Do you appreciate Dustin Ackley? No, really, do you? Because he is the greatest baseball player ever to lace them up for the University of North Carolina. Today against Southern Miss, the Tar Heels needed him. Carolina lost an extra-innings heartbreaker to Arizona State on Sunday, so their hopes of advancing to the championship series rest on winning four straight. Today was Game One.

Ackley answered the bell with five straight hits to start the game, finishing 5-6, his only out being a deep fly that was a near-home run. He batted in three runs and crossed the blate once himself, and his 27 CWS hits in three seasons is now an all-time record, besting Stanford's Sam Fuld by three hits. And he's not done. I don't like to make these kind of comparisons, but Dustin Ackley has been as important to Carolina baseball as Tyler Hansbrough was to Carolina basketball. Enjoy watching him, and appreciate that you're seeing the best Tar Heel ever.