UNC Baseball: Tar Heels complete another strong week with wins over Miami
The North Carolina Tar Heels took to the diamond this week and won their third ACC series of the season.
The North Carolina Tar Heels rode their strong week last week into yet another crucial week in the middle of the season. This week started with the Tar Heels taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks in Charlotte.
It started off as a rough game for North Carolina, as they fell behind 3-1 in the first three innings.
Taylor Sugg got the start for UNC and his leash was short. The junior gave up three runs in only two full innings.
But the Tar Heels came in and picked up Sugg after that. The bullpen was incredible for UNC, something that it has been a lot this year. They threw seven innings of shutout ball in the big win.
It took North Carolina a while to find their stride at the plate, but in the sixth, they tied it up with a pair of runs. They followed that up with four runs in the eighth and ninth innings and slammed the door on the Gamecocks.
It was Joey Lancellotti who got the win for North Carolina, he went four innings while giving up one hit and striking out four.
At the plate, Ashton McGee held it down for the Tar Heels with his 2-for-5 day, including a two-run home run in the ninth inning. McGee’s day was also matched by Clemente Inclan who had two RBI’s himself and Brandon Riley who had a pair of hits and a pair of RBI’s too.
South Carolina is not quite the powerhouse it once was, but a win over an SEC team in the regular season is big. The Tar Heels could have easily used this opportunity to beat up on a lesser team, but playing a power conference team was a good choice.
Miami
While it was not a series sweep, the North Carolina Tar Heels got a crucial road series win against Miami.
The Tar Heels marched down to Coral Gables on Friday and took game one from the Hurricanes, 8-4. Game one went back and forth for most of it, but the Tar Heels pulled away late.
Josh Ladowski provided a lot of the offense for North Carolina, including two RBI’s that put the game out of reach for Miami. Dallas Tesser also had a pair of RBI’s for the Tar Heels, both of which came in the first inning that set the tone for the UNC offense.
Tyler Baum did not have his best stuff on Friday night, but he was good enough to keep things afloat for UNC. He went 5.2 innings allowing three earned runs on six hits. He struck out eight and walked three. It was Josh Hiatt who got the win though, as he came in and slammed the door for four innings of one-run baseball.
Game two was also another high scoring affair for UNC, but they won the game 9-6.
This game was decided ultimately by a Michael Busch double in the fourth that gave North Carolina a 6-3 lead. Those were Busch’s three RBI’s in the game on just that hit. Busch had two more hits on Saturday and scored twice himself.
The story of the game was Cooper Criswell out of the bullpen. Criswell came in during the fourth and was just magnificent. He pitched the game away for UNC, going the final 5.2 innings while striking out an incredible 13 batters. He struck out 13 of the 17 batters he got out.
Criswell may have had the bullpen outing of the year for UNC, but it also secured the series win.
Game three was a strange game because of it being rain-shortened. The two teams only played six innings on Sunday and the Hurricanes won 7-5.
It looked as if the Tar Heels were going to be able to steal a third win in the series until Miami scored six runs in the fifth inning. That would be the last time the Canes batted as the game ended in the sixth.
Brandon Riley was the Tar Heels’ best player on Sunday, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI’s. But a Freddy Zamora double in the fifth was the deciding factor for Miami.
The pitching staff had a rough day for North Carolina, as Rodney Hutchison started and got the quick hook. He pitched 1.1 innings before Caden O’Brien replaced him. O’Brien was okay for the Tar Heels, who pitched 3.0 innings while giving up two runs, but then the bottom fell out.
Joey Lancellotti only pitched a third of an inning while giving up four earned runs. That was it for the game, as the Tar Heels never could fight back.
But there is plenty the Tar Heels can take from this game. They went on the road in a tough place to play like Miami and took two out of three.
The postseason is closer than it seems and North Carolina is having its best stretch of the season so far. If they can keep this up, they might have a strong chance of making some noise in the ACC tournament.
This week, the Tar Heels will host Appalachian State before traveling to Virginia for a three game tilt in the ACC.
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Come back to Keeping It Heel for all updates on the Tar Heels week!