By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — A couple of weeks after No. 16 North Carolina’s offensive doldrums left plenty of questions about the team’s ceiling, the Tar Heels have found their offense and look like a threat to make it to Omaha for a second consecutive season.
The pitching was there all along, as it was with right-hander Aidan Haugh’s solid work Saturday. But after the first back-to-back ACC run-rule wins in program history with a 17–1 win over Wake Forest on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium, this team’s ceiling is, well, the roof.
UNC coach Scott Forbes said that the offensive turnaround has been about buy-in from the entire team and being more concerned with winning than batting average.
“I’ve always believed that hitting is contagious,” Forbes said. “It feels like most of the year we’ve had like, one or two, not a lot of collective at-bats throughout the lineup. And we knew that we were capable of doing that. For me, it was having more aggressive swings in our counts. Under control, but aggressive swings.”
UNC (27–9, 10–7 ACC), with 10 wins in the last 12 games and four consecutive ACC series victories, goes for its first conference series sweep on Sunday. Wake Forest (24–11, 9–7) combined to score 27 runs in the last two games at Florida State last weekend but only has two in 14 innings this weekend.
Sophomore third baseman Gavin Gallaher (below) continues to be locked in, hitting his fourth homer this week after coming into the week with only four, going 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBI.
Carolina hit throughout the order, with the three-hole hitter, sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson and four-hole hitter, graduate right fielder Tyson Bass, combining to reach base in nine of 10 plate appearances.
The impressive run has come without freshman left fielder Sawyer Black, who was hitting .294 with two home runs when he broke the hamate bone in his right (throwing) hand in late March. He’s expected to be out for another two weeks.
But junior Carter French has taken advantage of his chance to fill in at that spot this weekend. Forbes praises French, who is 3 for 6 in two starts this weekend, for his excellent defensive play.
“It’s exciting to be able to get out there and have the opportunity to do it,” French said. “I just try to stay focused and make sure I’m having a good time and not much more than that, not make it bigger than what it is.”
French laments that he was once called the worst bunter on the team, but you wouldn’t know it with the two perfect sacrifice bunts he laid down in the series.
“That made me want to work hard on that and make sure I get it down,” said French, who clearly has lost the title of worst bunter.
Forbes said French was a walk-on who has kept working throughout his career, even though he was never going to get much playing time with last season’s three star outfielders.
“He’s just worked,” Forbes said of the player he calls Dr. French because of the plan to be a doctor. “And he’s a guy that you could say, like, hey, it has to be part of your game. You have to be to able to get a sacrifice bunt down. You should be able to bunt for a hit, or you’re just never gonna get in the lineup.”
Haugh (winner, 4–2) rebounded from giving up four runs last weekend against Duke with six impressive innings, allowing five hits and one run, walking two and striking out eight.
“What I struggled with last weekend was kind of commanding the fastball, especially early in counts,” Haugh (above) said.
His only mistake came with Deacs second baseman Dalton Wentz’s solo homer in the fourth inning. He also escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning.
He deftly mixed his fastball, changeup and curve to keep Wake Forest off-balance and dealt with many long stretches in the dugout because of so many big innings from UNC’s offense.
“You want to sit there for as long as you can because it means your offense is doing good things,” Haugh said. “It was a long time; you’ve got to move around a little bit. So at one point I did go to the bullpen just to toss.”
After giving up a single and a walk in the second, Haugh got two strikeouts, one on a 93 mph fastball and another on an 82-mph breaking ball.
UNC pounded Wake Forest right-handed starter Logan Lunceford (loser, 5–3), who gave up six hits, five runs and three walks in 1⅓ innings, only retiring three batters.
Senior second baseman Jackson Van De Brake hit his second home run of the season, a 354-foot solo to left field, with one out in the first inning. Lunceford walked the next two batters before Gallaher laced an RBI single to left field.
Lunceford exited after the first five Tar Heels reached in the second inning, and the only out he got was on the bases. RBI doubles from Stevenson and senior right fielder Tyler Bass highlighted the inning.
Luncefords relief, right-hander Luke Schmolke, didn’t fare much better, giving up three hits, three runs, and a walk in 1⅓ innings. Gallaher powered a 412-foot shot into the parking lot beyond the left-field wall to lead off the third inning, when 11 Tar Heels batted and three scored.
UNC added four more runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Gallaher’s RBI single.
Wake Forest loaded the bases on reliever Folger Boaz in the seventh inning, but he struck out Antonio Morales to end the game.
NOTES — In the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday (ACC Network Extra), UNC sophomore right-hander Jason DeCaro (4–3, 4.69 ERA) opposes sophomore right-hander Blake Morningstar (4–0, 2.45 ERA). … Haugh pitched Saturday instead of Sunday to keep him on his pitching routine and give DeCaro more time between starts as the staff works on his mechanics. … It was the biggest victory margin in consecutive ACC games since March 2008 when UNC won at Maryland 14–1 and 19–1. … This is the first time UNC has scored at least 14 runs in three consecutive games since doing so in an April 2022 stretch with one game against Louisville and two against Georgia Tech. … It was UNC’s first back-to-back run-rule victories since last season against Miami and UNCW. … Carolina has won nine consecutive home series against Wake Forest dating back to 2001. … Junior center fielder Kane Kepley, who extended his on-base streak to 35 games, was hit by a pitch twice marking the 19th time he’s been hit by a pitch this season. The rest of the team has combined to get hit 21 times. … When UNC went down in order in the sixth inning, that ended a streak of seven consecutive innings with at least one run. … UNC leads the all-time series 172–127–3, including 100–57–1 in Chapel Hill, and 37–13 since 2003. … Forbes is 7–2 against Wake Forest and Deacons coach Tom Walter is 9–23 against UNC. … Saturday was kids takeover day, with dozens of kids taking turns each half-inning helping to run the scoreboard and announce batters.
No. 16 UNC 17, Wake Forest 1 (7)
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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