As the clock above the Boshamer Stadium scoreboard neared midnight, approaching the one-year anniversary, to the day, of one of the most disappointing defeats in program history, the North Carolina baseball team started celebrating.
The Tar Heels had often discussed over the past year how last season ended, with two losses against NCAA regional No. 4 seed Davidson. Mike Fox had often called the locker room after that second defeat the saddest he's ever been in. And that feeling fueled UNC this entire season.
But as sudden as that loss was, so, too, was the joy that swept over Fox and his players late Sunday night.