UNC Baseball: Tar Heels rally to advance in ACC Tournament

The Tar Heels rally from five runs down on Friday afternoon to beat Miami and advance in the ACC Tournament for Saturday’s session

The North Carolina Tar Heels are headed to the semifinals of the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference after a come from behind win over Miami on Friday afternoon in Durham.

The Diamond Heels fell behind early on 5-0 to the No. 16-ranked Hurricanes as Austin Bergner struggled from the mount. Miami scored three in the first inning, one in the second inning and one in the third inning to grab the lead.

Bergner was replaced by Austin Love in the second inning and the redshirt freshman proved to be the stopper for the Tar Heels. Love tossed six scoreless innings to keep UNC in the game and give his offense a chance to comeback.

The Diamond Heels did just that, fighting back from a 5-run deficit to score the final seven runs of the game and punch their ticket to the semifinals of the tournament on Saturday.

UNC got on the board with two runs in the top of the fourth inning and added another run in the top of the fifth with a home run by Brandon Martorano. The Diamond Heels were able to pull to within striking distance, fighting back behind the solid relief outing from Love.

Staying within striking distance, Michael Busch eventually tied the game with a big two-run home run to right field in the top of the eighth:

After UNC’s bullpen held on in the bottom of the ninth, the two teams went to extra innings to decide this one. This was the second-straight game featuring extra innings for the Tar Heels and the fourth this season with UNC going 4-0 in those games.

The Tar Heels offense got it done in the top of the 11th inning when ACC Freshman of the Year Aaron Sabato hit a pop up to left field that dropped in for a double. Danny Serretti followed it up with an infield single as Sabato was able to sneak under the tag at third.

A sac fly by Ike Freeman and then a single by Ashton McGee plated UNC’s two runs in extra innings and were the difference as UNC advanced. The comeback was finally complete when Hansen Butler sat the Hurricanes down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eleventh including striking out the first two batters.

The Diamond Heels will play Boston College who upset top-seeded Louisville to punch their ticket to the semifinals. Saturday’s first pitch is set for 1 p.m. EST in Durham.

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