By R.L. Bynum
OMAHA, Neb. — It was a special and emotional Father’s Day victory for Carolina first baseman Erik Paulsen.
When Scott Forbes, the coach who convinced him to leave his home area in New York, away from his family, and play at UNC, talked about it afterward, he had to pause because he got so emotional.
Forbes opened his postgame news conference by praising his team’s 6–2 Game 2 win over Oklahoma in the College World Series Finals and the way the Tar Heels responded after falling behind early, but when the conversation turned to Paulsen, the composure gave way.
“I say that’s a tough one. Give me a second, and I’ll get it together. Sorry,” Forbes said before collecting himself. “Erik called me July 4th, I think, and the phone rang really early, so I knew it was bad news. So that’s a tough deal.”
Somewhere, his dad, Erik Paulsen Sr., who taught him to love baseball but lost his battle with oropharyngeal cancer last summer, was watching and enjoying his son’s moment on the big stage.
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Paulsen, a Stony Brook transfer, had three of the Tar Heels’ eight hits, including a double, as UNC beat Oklahoma 6-2 to force a deciding game Monday night for the national championship. Paulsen stretched to make the final out to complete a double play in the ninth inning.
It was one more moment in a season full of them for a player whose path to Chapel Hill was shaped by both grief and conviction.
Paulsen Sr. was a New York Police Department detective, one of the first responders to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and spent three straight days at Ground Zero before returning there for another 2½ months to comb through debris.
Oropharyngeal cancer is among the diagnoses that have affected many 9/11 responders and has been linked to toxic dust exposure during recovery efforts. He also founded the respected New York Longhorns travel baseball program, where his son played for years and developed into the player Forbes eventually recruited out of the transfer portal.
Paulsen Sr. also made the official visit to Chapel Hill after his son entered the portal. Other visits were planned, but after a trip to Boshamer Stadium, the family didn’t need to see anything else.
That decision changed Erik Paulsen Jr.’s life. So did the loss that came just before he moved south.
Forbes said the only thing he knew to do then was be present.
“I told him, ‘Look, we’ll be here for you,’ ” Forbes said. “I know I can’t help you with words. I learned going through that with my wife [who lost her father in 2011 during the NCAA tournament] that the best thing you can do is just be there and learn to listen, have some feel and not ask them every day about it.”
Paulsen’s grief sat in the background of every at-bat Sunday, but so did the strength his father instilled in him. Asked what it meant to get that win on Father’s Day with his family in the stands, Paulsen did not overstate it.
“It meant a lot,” he said. “Seeing my mom in the stands with my siblings, and my dad’s mom, my grandma, she was also in the stands today. It’s really awesome to see them out there. Obviously, it’s very emotional. I’m just glad we got the win today and can’t wait to go out there [Monday].”
Later, he admitted that the emotion finally caught up with him once the work was done.
“My dad always brought me up as a strong kid,” Paulsen said. “I was always around him, around adults when I was really young. It just made me mature really early. I kind of lost it in the dugout after the game today, after doing a couple of interviews.
“I just sat in the dugout and got a little emotional,” Paulsen said. “That’s the first time I’ve broken down in a while. He just raised me to be a strong man. And I just try to carry that out every day.”
All of the fathers of the UNC players wore buttons with “Paulsen 44 Omaha 2026” on them.
That strength was evident long before the final out. Paulsen helped set the tone against Oklahoma starter Xander Mercurius after the first two innings belonged mostly to the Sooners’ right-hander.
Mercurius struck out six through two innings, but Carolina settled in, extended at-bats and flipped the game with a three-run third inning.
Paulsen said the Tar Heels started to recognize what they needed to do.
“I think we just let the fastball get deep. That was my approach,” he said. “Let the fastball get deep and hit the off-speed out front. He dotted a fastball away. I let it travel and went that way with it. I think just hitting’s contagious. You see one person get something done, you have more confidence at the plate. And I think that’s exactly what we did today.”
For Paulsen, Monday will be another chance to play for a team that has become family, and another chance to honor the father who helped make him the person and player he is.
On a Father’s Day he will never forget, that connection was impossible to miss.
College World Series
At Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
Pool play
All listed times are ET
June 12 results
West Virginia 7, Troy 5
North Carolina 6, Ole Miss 2
June 13 results
Oklahoma 9, Alabama 0
Georgia 7, Texas 1
June 14 results
Troy 12, Ole Miss 8; Ole Miss eliminated
North Carolina 5, West Virginia 2
June 15 results
Texas 14, Alabama 2; Alabama eliminated
Oklahoma 4, Georgia 3
Tuesday’s results
West Virginia 12, Troy 0; Troy eliminated
Georgia 2, Texas 0; Texas eliminated
Wednesday’s results
North Carolina 12, West Virginia 7; West Virginia eliminated
Oklahoma 11, Georgia 4; Georgia eliminated
CWS Finals
(Best-of-3 series)
North Carolina vs. Oklahoma
Game 1 Saturday: Oklahoma 9, North Carolina 3
Game 2 Sunday: North Carolina 6, Oklahoma 2
Game 3 Monday: Oklahoma 13, North Carolina 2; Sooners win national title
Photo by Gene Galin
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