UNC Baseball surges past Miami behind weekend series win

The UNC baseball team (21-16, 15-12 ACC) beat the Miami Hurricanes (22-13, 14-12 ACC) in two of three games in the weekend series behind two great starts from Austin Love and Shawn Rapp.

North Carolina possessed the opportunity to overtake Miami in the standings with a win in the series.

Game 1: UNC 4, Miami 2

North Carolina beat Miami 4-2 behind an incredible pitching performance by Austin Love in game one of the Friday doubleheader.

In the bottom of the first inning with one out, Angel Zarate, recently off the IL, doubled to start the rally. Danny Serretti drew a four-pitch walk before Justice Thompson singled in a run. Thompson singled in another run in the bottom of the third to make it 2-0 for UNC. And in the bottom of the fourth, Dallas Tesser extended the North Carolina lead to 3-0 with a solo homer.

Love struck out his sixth batter as he pitched a one-two-three inning in the top of the fifth. Brett Centracchio hit a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth, and Tesser followed with an RBI double to make it 4-0 for UNC.

With runners on first and second with two outs, Miami threatened in the top of the sixth before Love punched out his seventh batter to end the inning. Caden O’Brien came into the top of the seventh with a runner on second and one out. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly gave the Hurricanes their first run.

Behind two walks and a one-out single, Miami made it 4-2 in the top of the ninth, which was the eventual final of game one. Love pitched 6.1 innings, struck out seven, surrendered one run on seven hits and walked two batters to earn his fifth victory of the season.

Game 2: UNC 6, Miami 5

North Carolina secured the 6-5 win in game two of the Friday doubleheader, as Rapp pitched 6.0 innings of two-run ball and punched out eight.

Miami got the first run on a one-out sac fly in the top of the first for the 1-0 lead. North Carolina soon tied it as Colby Wilkerson led off the bottom of the third with a single, and advanced to second on a throwing error. The next two batters flied out, but Zarate singled in the tying run for North Carolina.

Rapp held off a potent Hurricanes lineup as he pitched a one-two-three inning in the next two Miami frames.

In the bottom of the fifth, North Carolina rallied off four runs. Mac Horvath launched a two-run bomb with one out. Zarate doubled home another UNC run, and advanced to third on the throw. Thompson singled home the fourth run to make it 5-1.

With a leadoff single and wild pitch, the Hurricanes had a runner in scoring position and no outs. A double forced in a run to make it 4-2 before Rapp was relieved on the mound. Nik Pry shut the door on Miami as he did not allow another run to come across.

Miami pulled within one in the top of the eighth behind a two-out RBI double and a two-run homer to make it 6-5. North Carolina preserved the 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth to win the series.

In 6.0 innings pitched, Rapp surrendered four hits, two walks and two runs with eight strikeouts for his first win on the season.

Game 3: Miami 8, UNC 1

The Tar Heels lost game three as Miami trounced the Tar Heels 8-1 on Sunday afternoon.

North Carolina scored one in the bottom of the first behind a two-out Thompson double and Serretti single to make it 1-0.

Miami surged ahead in the top of the second, as a two-run a single and a two-run homer made it a 4-1 Hurricane lead.

While North Carolina put runners in scoring position throughout the game, they later hit into some  unfortunate double plays as the team fell victim to three in three consecutive innings.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes poured on three more in the top of the seventh inning as a pair of two-out doubles made it 7-1.

With two walks and a hit-by-pitch to start the inning, Miami scored its eighth run to balloon the lead to 8-1, which was the eventual final in game three.

Head Coach Scott Forbes emphasized the importance of winning ACC games given how tough the conference is this year.

“We feel like besides NC State, honestly we’ve had a chance to win every series, and we’ve been in tight games to win those series,” Forbes said. “So to win a doubleheader was huge for our guys and their confidence because it’s hard to win a doubleheader period.”

With a game against UNC Charlotte on Tuesday, and a weekend series against a tough Notre Dame team, UNC will need all the momentum and confidence they can get heading into the final stretch.

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