Just having the Big East here says something about college baseball. The talk all postseaosn long was about how parity is here. Louisville played with its back against the wall six times in this year's postseason, and in five of them, they tore the cover off the ball , and rode the wave all the way to Omaha.

On this day, they ran into a hot pitcher. This day saw a team in North Carolina, and all of its postseason pitching woes turn around, as they were due for a good performance, and got one from Luke Putkonen. This was also a day that you came into thinking,"How long can Louisville keep scoring over nine runs a game and pound out 14 hits," like they had done all postseason long.

In a way, they were due for a three hit, one run performance.

"One of those tough days. It was tough on the hitters. The wind was blowing in, as a couple of balls were hit hard during the day. But they just weren't going to get out. UNC did enough to win. That's college baseball. Can't always win scoring ten or more runs, have to win in low-scoring games too,' coach McDonnell said after the game.

2B Logan Johnson hit the only homerun of the day, and it came in the first inning, as it would eventually account for the team's only run as well.

"We just weren't able to hit a lot of linedrives today," Logan Johnson said. "We ran into a good club, and things just didn't go our way."

Johnson tied a College World Series record with his fourth dinger of the week. But it came down to the fact that they needed to win a game in which they couldn't hit. And in the end, they just didn't get a break.

It's a shame that their season came to an end thanks to a two-run error by third-baseman Chris Dominguez, who had been so good at the plate all postseason long. That ball he threw away in the second inning proved to be the difference.

But there's that silver lining, too. The guys that took on the task of playing for a new head coach this year, did things that no Louisville player as ever done, in 98 years of playing the game.

"They'll go down as the greatest team to ever play baseball at the Univ. of Louisville. For the ten seniors, what a way to go out? I don't think you can ask for a better way to go out. If the season's going to end, there's not a beter place for it to happen than Omaha,' McDonnell said.

Meanwhile, North Carolina matched its school record for most wins in a season, as they now have hit the 55-win plateau. Putkonen was excellent, going seven innings, giving up just three hits and one run while striking out seven. The redshirt sophomore had some of the best breaking stuff he's had all season long. Andrew Carignan came in to close out the game, for his 17th save of the season, going 1.1 innings and striking out three batters while not allowing a baserunner.

The Tar Heels will now face Rice, a team that completely embarrassed them here on Sunday night, in a game that the Owls won 14-4. Head coach Mike Fox knows things are going to have to break differently.

"We obviously try to prevent the big inning with them. Hopefully the park will play the same way here, as 1-9 they're a good club offensively. We have to look at it like we have to win one not two games," Fox said.

They have to win those two games to advance to the championship series, but they have to take it one game at a time. They'll bring back Robert Woodard who was awful in their opening game against Mississippi State last Friday. He's bound to do better than he did on that day.

So we're down to five teams, as Louisville, Fullerton and Mississippi State have left us, and by the end of the night, either Arizona State or UC Irvine will have also headed back home for the year.