UNC Baseball completes series sweep over James Madison

The UNC baseball program had a successful opening weekend,

The Scott Forbes era in Chapel Hill got off to a great start this weekend.

Under the direction of their new head coach, the UNC baseball program completed a three-game sweep against James Madison in their first series of the 2021 regular season.

The three-game set against the Dukes was a late addition to the team’s regular season schedule. North Carolina was set to take on Kentucky during opening weekend, but COVID-19 issues throughout the Wildcats program forced the series to be postponed.

Regardless of who they played, the Tar Heels got meaningful baseball games in this weekend and definitely made the most of the opportunity.

In Game 1, North Carolina put together a combination of great offensive production and stellar pitching.

Offensively, Caleb Roberts was the standout performer for the Tar Heels. The sophomore from Coral Springs, FL was 3-5 and had five RBIs in the team’s opening contest.

Two of Roberts three hits were home runs. Prior to opening day, Roberts had not yet hit a collegiate home run. After the team’s first game of the season, Roberts now has two under his belt.

Although Roberts had a great day at the plate, no Tar Heel stood out more than Austin Love.

Getting the nod as the team’s opening day starter, Love definitely did not disappoint. Over six innings of work, the redshirt sophomore did not allow a hit, as the right-hander only allowed two Duke hitters to reach base. Love threw 84 pitches and struck out 9 of the 18 batters he retired.

North Carolina went on to win Game 1 by a score of 8-1, securing Forbes’ first victory as the head coach of the Tar Heels baseball program.

In Game 2, North Carolina’s offense didn’t get going until the third inning.

After allowing an unearned run in the top half of the third, the Tar Heels responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. An RBI groundout from Roberts followed by RBI doubles from Justice Thompson and Brett Centracchio helped put North Carolina back on top.

Although they would not trail throughout the remainder of the game, the Tar Heels offense was not done.

In the bottom of the fifth, Thompson added to his great day at the plate by slugging a two-run homer to left field. Holding a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning, Roberts provided some extra cushion, as he drove in two more runs on an RBI triple to left-center field.

The Tar Heels would go on to win Game 2 by a score of 7-4. The win secured at least a series victory over the Dukes.

Overall, the middle of the Tar Heels lineup (Roberts, Thompson and Centracchio) were 8-13 at the plate and drove in all seven of the team’s runs. Thompson’s four hits, two runs and three RBIs was the catalyst for the team’s offensive production.

Freshman Max Carlson made his collegiate debut on the mound and put together an impressive performance. Over 6.2 innings of work, the right-hander allowed just two runs on three hits and struck out eight James Madison hitters.

The final game of the series was definitely the most competitive of the three-game set. Luckily for the Tar Heels, they did just enough offensively to finish off the series sweep.Redshirt freshman

Max Alba got the start in the series finale for the Tar Heels. For the third straight game, Forbes’ team got a solid performance from the team’s starting pitcher. Alba allowed both James Madison runs on just four hits over five innings of work.

North Carolina’s offense once again got off to a bit of a slow start. Trailing 2-1 through 4 1/3 innings of play, the Tar Heels were finally able to capitalize in the bottom half of the fifth inning.

Redshirt sophomore Angel Zarate tied the game with a RBI triple to left center field. Just a few pitches later, Zarate would score on a wild pitch which gave the Tar Heels their first lead of the day.

Down just one run, James Madison would not go down without a fight.

In the top half of the seventh inning, the Dukes got the go-ahead run on as three walks loaded the bases. However, they couldn’t capitalize on the free passes, as reliever Shawn Rapp struck out Kyle Novak to end the inning.

James Madison once again got the tying run on base in the eighth inning, as pinch-hitter Callaway Sigler hit a two-out double to center field. Fortunately for the Tar Heels, the eighth inning ended similar to the inning before, as Connor Ollio struck out Trevon Dabney to end the Dukes scoring threat.

The bullpen for the Tar Heels was fantastic in this contest. Rapp, Ollio and Caden O’Brien combined to pitch four shutout innings to finish off the series sweep.

North Carolina will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon, as they will host Elon for a one-game series. After the Elon contest, the Tar Heels will host Virginia next weekend for their first ACC series of the 2021 regular season.

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