CWS: On To The Finals
By Doug Kroll - June 21, 2007
The scoring opened in the bottom of the second, with a what would you know it? A UNC homerun!! Freshman phenom Dustin Ackley hit his ninth homerun of the season that hit off the top of the batter's eye in centerfield, awfully close to the Rice flagpole. He definitely planned it that way.
Rice, though, came right back with a two run single by Diego Seastrunk in the top of the third that put the Owls up by one. But never fear, those UNC bats have found the power stroke, as Tim Fedroff launched a two run homerun that put the Tar Heels up for good, 3-2.
Seth Williams added a solo shot in the fourth to make it 4-2, Josh Horton added a solo homer in the fifth, and Kyle Seager rocketed a two-run single that made it 7-2.
So that was four straight innings in which UNC hit a homerun. Not bad considering they had two all postseason coming into the game.
Rice would put up a two spot in the seventh with a Jordan Dodson RBI single and a Tyler Henley double, but with second and third and two outs and All-American Joe Savery at the plate, home plate umpire David Buck called out Savery on strikes on a pitch that was about two feet off the plate.
It caused Rice fans and players and coaches alike to start yelling words that rhymed with Buck's last name.
Rice didn't do much of anything the rest of the way against Andrew Carignan who closed it out for the final 2 1-3 innings for his 18th save of the year.
We'll be back with more from Rosenblatt.
Posted by Doug Kroll at 09:49 PM on June 21, 2007
Comments (3)
Comments
Too bad for my Alma Matre, the Rice Fighting Owls. I could tell in the first inning this was not there game again tonight. Not many times all year they have lost two in a row. The ump blew it with Savory. AWEFUL call, AWEFUL! I still love ya Rice and I'm sure the Tar Heels feel on top of the world for beating the BEST TEAM IN THE NATION twice. Too bad for them, they'll get gobbled up by Oregon State who's not even fit to carry Rice's duffle bags.
Am I a sore looser. You better belive it, because I've been there many times on the field in the same situation as a player and coach and it sucks to know you are the best and you just have a bad night and hate to see your team go out that way.
Comment by Don Jones - June 21, 2007 10:01 PM
Should be a great rematch...I admit, I never saw OSU coming. But man, those Heels are for real this year.
Comment by Jean N. - June 21, 2007 10:21 PM
Even the mealy mouthed ESPN announcers admitted that the called strike three on Savery in the 7th inning was nowhere near the strike zone.
We attended every game of the Houston regionals and super regionals, and there were blown calls in just about every game. Not just balls & strikes, but safe/out calls that were wrong by three steps.
The CWS elevated this comedy of umpiring errors with not only the above, but dozens of imaginary balks and hitters leaning into pitches instead of avoiding being hit, as stipulated in the rule book.
The NCAA is making millions of dollars on the CWS. Why can't they engage competent umpires?
Comment by Bill Denning - June 21, 2007 11:06 PM