By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — It was a painful pitching night for No. 19 North Carolina, with potential repercussions for the Tar Heels’ bullpen.

The pitching that had been so dependable put UNC in a hole it couldn’t dig out of in a 9–5 loss to Duke at Boshamer Stadium on Friday, when the staff tied a season-high for runs allowed.

The deciding game of the series is at 2 p.m. Saturday (ACC Network Extra) after Duke (21–11, 8–6) snapped a three-game losing streak against UNC.

Sophomore right-hander Jason DeCaro (loser, 4–3) struggled, and junior right-handed reliever Matthew Matthijs left the game after feeling something while throwing a warmup pitch before the fifth inning.

“Hopefully, he’s OK,” said UNC coach Scott Forbes of Matthijs, who had struck out the side in the previous inning. “[He] felt something really weird when he threw that warm-up pitch. The only thing I can tell you is that the initial report is better than what I thought it was going to be. The ultimate fear is always, ‘is it his elbow?’ ”

Forbes is optimistic, but he won’t know his status until they see whether there is swelling on Saturday and there is further evaluation.

“That was tough because Matty’s one of our guys,” Forbes said, “but also you never want that for any one of your guys. But hopefully, he’ll be okay.”

Junior right-hander Cameron Padgett (top photo) gave up four hits and one run over the last four innings to give the Tar Heels (23–8, 7–7 ACC) a chance, but they went scoreless during that time, unable to get big hits with runners in scoring position.

“That was the story of the game,” Forbes said. “Obviously, they got it done in that area, and we did not. They threw some good arms. That’s an area we need to be better in. You have to believe that if we keep getting them on, we’re going to figure out how to get that big hit more often and get them in. Tonight was not that night, for sure.”

Carolina had double the number of strikeouts (12) as hits (6), but Forbes said that he didn’t think his hitters were pressing at the plate.

“I just think they made some good pitches,” Forbes said of the four Duke pitchers. “They had some power stuff. I don’t think there’s any apprehension. I feel good about our guys. I felt good about them in the box. I thought they had some really good at-bats.”

DeCaro gave up seven hits and five runs in a season-low three innings, going without a strikeout for the first time in 26 career starts. He’s given up at least three runs in four of the last five starts after doing that seven times all of last season.

“He just could not throw an off-speed pitch to neutralize the count,” Forbes said of DeCaro. “So, he had to go to his fastball, and he didn’t locate his fastball. When he has struggled, it’s been command of the off-speed the most. His fastball is still playing well. It’s got good velocity.”

Senior second baseman Jackson Van De Brake, who moved up three spots in the order to fifth, lined a two-out, two-run double in the first inning, the only hit in the inning. Kane Kepley struck out but reached on a passed ball, and Luke Stevenson walked to start the inning.

Duke quickly tied it in the second on three straight singles to start the inning, the last catcher Macon Winslow’s sharp RBI single to center field, with a groundout scoring the second run.

UNC third baseman Gavin Gallaher’s 357-foot drive just cleared the left-field fence for a leadoff homer, his first homer since March 14, in the bottom of the second to regain the lead.

All five Carolina runs came off Duke starter Andrew Healy, who gave up three hits, three walks and struck out four in four innings.

Three consecutive Blue Devils reached with two outs in the third inning. DeCaro was twice a strike away from getting out of the third inning, but Duke got RBI singles from right fielder Tyler Albright’s RBI and Winslow.

DeCaro’s game ended after a leadoff home run to right-center by DH Andrew Yu in the fourth inning gave Duke a 5–3 lead. After giving up a single, Matthijs struck out the side in his only inning.

Sophomore left-hander Folger Boaz came on in the fifth inning but got only two outs. He gave up an RBI double to left fielder Ben Rounds and three walks before giving way to sophomore right-hander Olin Johnson, who walked in a run on four pitches before getting out of the inning with Duke ahead 7–3.

Senior first baseman Hunter Stokely made Duke pay for three walks with a two-run, one-out single in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to two, but Duke third baseman Ben Miller led off the sixth with a leadoff homer to left field to end Johnson’s night.

After UNC left two men on base in the sixth and the seventh innings, Duke padded its lead in the eighth when third baseman Ben Miller’s leadoff homer off Padgett made it 9–5.

Duke right-hander Gabe Nard (winner, 5–1) gave up one hit over two shutout innings and junior left-hander James Tallon struck out four in two scoreless innings to finish the game.

NOTES — Carolina senior right-hander Aidan Haugh (3–2, 1.69) pitches in the sold-out Saturday finale. Duke hasn’t named a starter for the third game. … It was the most runs UNC has given up since a 12–9 home win on Feb. 18 in the fourth game of the season. … The game was delayed in the bottom of the ninth after baseballs were thrown onto right field from the top of Karen Shelton Stadium. … UNC leads the all-time series with Duke 201–108–2, including 112–48–1 in Chapel Hill.

Duke 9, No. 19 UNC 5

Date(s)	Day/ month	Times/ scores	Opponent (current rank)	Record/ TV *
	February
13–14	Fri., Sat.	W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11)	vs. Indiana	3–0
17	Tuesday	W, 10–0 (7)	vs. Richmond	4–0
18	Wednesday	W, 5–3	vs. Longwood	5–0
20–22	Fri.-Sun	W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3	vs. East Carolina	6–1–1
24	Tuesday	W, 9–1	vs. N.C. A&T	7–1–1
25	Wednesday	W, 13–3 (7)	vs. VCU	8–1–1
27–28	Fri., Sat.	W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7)	vs. Le Moyne	10–1–1
	March
1	Sunday	W, 21–1 (7)	vs. Le Moyne	11–1–1
3	Tuesday	W, 5–1	vs. Elon	12–1–1
6–7	Fri., Sat	L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12)	vs. Virginia	13–3–1, 1–2 ACC
10	Tuesday	W, 13–3 (7)	vs. Bucknell	14–3–1
13–15	Fri.-Sun.	W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2	at California	17–3–1, 4–2
18	Wednesday	W, 8–2	vs. UNCG	18–3–1
20–22	Fri.–Sun.	W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6	vs. Louisville	20–4–1, 6–3
24	Tuesday	W, 9–1	vs. South Carolina in Charlotte	21–4–1
28, 29	Sat., Sun	W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10	at Notre Dame	24–4–1, 9–3
31	Tuesday	W, 5–4 (14)	vs. Campbell	25–4–1
	April
2–4	Thur.-Sat.	L, 6–1; W, 5–2; W, 8–7	vs. Boston College	27–5–1, 11–4
7	Tuesday	W, 8–4	vs. Charlotte	28–5–1
10–12	Fri.–Sun.	L, 9–5; W, 6–4 (14); W, 12–5	at Clemson	30–6–1, 13–5
14	Tuesday	W, 14–5	vs. UNCW	31–6–1
17–19	Fri.-Sun.	W, 5–2; W, 14–4 (8); L, 5–2	vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech	33–7–1, 15–6
21	Tuesday	W, 9–2	vs. High Point	34–7–1
23–25	Thur.–Sat.	W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7)	at Duke	36–8–1, 17–7
28	Tuesday	L, 12–2	vs. Coastal Carolina	36–9–1
	May
3	Sunday	W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game)	vs. Duke	37–9–1
8–10	Fri.-Sun.	W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3	vs. Pittsburgh	40–9–1, 20–7
12	Tuesday	W, 13–7	at UNCW	41–9–1
14–16	Thur.-Sat.	W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2	at N.C. State	43–10–1, 22–8
		ACC tournament	Charlotte
22	Friday	W, 10–4	Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech	44–10–1
23	Saturday	W, 13–5	Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh	45–10–1
24	Sunday	L, 13–6	Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech	45–11–1
		NCAA tournament
		Chapel Hill Regional
29	Friday	W, 8–0	VCU	46–11–1
30–31	Sat.–Sun.	W, 7–5, W, 9–3	East Carolina	48–11–1
	June
		Chapel Hill Super Regionals
5–7	Fri.–Sun.	L, 9–5, W, 4–0, W, 4–3	Southern Cal	50–12–1
		College World Series	Omaha, Neb.
12	Friday	W, 6–2	No. 18 Ole Miss	51–12–1
14, 17	Sun., Wed.	W, 5–2, W, 12–7	No. 9 West Virginia	53–12–1
20–22	Sat.-Mon	8:07, 2:37, 7:07 (if needed)	CWS Finals vs. Oklahoma	ESPN, ABC, ESPN