TAR HEELS WIN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Coach Mike Fox had to shake ice cubes from his pants in the postgame interview.
That’s what happens when your team wins the ACC Championship and your players pour a cooler full of gatorade on your head.
The Tar Heels ended an 18-year drought and claimed the title in a 3-2 contest against Wake Forest.
“I’m overjoyed on behalf of all of our players to win the ACC Championship,” Fox said. “They get to take something special away from this.”
UNC relied on its pitching for the second game in a row. Luke Putkonen, Matt Danford and Andrew Carignan combined to allow five huts and a single earned run. Danford got the win, improving to 5-0.
The Demon Deacons went ahead early, scoring in the first inning off a wild pitch. UNC answered in the fourth when third baseman Chad Flack singled home Garrett Gore. After the teams traded another run each, the Tar Heels came up with their biggest play of the game.
With one out and first baseman Dustin Ackley on second base, Josh Horton tripled and brought in Ackley — whose run put UNC ahead for good.
Horton was named MVP of the tournament.
“I’m tickled to death for the team,” Horton said. “All the individual stuff kind of gets pushed to the side.”
The Deacons’ shortstop, Dustin Hood, drove in one of the team’s runs — the other coming off a pass ball.
He said WFU came together during the tournament and that they knew they had to win two games to have a chance to play in the NCAA tournament.
“We really pull for each other,” Hood said. “I think we might have come together a little more in this tournament.”
Coach Fox praised his relief pitcher, Andrew Carignan, who shut out the Deacons in the final two innings.
“A.C. is just that steady rock for us. You know he’s going to give us a chance to win,” Fox said.
UNC had lost five consecutive games coming into this year’s tournament and had not competed in a title game since 1990. After losing to Georgia Tech in the first game of this year’s tournament, the Tar Heels rebounded and won three in a row.
The seeding for the NCAA Tournament will be announced Monday. UNC is expected to have a national seed and will be one of a few teams favored to win the world series.