Folks in Louisiana may be debating for a while the wisdom of walking hitters in the top of the order in a tie game in the top of the ninth. I'll admit I was wondering it myself. After Ryan Graepel got a double to start things off from the bottom of the order, LSU decided to walk Dustin Ackley. They got Mark Fleury swinging, but not until a wild pitch had advanced both the runners; that was followed by a second intentional walk of Tim Federoff, leaving the bases loaded.
This would turn out to bite them in the ass when Tim Federowicz hit the first College World Series grand slam in seven years.
It was a good ending to a frustrating evening. Up to that point UNC had only managed one run off of seven hits since the rain delayed game had picked up from the previous day. LSU meanwhile had tied the game at three on only four hits, and the momentum was tilting their way, with pitcher Coleman having struck out five batters in two innings prior to the, well, slight momentum changer.
UNC now gets a rematch against Fresno State, a team they'll have to beat twice to make it to the finals. The first game is tomorrow at 7 pm.