NCAA Chapel Hill (N.C.) Super Regional report

Arkansas cleaned up in ’89

CHAPEL Hill, N.C. -- "But for the cleanliness of a home plate umpire, the Arkansas Razorbacks might have been on their way home today from the College World Series."

That was how long-time sports reporter Stephen Caldwell began his game story from the College World Series in the June 5, 1989, edition of the Arkansas Democrat.

The University of Arkansas' 7-3 victory over North Carolina at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., was the only meeting between the programs.

That will change today when the Tar Heels host the Razorbacks in Game 1 of the NCAA Chapel Hill Super Regional at Boshamer Stadium.

ESPN, which will televise the first game of the super regional, would be thrilled if this game comes close to matching the drama of the programs' last meeting 33 years ago.

With the game tied 3-3 in the eighth inning, Arkansas' Scott D'Alexander singled and went to second base on a sacrifice bunt.

North Carolina, which had been successful on five hidden ball trick plays that season, tried it again when D'Alexander stepped off the second base bag to brush off his pants.

Second baseman Dave Arendas -- now the director of operations for the Tar Heels' baseball team -- tagged him for what would have been the second out of the inning. But home plate umpire Bruce Ravan had called timeout to clean home plate, which negated the out at second base.

Tony Gilmore doubled in the next at-bat to score D'Alexander, the start to a four-run inning that was the difference in the Razorbacks' four-run victory.

"I think he was dead to rights," said Scott Pose, the Arkansas leadoff hitter that night whose two-run single capped the decisive inning. "It was waved off. ... And it got out of hand from there. We ended up extending our stay one more game."

Pose, who lives in nearby Raleigh, N.C., and plans to attend this weekend's games.

Arkansas fans

North Carolina baseball players said they knew a lot about Arkansas' program well before the Razorbacks were sent to Boshamer Stadium to play the Tar Heels.

"Our guys, they watch these games at the end of the day when they get home," North Carolina Coach Scott Forbes said. "They're aware of Arkansas and how good they've been, and the tradition they have."

Vance Honeycutt, the Tar Heels' star freshman center fielder, said Arkansas was his second-favorite team in high school.

"I used to always watch the highlights of their games and stuff, and watching them in Omaha was pretty cool," Honeycutt said, referring to the College World Series site. "So I knew they had some tradition just like us."

Honeycutt's favorite team understandably is North Carolina. He grew up in Salisbury, N.C., and his father, Bob, played baseball for the Tar Heels in 1988-89.

So why is Arkansas' Honeycutt's second favorite team?

"I liked their shortstop. They had Casey Martin," Honeycutt said of the Razorbacks' starter from 2018-20 who now plays in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. "I liked watching him a lot, so I just would kind of always turn them on."

North Carolina left fielder Mikey Madej said he and his roommate, shortstop Danny Serretti, watch several college baseball games when they aren't playing games themselves.

"If no one from the ACC is on, we'll always find ourselves watching Arkansas," Madej said. "It's cool that we're finally playing against them. It's just funny because we've been watching them on TV for how long -- I think I know like seven starters just by watching them on TV."

Early start

Today's game will start at 10 a.m. Central time to fit the desired television slot for ESPN2.

"I like it," said Connor Noland, who will be Arkansas' starting pitcher. "You don't have to wait around all day for the game.

"Kind of takes all the nerves and anxious waiting out of the equation."

Razorbacks shortstop Jalen Battles said he likes playing in the light of day.

"It's easier to see in the day than at nighttime," Battles said. "I feel like it's a good advantage for hitters."

The Tar Heels also don't seem to mind the early start.

"I mean, I haven't played that early of a game since high school or travel ball," North Carolina center fielder Vance Honeycutt said. "But the time of day doesn't really matter.

"You've got one goal, to get out there and get it done."

Tar Heels left fielder Mikey Madej said he has no problem with the early start.

"Night games, it's fun playing under the lights and all that," Madej said. "But the worst part about night games is you wake up and you have all day [to wait to play], and I'm just anxious to get out there.

"Now I'm going to be able to wake up, get to the stadium, eat and get ready to go. I'm excited for that."

Madej said the Tar Heels will wake up at about 6 a.m. today.

"A lot easier than getting up for a 6 a.m lift," he added.

North Carolina's players wake up at 6 a.m. in the fall for weight-lifting sessions.

The Razorbacks and Tar Heels will be able to sleep a little later with Sunday's game starting at noon.

The 'Bosh'

North Carolina has been one of the nation's best teams at home this season with a 33-7 record at Boshamer Stadium.

North Carolina's notable series victories at home include ones over East Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Wake Forest and Florida State. Two visiting teams, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, won twice in Chapel Hill this season.

The Tar Heels' 4,100-seat ballpark opened in 1972, but was torn down and rebuilt as part of a $26 million renovation before the 2009 season.

Capacity at the stadium can be expanded to more than 5,000 with overflow seating.

North Carolina's announced average attendance of 2,138 this season ranked 31st nationally.

The largest crowd for a North Carolina game in last week's regional was 4,160.

The Tar Heels will host their sixth super regional since the rebuild and third in four seasons. They won a home super regional against Stetson in 2018 and lost a super regional to Auburn in 2019.

Boshamer Stadium has similar dimensions to Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium, home of the SEC Tournament, including 335 feet to left field, 400 feet to center and 340 feet to right.

"Right-center gap sometimes plays a little short, but you usually have to hit it good for it to go out," North Carolina Coach Scott Forbes said. "And if you do hit it, you get rewarded for it.

"It's been a pretty fair, straight-forward park in my opinion during all these years."

Friday's practice was the first time Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn had been in the stadium.

"Beautiful ballpark, great surface," Van Horn said. "A lot of tradition here at North Carolina."

Arkansas shortstop Jalen Battles had high praise for Boshamer Stadium.

"I feel like it's one of the top prettiest parks I've played in," Battles said. "It'a so beautiful with all the trees around.

"The surface plays well, so we're going to have lots of fun here."

A 2018 Baseball America article ranked Boshamer Stadium the sixth-best in the country at the time.

Big audience

Arkansas' 7-3 baseball victory over Oklahoma State on Monday night at Stillwater, Okla., was the most-watched game of the regional weekend at the NCAA Tournament.

An average of 531,000 viewers watched the game on ESPN2. The audience peaked with an average of 675,000 viewers between 8:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Central, which was during the sixth inning of the game.

It was the only game between the Razorbacks and the Cowboys that was available beyond ESPN's streaming platforms. Arkansas won 20-12 on Saturday and Oklahoma State won 14-10 in 10 innings Sunday.

Monday's game concluded the Stillwater Regional, which set NCAA records for most runs (148) and home runs (41) at one regional site.

According to ESPN, Monday's game had the third-highest viewership for a regional game since 2006.

The Razorbacks have played in ESPN's three regional games with the biggest audiences in the past 16 years. Arkansas' regional-clinching victory over Nebraska last year averaged 753,000 viewers on ESPN2, and the Cornhuskers' 5-3 victory the night before averaged 721,000.

ACC vs. SEC

The Arkansas-North Carolina series is one of three during the super regionals between teams from the SEC and ACC.

Two SEC-ACC matchups began Friday, when Tennessee hosted Notre Dame and Texas A&M hosted Louisville.

"I think the ACC is super strong this year," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "The talk is that their league was deeper than ours. It really doesn't matter now. It's all about playing well."

This is the second consecutive season and the fifth time overall the Razorbacks have played an ACC team in the super regional. Arkansas won super regionals over Florida State in 2004 and 2009, and lost supers to Clemson in 2002 and North Carolina State last season.

On the call

Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Gaby Sanchez (color analyst) will call all of the games from Chapel Hill.

Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN and Sunday's game will be televised by ESPN or ESPN2. No details have been announced for Monday's if-necessary game.

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