UNC Baseball: Danny Serretti’s hot hitting leads Tar Heels

The UNC Baseball program won two out of three in a tough road weekend series against Boston College team thanks in no small part to sophomore Danny Serretti who drove in seven of the 17 runs scored in the three games.

In the three games against Boston College, Serretti hit 5-for-13 at the plate, with two runs scored, two home runs, a walk and a triple with an astounding seven RBIs.

The numbers were not awe-inspiring for Serretti, who is the cleanup hitter, when he entered the weekend series with a .179 batting average. What the stats do not show is  how tough Serretti is and his demeanor to not unravel despite the average being below what he hoped for entering the season.

Serretti struggled mightily in the first nine games of the season as his average dropped to .061, but Serretti has turned the season around. Since the Sunday afternoon game on March 7 against Virginia Tech, Serretti is 13-for-35 at the plate for a batting average of .371.

In this hot stretch, Serretti has knocked in 14 RBI, scored eight runs, hit two doubles, two triples and four home runs.

Head Coach Scott Forbes stuck with Seretti despite the hitting woes, and after Sunday’s win against Boston College, said he was a great leader for the team.

“That’s just an example of a veteran guy who’s off to a slow start, but has done a good job leading, which is another reason I stuck with him,” Forbes said. “He’s been a great teammate; he wants to win, and he’s played a great shortstop.”

No moment seemed to personify Serretti more than his at-bat in the top of the ninth inning in Sunday’s rubber game against Boston College.

In  a 4-4 tie with one out, Serretti stepped to the plate with sophomore Justice Thompson at second base. What ensued was an eight-pitch sequence with the result being a long fly ball in the right-center field gap that fell and one-hopped the wall, and Serretti diving into third base with an RBI triple.

Coach Forbes said the moment exemplified Serretti’s competitive nature and how he is able to buckle down in important moments.

“He’s had a lot of RBI’s for us and that swing of the bat didn’t surprise me,” Forbes said. “He’s just competing, and a lot of times Danny is at his best, especially right-handed, when he gets two strikes.”

With the batting average at .217 and the on base percentage at .325, Coach Forbes said these numbers do not represent how mentally strong Seretti is nor how hard he hits the ball.

“I believed in him, I know what he can do, he’s been here, and I know his toughness,” Forbes said. “He’s really hit a lot of balls hard too throughout the season, so that batting average again is such a misleading number.”

After the 5-4 win against Boston College, Serretti credited the way the team stayed calm as the reason the team rallied to win in an important third game against a tough team.

“Coach Forbes is super big into just sticking with the process, being process oriented, staying in the moment, not letting your emotions get too riled up or anything,” Serretti said. “We just had some poise today and we were able to find a way, which is a good characteristic and I think that’s a characteristic that will carry on throughout the season.”

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