Keeping It Heel
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UNC Baseball to rematch with Iowa in elimination game

By Jordan Falls

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 25: Tomas Frick #52 and Mac Horvath #10 of the North Carolina Tar Heels celebrate as the Virginia Cavaliers switch pitchers in the seventh inning during the ACC Baseball Championship at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on May 25, 2023 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 25: Tomas Frick #52 and Mac Horvath #10 of the North Carolina Tar Heels celebrate as the Virginia Cavaliers switch pitchers in the seventh inning during the ACC Baseball Championship at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on May 25, 2023 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images) /
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The UNC baseball program fought off elimination on Saturday versus No. 4 seed Wright State and survived to play another day.

The UNC baseball program knocked off the No. 4 seed in the Terre Haute regional on Saturday afternoon with a 5-0 win behind a stellar pitching performance from ace Max Carlson. The Tar Heels will look to continue to keep their season alive on Sunday in the next game on the consolation bracket ladder.

Carolina will rematch with the No. 2 seed Iowa Hawkeyes in the Terre Haute regional on Sunday at 12:00 PM ET. The Hawkeyes lost their second regional game to No. 1 seed Indiana State on Saturday evening to fall to 1-1. The Diamond Heels will be approaching the day hoping they are playing a day/night doubleheader. The game-winner between the Tar Heels and Hawkeyes will move on to play the regional host, Indiana State, at 6:00 PM ET Sunday night with the loser being eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

UNC baseball fans are already familiar with the Hawkeyes after the two teams faced each other on Friday in the NCAA Tournament opener. Like Friday’s game against the Diamond Heels, the Hawkeyes led Indiana State late in the game before giving up a five-run eighth inning and losing 7-4. The Tar Heels gave the Hawkeyes a scare in the ninth inning when they almost completed a five-run comeback but came up short leaving the tying run stranded 90 feet from home.

This is the second consecutive game that the Sycamores trailed late and came back to score the game-winning runs in the eighth inning. They trailed Wright State 5-3 before scoring three runs to win 6-3. The winner of Carolina-Iowa will have a tough task on their hands with Indiana State.

The good news for the Diamond Heels will be that they don’t have to face the Hawkeyes ace pitcher, Brody Brecht who started on Saturday evening. Brecht went 7 innings, allowing only two hits and two runs in 108 pitches. The Tar Heels hope to have more success against the Iowa pitching on Sunday than they did Friday.

The key for Carolina will certainly be plate discipline and awareness for them to keep playing in the NCAA Tournament. To date in this NCAA Tournament, getting hits with runners on base and runners in scoring position has been a tall challenge for the Tar Heel offense. UNC baseball fans hope to see that change on Sunday.

Starting pitchers have yet to be announced for the Tar Heels or Hawkeyes. Like on Saturday, manager Scott Forbes hopes to get a solid outing from whoever takes the Tar Heels mound and gives the bullpen rest.

The winner of the Iowa-North Carolina game will have to beat the Sycamores twice in order to advance out of the Terre Haute Regional. UNC baseball fans hope to see the Tar Heels fight through the elimination bracket just as they did a year ago in 2022 when they beat Georgia on Sunday afternoon and then VCU twice to advance to the Super Regional.

Next. UNC Baseball: Tar Heels in the Pros Update 6/2/2023. dark

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