BASEBALL: Virginia upsets top-ranked UNC in 11 innings

By Jay Jenkins

Published: May 22, 2008

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - It was one for the ages - especially the younger ones.
In miraculous fashion, Virginia upset the nation’s No. 1 ranked team to send a tremor through the college baseball world. Well, at least with those that were still awake.
Earlier today at 1:25 a.m., rookie centerfielder John Barr made a game-saving head-first diving catch in the 11th inning to secure Virginia’s 8-7 victory over North Carolina in the ACC tournament at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
The win for Virginia (37-19) came in improbable come-from-behind fashion as it included scoring in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings and two blown saves.
“I tell you I couldn’t be more proud of our team,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “We’re 56 games into the season and hopefully they’ve started to figure out what it takes to beat a No. 1 team in the country.”
It was the first loss for North Carolina (45-11) since the program beat Miami last weekend in a series and claimed the No. 1 spot in each of the national polls. The Tar Heels certainly had a chance to avoid the upset.
Entering the ninth inning, UNC led 4-3 but reliever Rob Wooten opened the frame by walking Virginia rookie Phil Gosselin. After O’Connor inserted Jarrett Parker as a pinch-runner, catcher Franco Valdes advanced the runner with a sacrifice bunt. Barr, who finished 2 for 4 with three runs, drove in Parker moments later with a single to center, promptly stole second and scampered to third when the throw sailed into the outfield. Barr gave UVa a 5-4 lead when he scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore Tyler Cannon. 
UNC mounted its own rally in the ninth - the Tar Heels scored off Virginia reliever Michael Schwimer after Garrett Gore delievered a two-out single and scoring on Dustin Ackley’s triple to right-center.
Both teams scored lone runs in the 10th, which included a solo homer by UNC’s Chad Flack off Schwimer.
In the 11th, the Cavaliers scored twice as Barr scored on a two-out wild pitch and David Adams slapped an RBI single into center. Schwimer (3-1) allowed a lone run in the 11th before getting Flack to hit a bases-loaded blooper that landed in Barr’s glove to end the contest.
For the game, UNC outhit Virginia, 15-7, and had seven extra-base hits, but committed the game’s two errors, one of which allowed the Cavaliers to score a pair of unearned runs in the first inning.
“We lost that game in the first inning,” said UNC coach Mike Fox. “We had to climb out of a hole right out of the gate.  It was an awful start, the worst possible way we wanted to start the game - walks and errors.  When we do that, we generally don’t win.”
The win evens the season series between the two teams and likely secures Virginia’s spot in the NCAA tournament, something national baseball pundits debated before the contest started. O’Connor, however, was certain his team was in regardless.
“I told the team that we didn’t have to win a game to make it into the NCAA tournament,” the skipper said. “I really believe that because if the University of Virginia, the sixth-place team in the No. 1 league in the country doesn’t get in the NCAA tournament, then there’s something wrong with that.
“I’ve never talked about it to our team, I’ve always talked about playing the game the right way, playing hard and competing, and I knew if we did that then we’d be playing in the NCAA tournament.”
UVa will return to action on Friday at 5 p.m. against Florida State in what could ultimately be the impromptu title game in Division B of the tournament’s pool-play format.

Check back at Dailyprogress.com and in Friday’s print edition for more updates from the ACC baseball tournament.