By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Solid defense has been one of the keys to No. 15 North Carolina’s success, with the run-saving efforts and incredible range of the outfielders justifiably getting plenty of attention.
The Tar Heels’ infield also has plenty of range, and it has contributed just as much to their wins.
Graduate transfer Alex Madera has been a big part of that at second base, and he did it again Tuesday night in a 5–2 victory over Gardner-Webb at Boshamer Stadium marked by excellent relief pitching.
UNC (31–10) only has two errors in the last nine games, although third baseman Gavin Gallaher’s sixth error of the season ended a four-game errorless streak.
“Our infield defense has been pretty dang good lately,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “For the most part, we play good defense, especially in the league.”
Outfielders Vance Honeycutt, Anthony Donofrio and Casey Cook have collectively saved dozens of runs. But Madera has only two errors all season and has anchored an infield full of good gloves.
“I pride myself in my infield, and my abilities,” Madera said. “Coach [Jesse] Wiersbicki works with us to position ourselves in ways that we think is going to be the best to get the hitter out. I trust him with where he puts me, so just trying to stay down, field the ball coming my way.”
Madera, who gave UNC the lead for good with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left field in the sixth inning, made a diving catch of a hard shot from Bulldogs left fielder Gavin Johnson to end the fourth inning with a runner on second to save a run. He also snagged right fielder Nick Capozzi’s low liner in the sixth inning.
“He’s been phenomenal,” Forbes said of Madera.
Although shortstop senior Colby Wilkerson has 14 errors, Forbes said nine came in a short period, and their technology tools show that he has outstanding range. First baseman Parks Harber only has three errors.
Madera played shortstop at Division III Arcadia last season but has seamlessly shifted to second base this season.
“It’s been awesome,” Madera said of his chemistry with Wilkerson. “He’s been great. He’s shown me a lot from what I already knew, and I just love learning from him. I think we jell really well together.”
Gallaher, a freshman who was 2-for-3 with an RBI and reached base three times, has adjusted from playing second base in high school to third base.
“It’s definitely coming along,” Gallaher said. “I think it’s getting better every day. Playing a new position is never easy. But they’ve helped me a lot, and I’m learning a lot from the older guys as well.”
Gallaher says that the strong arms of all three outfielders make it easier to limit opponents’ running game.
“We have three of the best arms in the outfield, but also three of the best defenders,” Gallaher said. “You saw Anthony this weekend making ridiculous plays; you see Vance every single day making ridiculous plays. They’re all just so sound, and when you can cut down on those extra-base hits and giving away extra bases, it’s huge.”
Coming off three one-hit, shutout innings in Saturday’s 14–3 win against N.C. State, senior right-hander Connor Bovair (winner, 1–0) allowed a hit and struck out one in two shutout innings against the Bulldogs.
In front of him, sophomore right-hander Matthew Matthijs struck out four and gave up one hit in 2⅓ innings. After him, redshirt sophomore Dalton Pence pitched two shutout innings with two hits and three strikeouts to get his fourth save.
“Matty was great,” Forbes said. “Our bullpen was outstanding with eight strikeouts, only one walk. That’s how you win games.”
Although Gardner-Webb (15–25) has struggled this season, UNC knew to be wary after the Bulldogs played No. 6 Duke a tough game a week earlier before losing 2–1 in Durham.
Just like against the Blue Devils, Gardner-Webb changed pitchers every inning, with UNC finally getting to the fifth pitcher, right-hander CJ Czerwinski, for a pair of runs to tie it after falling behind 2–0 in the third.
“I would have bet anything it was going to be a close game, which is my gut,” Forbes said, pointing out the challenge of facing eight pitchers. “Sometimes that can be a problem, and obviously we didn’t come out of the gate sizzling hot offensively, but we found a way.
Carolina catcher Luke Stevenson led off the fifth inning with a single off the right-field wall. He came around to slide hands-first to beat the tag and score on Gallaher’s double down the left-field line. Honeycutt hit a hard two-out grounder between diving third baseman Ryan Kennell and diving shortstops Peter Capobianco to score Gallaher.
UNC tacked on two more runs in the seventh. Donofrio led off with a double and scored on a failed pickoff attempt. Harber hit an RBI single to center field.
UNC right-hander Cameron Padgett, in his first start of the season, retired seven of the first eight batters before exiting after giving up four singles and a sacrifice fly with one out in the third inning.
“I thought he got to start off on a good note,” Forbes said of Padgett. His stuff started dropping off a tad after about 35 [pitches], so we got to build that arm up. Thought he attacked good.”
Bulldogs designated hitter Mark Black keyed their two-run third with an RBI single. Matthijs came on and struck out Capobianco to avert further damage and leave two runners stranded.
NOTES — Carolina continues a 10-game homestand this weekend with a big three-game ACC series, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, against Virginia Tech (25–12, 12–9), which played a home game Tuesday against George Mason. … Forbes said that he should get something more definitive about the status of pitcher Folger Boaz after a consultation with a doctor following an MRI. … UNC leads the all-time series against Gardner-Webb 19–2. … The Tar Heels are 9–2 in midweek games, including 8–1 at Boshamer Stadium. … Basketball star Alyssa Ustby threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
No. 15 UNC 5, Gardner-Webb 2
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Georgia Tech | 19–11 | — | 39–16 |
| No. 6 Florida State | 17–10 | ½ | 37–13 |
| No. 3 North Carolina | 18–11 | ½ | 39–12 |
| No. 22 N.C. State | 17–11 | 1 | 33–18 |
| No. 14 Clemson | 18–12 | 1 | 41–15 |
| Virginia | 16–11 | 1½ | 32–17 |
| Duke | 17–13 | 2 | 36–18 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 3 | 36–19 |
| Miami | 15–14 | 3½ | 31–23 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 15–15 | 4 | 35–20 |
| Notre Dame | 14–16 | 5 | 32–20 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–18 | 7 | 30–24 |
| Boston College | 11–19 | 8 | 26–28 |
| Stanford | 11–19 | 8 | 27–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–20 | 9 | 27–26 |
| California | 9–21 | 10½ | 22–30 |
Thursday-Saturday series
No. 16 Georgia Tech at Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 14 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 22 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 3 North Carolina at No. 6 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–3, 10 innings
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 14–15 | Fri.-Sat. | W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2 | vs. Texas Tech | 3–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 12–9 | vs. Kansas State | 4–0 |
| 22–24 | Sat.-Mon. | W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4 | vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville) | 7–0 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 7–4 | vs. VCU | 8–0 |
| 26 | Wednesday | W, 13–4 | vs. N.C. A&T | 9–0 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 16–2 | vs. Stony Brook | 10–0 |
| March | ||||
| 1–2 | Sat.-Sun. | W, 6–1; W, 9–5 | vs. Stony Brook | 12–0 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 6–4 (11) | vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina | 13–0 |
| 7–9 | Fri.-Sun. | L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0 | vs. Stanford | 14–2, 1–2 ACC |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 7–3 (10) | at UNCW | 15–2 |
| 14, 16 | Fri., Sun. | L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0 | at Louisville | 16–4, 2–4 |
| 19 | Wednesday | L, 5–1 | vs. UConn | 16–5 |
| 21–23 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7) | at Boston College | 18–6, 4–5 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 13–8 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 19–7 |
| 28–30 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2 | vs. Miami | 21–7, 6–6 |
| April | ||||
| 1 | Tuesday | W, 11–1 (7) | vs. Gardner-Webb | 22–7 |
| 3–5 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14) | vs. Duke | 24–8, 8–7 |
| 8 | Tuesday | W, 12–10 | at Elon | 25–8 |
| 11–13 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2 | vs. Wake Forest | 28–8, 11–7 |
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 14–4 (8) | vs. Charlotte | 29–8 |
| 18–20 | Fri-Sun. | W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5 | at Virginia Tech | 31–9, 13–8 |
| 25–27 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0 | at Pittsburgh | 33–10, 15–9 |
| 29 | Tuesday | W, 13–4 | vs. George Mason | 34–10 |
| 30 | Wednesday | W, 14–3 | vs. Queens | 35–10 |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | W, 10–1 | vs. Campbell | 36–10 |
| 8–9 | Thurs.-Fri. | W, 8–1; L, 8–5 | vs. N.C. State | 37–11, 16–10 |
| 15–17 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4 | at No. 7 Florida State | 39–12, 18–11 |
| ACC tournament | Durham | |||
| 23 | Friday | Quarterfinal: W, 7–3 | Boston College | 40–12 |
| 24 | Saturday | Semifinal: W, 7–5 | No. 7 Florida State | 41–12 |
| 25 | Sunday | Final: W, 14–4 | No. 14 Clemson | 42–12 |
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 30 | Friday | W, 4–0 | Holy Cross | 43–12 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 11–5 | Oklahoma | 44–12 |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | L, 9–5 | Oklahoma | 44–13 |
| 2 | Monday | W, 14–4 | Oklahoma | 45–13 |
| Chapel Hill Super Regional | Best-of-3 series | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 18–2 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–13 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 10–8 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–14 |
| 8 | Sunday | L, 4–3 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–15 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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