UNC's baseball team blew open a tight game with some clutch hitting late, and the bullpen then shut the door on a pesky James Madison squad as the Tar Heels won the Chapel Hill regional with a 9-3 victory over the Dukes.
After CAA player of the year Jake Lowery of JMU tied the game tied at 3-3 with a home run in the bottom of the 5th (UNC was the visitor in the game), Tommy Coyle answered in the top of the 6th when he singled in Levi Michael for one of his two RBIs. Jacob Stallings later hit a double to score Coyle, and it was all Carolina after that.
Chaz Frank had three RBIs for Carolina while Brian Holberton added two more. R.C. Orlan picked up the win in relief of starter Chris Munnelly, and the UNC relievers - all six of them - only allowed three hits over the last 4 1/3 innings. The Tar Heels blitzed their opponents in the regional by a combined score of 27-3.
The Tar Heels were again without head coach Mike Fox, whose mother passed away from cancer on Saturday. Pitching coach Scott Forbes led UNC during Fox's absence, and the team wore pink socks to honor Barbara Fox.
With the win, Carolina improves to 48-14 on the season and will play nationally 21st-ranked Stanford in the super regional this weekend. Exact times and locations will be announced by 8:00 PM Monday. The Cardinal won the Fullerton regional as the #2 seed and are advancing to their 8th super regional in the last 13 years, but their first since 2008. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, are advancing to their 5th super regional in the last six years.