Carolina Baseball: Tar Heels outlast USF on Sunday to win opening series

North Carolina kicked off its baseball season at South Florida this weekend. It was a tough test, but the Tar Heels came out looking good

The baseball season officially began for the North Carolina Tar Heels this weekend. They made the trip to Tampa to play a very good South Florida team.

The Tar Heels came into the season as a consensus top-10 team in the country, but USF was hungry for a series win.

Game one

Game one of the series was tough for the Tar Heels.

They rolled out their ace, Gianluca Dalatri, in hopes of securing a win early in the series. But USF had different plans.

The Tar Heels got behind early on in the game after the Bulls put up two runs in the bottom of the second. But even after that, USF built onto their lead. They claimed a four run lead going into the top of the seventh. Then, the Tar Heels’ bats came alive.

Ike Freeman and Kyle Datres got on base ahead of Michael Busch, and Busch did the job. He cranked a three-run home run to pull the Tar Heels to within one. Unfortunately, though, that would as close as they would get.

The loss went to Dalatri’s record, who is now 0-1. Shane McClanahan got the win for USF, moving to 1-0.

At the plate for the Tar Heels, Busch obviously had a good game. He was 2-for-5 at the dish, with three RBI’s. Zack Gahagan also recorded a pair of hits for North Carolina in the game.

Game two

Game two was a much improved performance for the Tar Heels.

The game was never in doubt after North Carolina piled on six runs in the first frame. In total, they scored nine of their twelve runs in the first three innings of the game. The bats were alive and well.

Tyler Baum, who is coming off of a 7-0 season, began 2018 on the right foot. He recorded the win for the Diamond Heels. Baum was fantastic all night long, striking out ten on the night, and only walking one batter. He did hit two batters, though.

Zack Gahagan had another strong performance for the Tar Heels at the plate. He was 4-for-5 with three RBI’s. Michael Busch recorded three more RBI’s to go with his three in the season opener.

Catcher Brandon Martorano also had a good game at the plate. He blasted a three-run home run for the Tar Heels.

Game three

Game three was a much better game overall, but the Tar Heels almost let it slip away.

The Tar Heels got off to another flaming hot start. They led by as much as 8-1 in the seventh inning, but USF was not going down quietly.

They dropped seven runs on the Tar Heels in the seventh, which evened the score at 8-8. The Tar Heels went to their closer, Josh Hiatt, early on in the game instead of saving him for the end.

It worked the Tar Heels, as Hiatt slammed the door shut on the Bulls. He went two full frames, and allowed only one baserunner, which was a walk.

Hansen Butler and Rodney Hutchison Jr were the two pitchers which allowed the seven runs. But the back-end of the Tar Heels bullpen helped close it down again.

The game-winning run cam off the bat of Ike Freeman. Freeman stepped up in the top of the tenth, and hit a solo shot, which was the difference-maker in the game. Yet again, it was the offense that carried the Tar Heels, something that many fans were concerned about.

If North Carolina can get that kind of production from its offense all year, the pitching staff will figure it out. They have talented arms up and down the staff, so it’s only a matter of time before the pitching catches up.

For future updates on the Tar Heels throughout baseball season, stick with Keeping It Heel!

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