OMAHA, Neb.—North Carolina coach Mike Fox and his players met for about 20 minutes following Thursday night’s 12-5 elimination loss to Arizona State in the College World Series.
He didn’t apologize for keeping the media waiting.
“I had a lot of young men who wanted to say a few words,” Fox said. “I just want to focus on the whole season. We’re not going to let tonight tarnish this.”
ASU, after erasing a 4-0 deficit, stunned the Tar Heels with an eight-run seventh inning.
North Carolina, which made it to the CWS a fourth straight year, finished 48-18.
The end left senior right fielder Garrett Gore emotionally spent.
“This place is great,” Gore said, choking on his words. “The people are great. They treat you first class. It’s definitely something I didn’t imagine.”
Tar Heel starter Matt Harvey held the Sun Devils in check despite control problems. He issued five walks and threw a CWS-record four wild pitches, but he still took a 4-0 lead into the fifth.
Things started to unravel when Kole Calhoun tied the game at 4 with a grand slam off Brian Moran. Then came the disastrous seventh, when ASU combined four hits with four walks and a hit batter.
“It was one of those innings,” Fox said. “You certainly don’t want it to happen here. I feel so bad for those kids.”
Carolina used seven pitchers, and Fox said he never considered bringing in ace Alex White on short rest.
“The boy’s got too big a future,” Fox said. “It wouldn’t be smart to put him in there. It wouldn’t be worth it.”
Junior first baseman Dustin Ackley went 1 for 5 in what probably will be his final game. The No. 2 overall draft pick by the Seattle Mariners is the CWS career hits leader, with 28.
“For me, this is probably the greatest thing on earth,” said Ackley, who had at least one hit in all 15 of his career CWS games. “It was just a great ride. We had a great run at it.”
