Tar Heels get over the hump with 9-3 win over Campbell

The North Carolina Tar Heels baseball team (21-21, 14-16 ACC) defeated the Campbell Camels behind a five-run rally late in the game to secure a 9-3 win Wednesday afternoon.

The game originally scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. was rescheduled to Wednesday at 4 p.m. due to inclement weather.

With North Carolina on a five-game losing streak and a weekend series sweep at the hands of Notre Dame, the Tar Heels needed a confidence booster late in the season.

Caden O’Brien started for North Carolina in a bullpen game where despite a few bumps in his two innings of work, kept the Camels off the scoreboard.

North Carolina jumped to an early lead with a two-out RBI double from bat of Johnny Castagnozzi that made it 1-0 in the bottom of the second.

Gage Gillian came on in the top of the third and pitched a one-two-three inning. But in the top of the fourth, North Carolina faltered defensively as a throwing error put runners on second and third with one out. The next batter singled in two runs that gave the Camels the lead.

While North Carolina did not immediately respond—they reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth 3-2 behind excellent plate discipline. The Tar Heels loaded the bases with one out thanks to an error from Campbell before Danny Serretti walked, which tied the game at 2-2. Another walk from Max Riemer gave the Tar Heels a 3-2 lead before a double play abruptly ended the inning.

In the top of the sixth, Austin Love came into pitch and gave up a leadoff homer that tied the game 3-3. While Love surrendered a single to the next batter, he got out of the inning with no further damage, and struck out the side in the top of the seventh.

Dallas Tesser led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and advanced to third on a passed ball. A walk from Caleb Roberts gave UNC runners on the corners and no outs for Angel Zararte who hit a sac fly that gave the Tar Heels a 4-3 lead.

Brett Centracchio led off the bottom of the eighth with a pinch-hit homer before two walks and two hit batsmen drove in another run. Another walk gave North Carolina their third run of the inning before Zarate hit another sac fly. Riemer singled home another run before the inning ended that gave UNC a 9-3  lead, which was the eventual final.

After a torrid weekend series against Notre Dame, North Carolina won behind a combination of solid pitching throughout the game and tremendous plate discipline. The pitching trifecta of O’Brien, Gillian and Love combined surrendered three hits, three runs- one earned- one walk and 10 K’s. The Tar Heels walked eight times while only striking out four.

Head Coach Scott Forbes emphasized the importance of a win like this after a five-game losing streak and believed the team can still improve this late in the season.

” I thought we played well but not great—until we can just get past some of those base running mistakes and defensive mistakes we’re not going to reach our goals, but we can we showed some fight,” Forbes said. “I’m proud for our guys because anytime you lose that many games in a row right after winning a doubleheader against Miami feeling great, against yourself you need a win because a win will help confidence.”

The Tar Heels do not have a series scheduled over the weekend but play Tuesday against UNC Greensboro. The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.

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