UNC finishes what it started against LSU

The same late innings heroics that helped LSU persevere throughout the season and into the College World Series ended the Tiger’s season Friday night as an eighth-inning grand slam helped second-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels eliminate the Tigers from the College World Series by a score of 7-3.

LSU concluded the year with the most wins it’s had since 2000 when the team won 52 games. The Tigers close out their season 49-19-1.

The Tigers, who once held a 6-11-1 record in Southeastern Conference play, completed one of the best turnarounds in Southeastern Conference history that saw the squad win the SEC Western Division, the SEC Tournament, the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional and the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional.

The turnaround was sparked by an SEC record 23 consecutive wins that began on April 22 at Tulane. During that stretch, LSU rallied for come-from-behind victories in 18 of those games and drew record crowds in the final games at Alex Box Stadium.

It was Louis Coleman (8-1) who suffered the loss for the Tigers. Coleman allowed the grand slam to Tim Federowicz, despite issuing only three hits in his three innings of relief. Coleman walked two and struck out six after taking over for Jared Bradford in the seventh.

The Tar Heels’ five pitchers held the Tigers to only four hits on the night.

Down 3-1 entering the sixth, the Tigers struggled to get hits against the Tar Heels until Matt Clark belted a two-run home run, his second of the tournament, to tie the game 3-3. The homer put Clark into a tie for fourth place in LSU single-season homers, joining Eddie Furniss (1998) with 28.

After shutting down the Tar Heel bats in the seventh, the Tigers found themselves with bases loaded in the eighth. However, they failed to bring in any runs and the Tar Heels capitalized with the homer to take the lead.

Bradford (10-5) ended his collegiate career with a solid effort, holding the Tar Heels to one run on four hits. He also walked two and struck out five Tar Heels in 5.2 innings of relief.

Blake Martin, who was the starter Thursday before the game was postponed by rain, pitched to six batters and allowed two runs, before leaving bases loaded when the game resumed on Friday.

The loss drops the Tigers to 1-6 in its last seven College World Series games. The lone victory came against Rice last Tuesday.