Walk Offs

They both approached the stages, full of confidence. One swing of the club and the bat later, they lifted their teams to victories. But neither knew it would also be the end of their respective seasons.

Both teams spilled onto the field of play and celebrated. The UNCW men’s golf team had won the Bash at the Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach, while the baseball program just knocked off longtime rival East Carolina at Brooks Field.

Both battled back from deficits.

Austin Bonfiglio, a redshirt freshman on the men’s golf team from Holly Springs, N.C., was playing his best golf of the season for the Seahawks and was coming off a career-best round of 69 the previous day.

“Walking up to the shot I was extremely confident,” he recalled. “I had been making everything all day and there wasn't a doubt in my mind I would make it.”

Bonfiglio was the final player in a sudden death playoff with Jacksonville State. The Seahawks had erased a six-shot deficit over the final nine holes to force the playoff. His tee shot landed on the green, giving him the chance he was looking for.

“All the nerves came on the tee shot; I knew if I gave myself a putt that I would make it.”

Matt Suggs, a hometown guy, had been hitless on the day heading into a redemption opportunity in the bottom of the ninth.

“Going up to the plate I was really pumped because this is the situation you dream of being in as a kid,” said Suggs, a native of Wilmington and lifelong UNCW fan.

After rallying twice earlier in the game against the 19th-ranked Pirates, the Seahawks set the stage in their last at-bat when Brooks Baldwin doubled and Trevor Marsh was intentionally walked to bring Suggs to the plate with none out.

“I remember Kip (Brandenburg), Noah (Bridges), and our coaches talked to me about seeing the off-speed up and sit on the fast ball to drive it somewhere.”

A first-pitch fastball was left up in the zone.

And then this. On March 12 at 12:50 p.m. on UNCWSports.com ...