North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Scott Forbes needed a moment to gather himself as he got emotional talking about first baseman Erik Paulsen and the tragedy he suffered last year.
Paulsen delivered a memorable performance on Father’s Day in the 6-2 win against Oklahoma in Game 2 of the Men’s College World Series Finals. He went 3-for-5 at the plate, including North Carolina’s first hit of the game and sparked the decisive three-run third inning.
The performance was special, as Paulsen paid tribute to his father, who died in July 2025, due to cancer. Paulsen’s father, Eril Paulsen Sr., was a former NYPD detective who responded during the September 11 attacks.
After Game 2 of the Men’s College World Series Finals, Forbes became emotional, recalling the moment when Paulsen informed his head coach of the tragedy last July.
“Eric 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,” Forbes said.
The head coach understood the emotions Paulsen was going through as he connected the incident with his wife’s father’s death in 2011.
“My wife lost her dad suddenly in 2011. So even though I had my wife more than me, it was her dad, it wasn’t my dad, I feel like he was my dad,” the head coach continued. “I just told him, I said, ‘Look, we’re gonna be here for you. I know I can’t help you by words.’ And I learned going through that with my wife that the best thing you can do is just be there and learn to listen, have some feel, and not ask him every day about it.”
Forbes admitted that he had met Paulsen’s father, describing him as “awesome”:
“I mean, straight NYPD, a bad dude. And he served us, he served our country, he served us on 9/11.”
“I know that he’s with Eric, I know he’s watching Eric,” Forbes added. “And today’s a tough day for a lot of people, and it was a tough day for him, but it was a little less tough, I think, because he knew of his presence, and he knew he was with him. And he has a lot of guys in there that are there for him, and it’s okay to get emotional, it’s okay to have some tears. But man, it’s why you coach at the end of the day.”
North Carolina 1B Erik Paulsen Honored Late Father After Regional Heroics
Erik Paulsen was named the Most Outstanding Player after North Carolina swept its way through the Chapel Hill Regional.
The transfer from Stony Brook, where he averaged .330 with 13 home runs and 68 runs batted in, highlighted that the MVP honor was a tribute to his late father.
“Every time I’m in that dugout, I picture him sitting right there, watching the practice,” Paulsen said on the ACC Network. “I try to accomplish everything that he set me up for. I went to him with everything baseball-wise and trusted him more than anybody else.”
Paulsen admitted his father asked him to visit North Carolina first last year. Now one year later, in the Chapel Hill regional, the first baseman went 6-for-12 with six RBI and two runs.
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