UNC Baseball drops two of three in weekend series against Pittsburgh

The UNC baseball team (19-15, 13-12 ACC) lost two of three in the weekend series to the Pittsburgh Panthers (20-11, 14-10 ACC) as they were unable to build on their recent series win over Duke. 

As UNC looked to climb the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, the series loss to Pitt puts a dent into that as they fell back a bit. Let’s get into the recap from the weekend series.

Game 1: Pittsburgh 6, UNC 2

The Tar Heels lost to the Panthers in game one as an early deficit proved too much for North Carolina, Saturday afternoon.

Pittsburgh led off the bottom of the first with a single before the next batter homered to give the Panthers the lead. With a one-out double, Pittsburgh got their third run in the inning to make it 3-0.

But North Carolina managed three singles to start the top of the second and narrowed the deficit 3-1.

In the top of the third the Tar Heels led off with a pair of singles and managed another run as Justice Thompson hit a sacrifice fly with one out to make it 3-2.

Pittsburgh scored in the bottom of the fifth via a solo homer to make it 4-2.

Despite a leadoff double in the top of the sixth, UNC failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

Pittsburgh scored another run in the bottom of the seventh behind three straight wild pitches to give them the 5-2 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, the Panthers scored again to extend the lead 6-2, which was the eventual final as UNC lost game one.

Game 2: Pittsburgh 3, UNC 2

In game two of the double-header, Austin Love set a career-high 12 strikeouts  as UNC lost to Pittsburgh 3-2.

Despite an incredible day on the mound for Love, the Tar Heels were unable to rally past the Panthers.

Love kept the Panthers at bay as they managed to get runners at the corners with two outs in the bottom of the first, but did not score.

UNC grabbed the lead as Clemente Inclan led off with a homer in the top of the third. Danny Serretti doubled in another run with two outs to push the lead 2-0 in the Tar Heels favor.

Love faltered in the bottom of the third as the Panthers scored three runs in the inning, two of which came with two outs, as Pittsburgh claimed the lead 3-2.

From this point, Love rebounded to shut down the Panthers offense throughout the rest of his day, unfortunately the Tar Heels offense was shut down as well.

In the bottom of the seventh, Love struck out the first batter of the inning and his last of the game. With a final stat line of 6.1 innings pitched, three runs on three hits, four walks allowed and 12 K’s, Love pitched a remarkable game.

Unfortunately, the Tar Heels did not rally and Love took the loss as UNC fell 3-2.

Game 3: UNC 10, Pittsburgh 9

The Tar Heels bashed four home runs en route to a 10-9 victory in the series finale against Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon.

Caleb Roberts belted the first pitch of the game over the wall to score the first of five runs for UNC in the top of the first. Serretti doubled to give UNC runners on second and third with no outs. Dallas Tesser laced a double to give UNC two more runs for a 3-0 lead. Inclan also hit a homer in the inning to score another two for North Carolina.

But the Panthers answered back in the bottom of the first as a sacrifice fly and a three-run homer shrunk the lead to 5-4.

In the bottom of the fifth, Pittsburgh tied the game with a one-out sacrifice fly.

UNC reclaimed the lead in the top of the sixth via a sacrifice fly from Colby Wilkerson to give the Tar Heels a 6-5 advantage.

The Tar Heels added four runs in the top of the seventh. Roberts again hit the first pitch of the inning over the wall to give UNC a 7-5 lead. Thompson followed with a homer of his own on a full count. Wilkerson came up again with the bases loaded and singled in another two runs for a 10-5 North Carolina lead.

Pittsburgh rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh behind a two-run bomb and an RBI groundout to make it 10-8.

Despite an additional run from Pittsburgh in the bottom of the ninth, UNC held on to win the game 10-9 and win the last game of the weekend series.

While North Carolina avoided the series sweep, the next weekend series against Miami is crucial because the Hurricanes sit directly above the Tar Heels. At 13-12 in ACC play and Miami 13-10, this will be a series North Carolina must win.

With a game scheduled for Tuesday against Coastal Carolina, North Carolina has time to regain composure and push forward into their tough schedule ahead.

For coverage of Tuesday’s game and all things UNC look no further than Keeping It Heel.