Much of our collective focus as North Carolina fans in recent days has been around men’s basketball, as they officially moved on from Hubert Davis and have begun the search for a new head coach. However, there have been plenty of other things happening if you wanted to take your focus off that.
One of those things was UNC baseball making a trip to Notre Dame for a weekend series against the Irish. That trip went quite well, as the Diamond Heels returned home with a series sweep against a ranked opponent.
Saturday – Game 1: UNC 6, Notre Dame 5 (box score)
The series opener had to be pushed back a day due to weather, leading to a Saturday doubleheader. In the first of the two games, the Heels came up with a late rally to take the victory.
Early on, the two teams traded runs back and forth, with UNC taking 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 leads before getting pegged all three times. Notre Dame then seemed to turn the tide in their favor against Carolina’s bullpen. Jayce Lee gave the Irish their first lead with a seventh inning homer, and they tacked on another run later in the inning to go up 5-3.
Down to their last six outs, the Heels literally came out swinging in the eighth. Colin Hynek hit an RBI double, before scoring on a Tyler Howe single that tied up the game. UNC then benefitted from some wildness on ND’s part, as a single and a wild pitch allowed Howe to end up at third, where he scored on another wild pitch to take the lead back for UNC and give them the winning margin.
Saturday – Game 2: UNC 13, Notre Dame 7 (box score)
UNC also had to rally in the second game of the day, albeit not quite as dramatically, and it led to a comfortable win in the end.
While Erik Paulsen gave Carolina the lead in the top of the first, the Irish then got UNC starter Ryan Lynch for three runs in the bottom of the inning. However, the Heels came back firing immediately. Led by a two-RBI single from Owen Hull, Carolina combined to score four runs over the second, third, and fourth innings.
Notre Dame then did score two runs to tie the game back up, but UNC put up a six-spot in the sixth to put things away. Cooper Nicholson homered and five different Tar Heels reached base as they scored took a big lead. UNC added a couple more runs before the Irish cut into their deficit, but Carolina had scored plenty to win.
Sunday: UNC 15, Notre Dame 10 (box score)
The series concluded with a glut of offense from both teams, as the Heels outlasted ND to win a slugfest and finish the sweep.
This was not a day for pitching, as neither teams’ starter — Folger Boaz for UNC nor Ty Uber for Notre Dame — lasted past 4.0 innings, allowing seven and eight runs respectively. While Notre Dame did hold 3-1 and then 7-4 leads, after that it was all Tar Heels.
UNC broke things open in the fifth, where they put up eight runs on six hits, an error, and two walks. Eleven different Tar Heels came to the plate over the course of the frame, with Carter French coming up with the big blow; a two-RBI, tie-breaking single.
This coming week, UNC will host Campbell in mid-week action before Boston College comes to town for the weekend series.
