UNC Baseball swept by Notre Dame in weekend series

The North Carolina baseball team (20-21, 14-16 ACC) got swept by Notre Dame in a weekend series as they were outscored 36-17.

With the end of the regular season drawing closer, this weekend series presented North Carolina with an opportunity to move up in the tightly contested standings.

Game 1: Notre Dame 4, UNC 0

North Carolina fell in game one 4-0 as the team collected one hit in 14 at bats with runners in scoring position, and left 10 runners stranded.

In the top of the first, UNC possessed an opportunity to take the lead with runners on first and second with two outs, but grounded out. As was the case in the top of the third when North Carolina failed to capitalize in a run-scoring opportunity.

Notre Dame broke through in the bottom of the fourth as a solo homer and two-out single gave the Fighting Irish a modest 2-0 lead.

Austin Love started for UNC and pitched another solid outing— 6.0 innings of two-run ball as he surrendered four hits, walked three batters, and struck out six.

The bottom of the eighth proved disastrous for UNC as Notre Dame scored two runs to make it 4-0. This lead proved insurmountable for the Tar Heels as they fell in game one.

The Tar Heels committed five errors, four of which were in the bottom of the eighth.

Head Coach Scott Forbes said Love’s consistency on the mound and his character is exemplary of the players he wants on the mound in a series like this one.

"“Thank goodness for him or we wouldn’t have a fighting chance and be where we’re at least in striking distance to finish strong,” Forbes said. “It’s a credit to Austin, great kid, hard worker, we just got to find some more guys to follow in his footsteps and give us a better chance.”"

Game 2: Notre Dame 13, UNC 12

Despite a late 10-run surge in the last three innings, the comeback fell short as UNC dropped game two on Saturday 13-12.

Notre Dame scored in the bottom of the first to take the lead, but North Carolina quickly responded in the next inning to tie the game at 1-1.

In the bottom of the second, Notre Dame tacked on four runs to claim a 5-1 lead. With a two-out single in the bottom of the fourth, the lead swelled to 7-1 for Notre Dame.

In the top of the fifth, UNC rallied to score another run to shrink the lead to 7-2, but Notre Dame  added three in the proceeding inning. With another two in the bottom of the sixth, Notre Dame made it a hefty 12-2 advantage.

North Carolina fought back as a two-run bomb from Dallas Tesser and a two-out RBI single from Angel Zarate to made it 12-5 in the top of the seventh. UNC rattled off six runs including a three-run homer from Zarate to bring it to a close 12-11 game.

Notre Dame pushed another run across in the bottom of the eighth to claim a 13-11 lead heading into the last inning.

A leadoff homer from Max Riemer swung momentum toward UNC as they made it a 13-12 game with no outs. But North Carolina made three outs to drop the second game of the series. Tesser and Zarate combined for an 8-for-10 day at the plate, four runs scored and eight RBI, as both played key roles in the offense in game two.

Game 3: Notre Dame 19, UNC 5

North Carolina lost game three 19-5 as they were swept by Notre Dame Sunday afternoon.

The Tar Heels jumped to an early lead with a one-out sac fly before a two-out solo homer from Danny Serretti gave UNC the 2-0 lead in the top of the first.

But Notre Dame wasted no time responding, as a pair of walks followed by a double tied the game in the bottom of the first. Another walk followed by another double gave Notre Dame two runs to claim the lead before the Fighting Irish added another that made it 5-2.

With a pair of doubles that led off the top of the second, UNC shrunk the deficit to 5-3, but could not cut any further into the lead. Behind three straight walks and a single from Riemer, North Carolina tied the game.

In the bottom of the third, Notre Dame led off with a solo bomb that gave them the 6-5 advantage, but did not do any further damage in the inning.

The Fighting Irish hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead to 7-5. A walk, an error and an intentional walk loaded the bases for Notre Dame before a single plated two runs that swelled the lead to 9-5. While the next batter struck out, the proceeding batter hit a three-run homer as the lead ballooned to 12-5. Notre Dame pushed across another run in the bottom of the fifth for a 13-5 lead.

With six runs scored in the bottom of the eighth, Notre Dame led 19-5, which was the eventual final as UNC was swept by Notre Dame.

The 19 runs were the most UNC has given up since 2001.

Coach Forbes said that despite the perseverance of the team, the pitching is what kept UNC out of the win column this weekend.

"“I thought we fought, I thought our guys definitely didn’t quit, but we just got beat handily,” Forbes said. “When you don’t pitch well enough in this game, at the end of the day, you’re not going to win and that’s just basically the story of the weekend.”"

For coverage of the game and all things UNC sports, run over to Keeping It Heel.