UNC baseball loses 4-1 in extra innings against UNC Charlotte

The North Carolina baseball team (20-18, 14-13 ACC) lost a hard-fought battle against a tough UNC Charlotte team 4-1 in extra innings Tuesday afternoon in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina looked poised to grab an early lead as a two-out double from Dallas Tesser in the bottom of the first set UNC but they could not score.

A leadoff walk for Danny Serretti in the bottom of the second gave UNC a chance. With a steal of second and third for Serretti, UNC had a runner at third with one out. Despite this UNC failed to get a run in.

In the top of the fifth, the 49ers threatened to break the tie behind a one-out single and a quick steal of second to put a runner in scoring position with one out. A groundout to second forced the runner to third with two outs. Next, an intense eight-pitch at-bat ensued where Gage Gillian came out the victor as he struck the batter out to keep the 49ers off the scoreboard.

North Carolina got the leadoff man on in the bottom of the sixth inning and a one out walk put runners in scoring position for Angel Zarate. A four-pitch walk to Zarate gave UNC a prime opportunity as the bases were loaded with one out. Just as quickly as the momentum swung toward UNC, it swung away as the next two batters got out and the rally ended.

Meanwhile, Nik Pry came in as the fourth pitcher of the day for UNC and surrendered one hit and one walk through three innings with 2 K’s to keep UNC Charlotte off the board.

In the bottom of the ninth, North Carolina failed to capitalize on a two-out single, and the game went into extra innings.

UNC Charlotte started the top of the 10th with a groundout but got a one-out walk followed a single to put runners on the corners. The next batter reached on a fielder’s choice with no out recorded, which loaded the bases for the 49ers. The next batter unloaded the bases with a triple to put the 49ers up 3-0. A sac fly pushed in another run for UNC Charlotte that made it 4-0.

With a runner on first and two outs, North Carolina rallied behind two singles to score a run to shrink the deficit 4-1, but ultimately fell short of a comeback in the bottom of the 10th.

In a closely contested ballgame the pitching for the Tar Heels in a bullpen game kept them tied with a tough 49ers team. Gage Gillian pitched a solid 3.1 innings allowing only two hits and no walks while punching out three.

Head Coach Scott Forbes said despite a poor team performance at the plate that the pitching kept the Tar Heels in the game.

“The bright side is our pitching has been really good, couldn’t be prouder of those guys all the way to Coach Gaines, all the way down, so they give us a chance,” Forbes said. “Hopefully we can get some guys stepping up in the box, but again a good Charlotte team, credit to them.”

With an overall 8-for-36 day or .222 batting average and1-for-10, with runners in scoring position, the offense stalled throughout the game.

With a weekend series against Notre Dame, North Carolina will look to bounce back in a tough series ahead. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday afternoon.

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