UNC’s young pitching talent on display in opening series

By R.L. Bynum

How good are No. 15 North Carolina’s young pitchers? It won’t take long to get an idea.

With Jake Knapp, originally expected to be the ace, out for the season, fourth-year UNC coach Scott Forbes will open the season at 4 p.m. Friday against Wagner with Folger Boaz on the mound, the first of two freshmen who will sandwich senior right-hander Ben Peterson (top photo) as starters for the opening weekend.

Boaz went 9–1 as a senior at East Surry High School, with a 1.15 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 54⅔ innings. The 6–2, 190-pound left-hander — who throws a fastball, slider, and changeup — could sling it from the mound and on the football field, where he is 10th all-time in state history with 129 career touchdown passes.

His batterymate will also be a freshman: 6–1, 200-pound catcher Luke Stevenson, who hit .529 with 17 home runs and 58 RBI as a Wake Forest High School senior.

Carolina went 36–24 last season and earned an NCAA tournament berth, while Wagner went 32–24.

Opposing Boaz on Friday will be Wagner junior right-hander Frankie Wright (5–3, 2.90 ERA last season).

After Peterson (3–0, 5.40 ERA), top photo, starts in Saturday’s noon game, opposed by Wagner junior right-hander Connor Hayden (9–1, 3.93 ERA), another freshman goes in the finale.

For the 1 p.m. Sunday contest, the UNC starter will be 6–6, 220-pound right-hander Olin Johnson. Originally from Bellingham, Wash., Johnson played his last two seasons at McCallie School in Tennessee, leading his team to the 2022 state title. Wagner hasn’t named a Sunday starter.

Another freshman, second baseman Gavin Gallagher from Apex, is expected to be in the opening-day lineup. He was ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect in North Carolina.

The rest of the lineup for the opening series is expected to feature senior Georgia transfer Parks Harber at first base, graduate transfer Alex Madera at shortstop, senior Jackson Van De Brake at third base, redshirt sophomore junior Casey Cook in left field, Vance Honeycutt in center field and graduate Quinnipiac transfer Anthony Donofrio in right field.

Redshirt sophomore left-hander Dalton Pence (4–3, two saves, 3.33 ERA) is expected to be the closer. On Thursday, he and senior right-hander Matt Poston (4–3, five saves, 1.90 ERA) made the preseason watchlist for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher. 

Wagner opened last season by getting swept at N.C. State 14–1, 3–2 and 9–0.

It’s the first time UNC and Wagner have played in baseball and the first time the Tar Heels have faced a Northeast Conference team in the regular season since meeting St. Francis in 2004. UNC met Mount St. Mary’s in the 2008 Cary Regional.

It’s the sixth consecutive opener at home for UNC, which has won 13 of 16 home openers since returning to the renovated Boshamer Stadium in 2009.

---

Date	Day/ month	Time/ score	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	February
16	Friday	W, 10–3	vs. Wagner	1–0
17	Saturday	W, 16–5	vs. Wagner	2–0
18	Sunday	W, 20–6	vs. Wagner	3–0
20	Tuesday	W, 8–7	vs. Elon	4–0
23	Friday	W, 2–1	vs. No. 7 East Carolina	5–0
24	Saturday	L, 7–4	vs. No. 7 East Carolina in Fayetteville	5–1
25	Sunday	L, 10–9	at No. 7 East Carolina	5–2
27	Tuesday	W, 8–2	vs. VCU	6–2
28	Wednesday	W, 12–3	vs. Longwood	7–2
	March
1	Friday	W, 12–2	vs. Princeton	8–2
2	Saturday	W, 11–2	vs. Princeton	9–2
3	Sunday	W, 13–6	vs. Princeton	10–2
5	Tuesday	W, 7–3	at Campbell	11–2
8	Friday	W, 2–1	vs. Pittsburgh	12–2, 1–0 ACC
9	Saturday	W, 7–3	vs. Pittsburgh	13–2, 2–0 ACC
10	Sunday	W, 6–5, 10 innings	vs. Pittsburgh	14–2, 3–0 ACC
12	Tuesday	W, 13–7	vs. Rutgers	15–2
13	Wednesday	W, 9–8	vs. Rutgers	16–2
15	Friday	L, 14–1	at Miami	16–3, 3–1 ACC
16	Saturday	L, 2–1	at Miami	16–4, 3–2 ACC
17	Sunday	W, 18–6	at Miami	17–4, 4–2 ACC
19	Tuesday	W, 11–0, 7 innings	vs. UNCW	18–4
22	Friday	W, 5–4	vs. Georgia Tech	19–4, 5–2 ACC
23	Saturday	W, 11–5	vs. Georgia Tech	20–4, 6–2 ACC
24	Sunday	W, 9–2	vs. Georgia Tech	21–4, 7–2 ACC
26	Tuesday	W, 10–8	vs. N.C. A&T	22–4
29	Friday	W, 6–5	at No. 8 Wake Forest	23–4, 8–2 ACC
30	Saturday	W, 10–6	at No. 8 Wake Forest	24–4, 9–2 ACC
31	Sunday	W, 14–10	at No. 8 Wake Forest	25–4, 10–2 ACC
	April
4	Thursday	L, 14–11	at No. 14 Virginia	25–5, 10–3 ACC
5	Friday	L, 7–2	at No. 14 Virginia	25–6, 10–4 ACC
6	Saturday	W, 12–7	at No. 14 Virginia	26–6, 11–4 ACC
9	Tuesday	L, 2–1	vs. No. 24 South Carolina in Charlotte	26–7
12	Friday	W, 13–0, 6½ innings	vs. Notre Dame	27–7, 12–4 ACC
13	Saturday	W, 7–2	vs. Notre Dame	28–7, 13–4 ACC
14	Sunday	W, 10–3	vs. Notre Dame	29–7, 14–4 ACC
16	Tuesday	L, 5–4	vs. No. 13 Coastal Carolina	29–8
18	Thursday	L, 9–8	at No. 21 N.C. State	29–9, 14–5 ACC
19	Friday	L, 5–4	at No. 21 N.C. State	29–10, 14–6 ACC
20	Saturday	W, 14–3	at No. 21 N.C. State	30–10, 15–6 ACC
23	Tuesday	W, 5–2	vs. Gardner-Webb	31–10
26	Friday	W, 8–1	vs. Virginia Tech	32–10, 16–6 ACC
27	Saturday	W, 6–3	vs. Virginia Tech	33–10, 17–6 ACC
28	Sunday	L, 4–3	vs. Virginia Tech	33–11, 17–7 ACC
30	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Charlotte	ACCN
	May
1	Wednesday	6 p.m.	vs. William & Mary	ESPN3
7	Tuesday	6 p.m.	vs. Campbell	ESPN3
10	Friday	6 p.m.	vs. Louisville	ESPN3
11	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Louisville	ESPN3
12	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. Louisville	ACCN
14	Tuesday	6 p.m.	at UNCW	FloSports
16	Thursday	6 p.m.	at No. 6 Duke	ACCN
17	Friday	6 p.m.	at No. 6 Duke	ESPN3
18	Saturday	1 p.m.	at No. 6 Duke	ESPN3
21–26	Tuesday- Sunday	TBA	ACC tournament in Charlotte	ACCN
31	Friday	TBA	NCAA Regional	TBA
	June
1–3	Saturday- Monday	TBA	NCAA Regional	TBA
7–10	Friday- Monday	TBA	NCAA Super Regional	TBA
14–24	Friday- Monday	TBA	College World Series in Omaha, Neb.	TBA

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics