Don't call it a comeback
Robert Woodard was cruising along - though the thought had crossed my mind that Oregon State might be due for a comeback.
No biggie, I thought to myself. Carolina's up 5-0, and Oregon State has already put their closer in. At worst, Woodard eats up some innings, the Beavers make a late rally, and the Heels go into Monday's clincher with an obvious advantage on the mound.
And then UNC coach Mike Fox got a happy trigger finger - and put Carolina at a distinct disadvantage going into tonight's national-title game.
"That inning happened pretty quickly," Fox said of the seven-run fourth that erased the 5-0 UNC lead and propelled OSU to an 11-7 victory Sunday night.
The quick part, from my vantagepoint, had to do with Fox and his treatment of his starter, who had posted 12 innings of shutout ball in the College World Series before being touched for a two-run double by Shea McFeely.
Inexplicably, Fox sauntered out of the dugout and in the direction of the pitcher's mound to lift Woodard from the game.
A three-run homer from Bill Rowe capped the comeback and made a genius of Oregon State coach Pat Casey - who called on closer Kevin Gunderson with two outs in the fourth with the Beavers' season on the line.
Gunderson did as he usually does in terms of closing out the game - he logged five and a third innings en route to earning the win.
"This will be about execution," Fox said. "The box score was a little misleading tonight. We had no errors, but we don't field bunts and failed to turn a double play when we had it. Those are the little things that make the difference in a game."
Add one other little thing to the list, coach - because game management was as big an issue as any other.
- Chris Graham