UNC Baseball drops two of three to Hurricanes

The UNC Baseball team lost its second ACC series of the season over the weekend, dropping two of three to the Miami Hurricanes.

It was an exciting series between Miami and Carolina over the weekend for the everyday baseball fan. All three games were one-run games and came down to the final innings. Unfortunately for UNC baseball fans, it wasn’t as exciting to be on the losing end of two of the three games.

In game one, the Tar Heels got down 2-0 in the third inning, but then quickly answered with a four-run inning of their own to take a 4-2 lead going to the fourth. However, that would be the only runs for the Diamond Heels the rest of the game as Miami came back with three one-run innings in the fourth, sixth, and ninth inning to take a 5-4 lead and ultimately win the game. The Hurricanes scored the game-winning run in the ninth inning on a suicide squeeze bunt that caught the UNC baseball defense by complete surprise.

Game two began with some offensive fireworks on Friday night. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 6-0 lead through three innings and it looked like it would be all Miami. However, the Tar Heels weren’t going quietly and their bats came to life, scoring seven unanswered runs over the next four innings, including a four-run sixth inning to take a 7-6 lead.

Miami was able to answer with a run of their own in the seventh to tie the game back up. The game entered a weather delay in the top of the eighth and was suspended until Saturday afternoon. Once the game resumed, there was little offensive action and the game continued into extra innings where Miami took an 8-7 lead in the tenth inning. Carolina came to the plate in the bottom of the tenth inning looking to keep the game going and got down to their final strike before Casey Cook hit a wall-scraping home run to tie the game and send it to the eleventh inning.

Hunter Stokely would win it with a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 11th and the Diamond Heels took game two 9-8. Full game highlights are worth a watch:

Unfortunately for UNC, the offense calmed back down in game three on Saturday afternoon. They scored three runs, but just came up one run short, losing 4-3. A Hurricane solo home run in the fifth inning proved to be the difference.

The Tar Heels are now tied with Miami for second place in the ACC coastal division, despite playing two fewer games than the Hurricanes (UNC baseball had two games at Pitt canceled). The Diamond Heels now continue their long homestand with a non-conference matchup with Charlotte on Tuesday evening before welcoming Boston College to The Bosh next weekend.

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