Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Baseball: Diamond Heels set to take on Boston College

By Zack Pearson

Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of a bag of baseballs before the start of the game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Vanderbilt Commodores during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of the away jersey of the Vanderbilt Commodores and the home jersey of the Virginia Cavaliers before the start of game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of a bag of baseballs before the start of the game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Vanderbilt Commodores during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of the away jersey of the Vanderbilt Commodores and the home jersey of the Virginia Cavaliers before the start of game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The UNC Baseball program finds themselves in the semifinals of the 2019 ACC Tournament with a trip to Sunday’s final on the line

After two games that went to extra innings, the North Carolina Tar Heels find themselves as one of four teams to punch their tickets to the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals on Saturday. With their advancement, the Tar Heels have a chance to return to the championship game for the second time in three years.

UNC held off a late push by Virginia on Wednesday night in 10 innings to beat the Cavaliers and force an elimination game on Friday. Then on Friday afternoon, the Tar Heels scored the final seven runs of the game and overcame a 5-0 deficit to beat Miami 7-5 in 11 innings. It was a huge comeback for the Tar Heels who got a great outing from Austin Love in relief to keep them in the game.

With the win, UNC likely did enough to host a Regional site for next week’s NCAA Tournament as Miami was one of the teams they were battling with. Now the sights remain on winning the ACC Tournament and trying to improve their national seed as much as possible.

Standing in UNC’s way of a return trip to the championship is a red hot Boston College team that has won 9 of their last 11 games including beating Clemson and then top-seed Louisville in the ACC Tournament. The Golden Eagles are one of the hottest teams in the country at the moment.

Boston College is led by third baseman Jake Alu who is hitting .346 with 51 runs scored and 39 RBI’s on the season. The senior has really elevated his play of late and the combo of him and freshman infielder Cody Morissette are a big reason why the Golden Eagles are on a hot streak.

Morissette enters Saturday’s showdown with five hits in the first two games of the tournament including two home runs.

For UNC, they got a great outing by Tyler Baum on Wednesday night but Friday’s starter Austin Bergner was hit hard by the Hurricanes. Love came into the game in the second inning and pitched six scoreless in relief.

The big story for UNC was once again their bats. After putting up just three runs against Virginia, the Tar Heels had 7 runs against Miami in the comeback.

The junior duo of Michael Busch and Ike Freeman were huge for the Tar Heels on Friday, driving in two runs each. Busch hit the game tying two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning while Freeman drove in the go-ahead run in the eleventh.

Boston College right-hander John Witkowski (1-0, 6.58 ERA) is expected to face off against left-hander Will Sandy (2-2, 6.42 ERA) in Saturday’s matchup.

Next. UNC rallies to beat Miami. dark

For more on the Diamond Heels, please check back with Keeping It Heel.

Home/UNC Baseball