Ninth-inning grand slam lifts Tar Heels past LSU

Tim Federowicz was a hero Friday night for North Carolina, coming through with a two-out grand slam home run in the top of the ninth to lift the Tar Heels to a 7-3 win over LSU at the College World Series.

The dramatic finish brought a heartbreaking close to LSU's season, while the Tar Heels move on to the bracket championship against Fresno State, who beat North Carolina 5-3 in their first meeting earlier this week.

The Tar Heels had two on and two out when LSU coach Paul Mainieri chose to have Dustin Ackley intentionally walked. Ackley had reached base four times in the game, Mainieri instructed reliever Louis Coleman to put him on base and pitch to Federowicz.

The move turned out to be the wrong one, as Federowicz turned on a 1-1 inside pitch and launched a bomb to left field, the first grand slam at the CWS since 2001, to break the 3-3 tie and send North Carolina to the amazing victory.

LSU was trailing 3-1 and tied the game in the seventh when Matt Clark hit his 28th home run of the season in the sixth inning to forge a 3-3 deadlock. It would remain that way until Federowicz's tiebreaking blast.

The game actually started Thursday evening, and North Carolina had a 2-0 lead when rain stopped the game. Rain caused two more delays Friday night before the skies cleared.

So now we are left with baseball's version of the "final four" as Georgia meets Stanford in Saturday's 1 p.m. Bracket One final, while the Tar Heels and Fresno State clash in the Bracket Two final tonight at 6 p.m.

If either Stanford or North Carolina win, an "if necessary" game will be played Sunday. If both Georgia and Fresno State win, teams will have a day off before the best-of-three championship series begins on Monday at 6 p.m. at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Tournament Schedule

(NOTE: All times listed are Central)

Saturday, June 14
Game 1: Stanford 16, Florida State 5
Game 2: Georgia 7, Miami 4

Sunday, June 15
Game 3: Fresno State 17, Rice 5
Game 4: North Carolina 8, LSU 4

Monday, June 16
Game 5: Miami 7, Florida State 5 (Florida State eliminated)
Game 6: Georgia 4, Stanford 3

Tuesday, June 17
Game 7: LSU 6, Rice 5 (Rice eliminated)
Game 8: Fresno State 5, North Carolina 3

Wednesday, June 18
Game 9: Stanford 8, Miami 3 (Miami eliminated)

Friday, June 20
Game 10: North Carolina 7, LSU 3 (LSU eliminated)

Saturday, June 21
Game 11: Georgia (43-23-1) vs. Stanford (41-23-2), 1 p.m.
Game 12: Fresno State (44-29) vs. North Carolina (53-13), 6 p.m.

Sunday, June 22
Game 13: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 11, 1 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 12, 6 p.m.

(NOTE: If only one game is played Saturday, it will be at 6 p.m.)

Championship Series

(NOTE: All start times are at 6 p.m.)

Monday, June 23
Game 1: Bracket winners

Tuesday, June 24
Game 2: Bracket winners

Wednesday, June 25
Game 3: Bracket winners (if necessary)

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