What a weekend it was for Scott Forbes and the UNC baseball program.
Although the weather impacted the series dates and start times, it didn't affect the Diamond Heels at all as they secured a three-game sweep over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Boshamer Stadium.
The first two games of the series were blowouts, needing only 7 innings to decide the final outcome.
Fourteen hits and two home runs paired with shutdown pitching powered North Carolina to a mercy-run victory on Friday night in the series opener. The offense was powered by multi-hit performances from Gavin Gallaher, Jackson Van De Brake, Tyson Bass, and Hunter Stokley, as the trio of Jake Knapp, Tom Chmielewski, and Cale Bolton allowed just one run and five total hits.
Game two had the same of narrative as the series opener: outstanding offensive production to go along with stellar pitching.
The Diamond Heels scored multiple runs in each of the first four innings, including a five-run fourth inning, as they cruised to a 17-1 victory.
While both Van De Brake and Gallaher homered in the middle game of the series, the story was truly the Tar Heels patience at the plate. Wake Forest allowed 10 walks, allowing North Carolina to capitalize on multiple occasions. When you register 14 hits and take 10 free passes, you likely are going to score a lot of runs and win the game (just like North Carolina did on Saturday afternoon).
The final game of the series on Sunday afternoon was a nail-biter, but an unsung hero stepped up big-time for the team in Carolina Blue.
After Wake Forest tied the game in the top half of the seventh inning, North Carolina aimed to quickly regain the lead in their half of the frame. With one out, Alex Madera walked, advancing to second on an errant pick-off throw a few pitches later. True freshman Lee Sowers, who had one at-bat prior to Sunday's game and never made a collegiate start, collected the first hit of his college career, an RBI singe to left field that scored Madera and served as the game-winning run.
Jason DeCaro, who has been struggling a bit, looked like the ace he is, pitching into the sixth inning allowing just one run. Freshman Walker McDuffie came in relief and closed it out, striking out six over 3.1 impressive innings of work.
Make no mistake: North Carolina didn't just beat up on a bad team this weekend. Wake Forest were coming off a weekend in which they scored 33 runs against Florida State, the No. 9-ranked team in the country.
This goes to show you just how good the ACC is, and how deep the Tar Heels pitching staff truly is.
The offense came alive this week, scoring 10 or more runs in three of their four games. They hope to continue that hot offensive stretch when Charlotte rolls into town on Tuesday for a non-conference showdown at The Bosh.