By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — With the excellent ace pitchers around the ACC, the ability to gut out victories by matching that with effective pitching will be a valuable trait, as will keeping your cool when an opponent goes over the line.
No. 16 North Carolina did both in its ACC opener to extend the Tar Heels’ win streak to seven. For the second time this season, the same four pitchers had impressive outings in 2–1 victories.
Just like on Feb. 23 at home against No. 11 East Carolina, relievers Dalton Pence, Matthew Matthijs and Matt Poston shut down an opponent, this time in the Tar Heels’ ACC opener Friday against Pittsburgh at Boshamer Stadium.
“In our league, this is what you should expect on Friday,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “I think last year was a little bit rare because there weren’t as many legit Friday night pitchers. But, based on what I’ve been seeing on video, there are a good amount of them this year.”
Freshman left-hander Folger Boaz started both 2–1 wins (going 4⅔ innings in both), Matthijs (5–0, the most wins in the country), a sophomore right-hander, won both games. Poston, a senior right-hander, earned both of his saves in the two games, which are the only times this season that the Tar Heels (12–2, 1–0 ACC) have scored fewer than seven runs.
Senior first baseman Parks Harber hit a homer and a key double as UNC collected only six hits, just like against the Pirates.
Pittsburgh’s impressive ace is junior right-hander Ryan Andrade, who gave up four hits and one run while striking out five before an emotion-filled fifth inning.
Andrade was pumped up to face Harber with the bases loaded and two outs because Harber had driven one of his fastballs 402 feet to right-center for a leadoff second-inning home run.
After he struck out Harber to end the fifth-inning threat, a fired-up Andrade yelled “f**k you” at Harber. All that did was fire up the Tar Heels and get the pitcher ejected.
Forbes preaches sportsmanship and says he’d yank one of his players quicker than the umpires would if they did anything close to that.
“When that happened in my mind, I definitely thought, No. 1, we’re probably going to win this game, and Parks Harber is going to have a chance to get back up there in a big situation.”
With the game tied at 1, Harber led off the eighth inning with a double, and pinch-runner Kaleb Cost went to third on Anthony Donofrio’s fly out to third. Cost, a defensive back on the football team, scored on Alberto Osuna’s sacrifice fly on a drive to left-center field that missed going over the wall by only a few feet.
“It’s kind of like karma,” Poston said. “He says something to Parks, and Parks is the one that gets the double. Kind of a little humble pie.”
Harber, a veteran college player, didn’t yell back at Andrade, and just went about the business of beating the Panthers (8–2, 0–1).
“Just frustrated with the bases loaded that I couldn’t get runs batted in for the team, so just had to flush it and lock in for the eighth inning,” said Harber, who called Andrade’s antics “just baseball” and said it wasn’t the first time that a pitcher had barked at him.
That second-inning blast was his first home run as a Tar Heel after hitting 34 in three seasons at Georgia.
“Definitely, it was big for me to get that on the board,” said Harber, who is hitting .326 with seven RBI. “I knew it was coming, too. In baseball, it’s hard not to press. But at the same time, I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I knew a slow start is normal.”
He said he felt 20 pounds lighter as he rounded the bases.
“It was nice to be able to get that off my chest, and it’s always nice to score first in the game. I think it kind of calms the team down,” he said.
Forbes said the best is yet to come from Harber, who he called probably the best pure hitter on the team.
“What I love is how bad he wants to help us win,” Forbes said. “I mean, that’s why he’s been pressing a little bit because he’s really talented. You still haven’t seen what you’re gonna see.”
In his fourth Friday start, Boaz gave up four hits, one run, walked three and struck out four in 4⅔ innings.
“He was reaching back to 94 [mph] a ton,” Forbes said, calling this Boaz’s best outing. “Had three pitches; had the slider going better.”
After throwing only two wild pitches in his first three starts, Boaz threw three Friday. He got burned on the third. That advanced the nine-hole hitter, shortstop Jake Kendro, to third after a two-out single up the middle in the fifth inning. He scored on center fielder Dom Popa’s single to left field to tie it.
Boaz gave up a single to the next batter, then nearly got out of the inning. But third-base umpire Augustus Griffin ruled that first baseman Luke Cantwell didn’t go around on a 3–2 pitch, loading the bases with a walk.
“I thought he went,” said Forbes, who had an extended discussion with Griffin. “I also thought the pitch before that was a strike.”
Even with Boaz only at a season-low 72 pitches, Forbes pulled him in favor of Pence on the adamant advice of pitching coach Bryant Gaines. Forbes admitted it was a tough call, but it worked out. Pence induced an inning-ending flyout and struck out three in two hitless innings.
Matthijs hurled 1⅓ hitless innings with two strikeouts before giving way to Poston in the ninth inning.
Poston showed again that he has the classic closer mentality, striking out Kendro to end the game with the tying run on first after he hit a batter with two outs. He said he didn’t throw any off-speed pitches, and just brought the heat with his fastball.
“I’m just going to throw it as hard as I can right down the middle,” said Poston, who talks to himself on the mound between pitches with what he admits might not be family-friendly words. “I’m not worried about the guy on first. I know he’s the tying run. But if I get this guy at the plate, he’s not going to score; so, it’s me versus the guy at the plate.”
His fastball reached 96 mph on that last batter.
“I get out there, and once I hear the crowds, I realize, ‘oh crap, this is real,’ [and] I just get going. Something in my head makes me throw a little bit harder,” Poston said.
NOTES — The series concludes with games at 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday, both streaming on ESPN3. Freshman right-hander Jason DeCaro (1–0, 4.05 ERA) will oppose sophomore Pitt left-hander Ryan Reed (0–1, 12.60 ERA) on Saturday. In Sunday’s finale, UNC junior left-hander Shea Sprague (0–1, 5.06 ERA) will face senior right-hander Jack Sokol (2–0, 3.00 ERA). … UNC is improved to 3-1 in one-run games. … The Tar Heels won their 15th consecutive game at Boshamer Stadium and improved to 11-0 at home this season. … UNC entered Friday leading the ACC and 11th in the country with 32 steals, but didn’t steal any bases Friday. … Freshman catcher Luke Stevenson, senior shortstop Colby Wilkerson, redshirt sophomore left fielder Casey Cook, junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt and graduate right fielder Anthony Donofrio are the only Tar Heels to start at the same position in every game. Wilkerson is the only player to start in the same spot in the order for every game (ninth). … Honeycutt extended his on-base streak to 49 games. … Donofrio did not reach base for the first time this season. … Senior Johnny Castagnozzi (1 for 3) started in place of senior co-captain Jackson Van De Brake at third base for the fourth consecutive game after Van De Brake (3 of 34) started there for nine of the first 10 games. … UNC has won eight in a row and 11 of the last 13 games against Pittsburgh in Chapel Hill and the last four series, sweeping series in 2018 and 2022. … Carolina leads the all-time series 17–11.
No. 16 UNC 2, Pittsburgh 1
| 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
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