it.

They still had to take at two strikes. Offensive control is doing what the ball tells you to do. A lot of times that’s hard to do and nerves get the best of you, especially on a stage like this.

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- His thoughts on Arizona State:
They are a very aggressive team with solid pitching, good relievers with closers that have a lot of experience. They go to war. they battle and they make a lot of things happen. They take the extra base, play a highly fueled, upbeat offensive game with some power. So we’ll see if it comes down to the pitching again.

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- Russell Moldenhauer on his game:
I believe I’ve hit the ball well all year, obviously my average doesn’t show it. But coach believes in me and I was glad to help out the team and glad it could come in the College World Series. But we have to move on and go to the next game.

I’ve been seeing the ball well all year, I just haven’t been able to find that groove like I had in high school. I felt real comfortable swinging at balls that were in the zone.

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- Cole Green on his getting the start tonight:
I was very excited to get the start. I had good control on all three of my pitchers. I thought my slider was dominant and my change up was there when i needed it.

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OTHER NOTES:

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FORGETTING THE ACE.
For the second day in a row a we see a team eschew the No. 1 starter for the first game in Omaha and go with the No. 2 man in the rotation. Yesterday that practice cost Cal State Fullerton as Noe Ramirez, a freshman, had the jitters and got hit pretty hard by Arkansas in a 9-5 loss. Today, ASU decided to go with Aussie lefty Josh Spence and his 80mph fastball and 68mph change up. The decision didn’t come with as harsh results.

Mike Leake, the No. 1 arm and No. 8 pick in last week’s MLB draft, is expected to start on Monday.

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FIRST CATCHER’S INTERFERENCE.
The C.I. on UT catcher Cameron Rupp was the first in the CWS since May 30th, 1981 when Mississippi State catcher Terry Low pulled the sin against Michigan

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Okay, hopefully this will satiate you guys for now. I’ll be back after I wake up tomorrow morning and post more pictures from today.

G’night.