By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina’s offense has piled up runs at an impressive rate of late, particularly in Tuesday non-conference games.
The No. 12 Tar Heels scored in double digits for the fourth time in five games and for the fourth consecutive Tuesday, rolling to an 14–4 eight-inning win over Charlotte on a cool Bark at the Bosh night.
UNC’s third run-rule win in three games was its sixth win in a row and fifth straight against the 49ers.
“What I’m liking now is we’re getting distribution throughout the lineup,” said UNC coach Scott Forbes, who got hits from eight players. “If one guy’s not good, the next guy is. We’re not having many consecutive bad at-bats, which is making it harder to get through our order.”
The 14 runs continued the Tar Heels’ routine of Tuesday offensive explosions, which started with 13 runs on March 25 in Charlotte against South Carolina and continued with 11 runs on April 1 against Gardner-Webb and 12 on April 8 at Elon.
Forbes said that the common thread through this stretch of impressive offensive performances is his hitters’ control of the strike zone, not chasing batting average, having good at-bats and keeping pressure on opponents with aggressive baserunning.
“We are driving the ball when we get the opportunity, but we’re also working balls, we’re working hit by pitches,” he said. “We’re moving the ball with two strikes, making the opponent make plays, and we’re running the bases at a high clip.”
Shortstop Alex Madera and second baseman Jackson Van De Brake led UNC’s 13-hit attack with three hits each.
Madera said that UNC (29–8) is playing better because their approach at the plate has changed from when the Tar Heels struggled to get consistent offense early in the ACC seasons.
“We were pressing a little bit,” Madera said. “We just kept working, and I feel like everybody’s just trying to have quality at-bats and not chase out of the zone. So I think that’s kind of been the biggest thing, is just making sure we’re having good at-bats throughout the whole lineup.”
Four of the nine pitchers Charlotte (21–15) used gave up multiple runs, and UNC failed to score against only two.
Charlotte left fielder Carson Bayne hit a two-run home run off the left light pole in left field with one out, and third baseman Dawson Bryce lofted a solo shot with two outs in the first inning to put UNC in a 3–0 hole after not trailing for the entire Wake Forest series sweep.
“Right out of the gate, they jumped on us,” Forbes said. “We responded right away, which was great to see.”
DH Luke Stevenson’s two-run homer that went 375 feet over the right field fence started a four-run first inning for UNC, with Madera’s RBI single and an error scoring the other two runs. Carolina added three more in the second inning on third baseman Gavin Gallaher’s three-run double to center field, followed by two in the third inning on right fielder Tyson Bass’ RBI single and a bases-loaded walk.
After UNC starter Camron Seagraves, a freshman right-hander, gave up two hits, three runs, and two walks in 1⅓ innings, another freshman right-hander, Ryan Lynch (winner, 3–0), threw three two-hit shutout innings with a walk and five strikeouts.
“I thought Cam had good stuff,” Forbes said. “He made some mistakes, but that’s his first start, so obviously he had those extra nerves. He’s a very valuable part of our bullpen. Lynch came in and stabilized things.”
UNC senior Liberty transfer Cale Bolton struck out DH Thad Echor on a slider in the fifth inning to leave the bases loaded and keep the 10-run rule threshold within reach.
Sophomore Carolina left-hander Folger Boaz threw 2⅔ three-hit shutout innings with four strikeouts to finish the game.
“Boaz looked as good as he looked all year,” Forbes said.
UNC then clinched the run-rule win in the bottom of the eighth on RBI singles by Kane Kepley and Van De Brake.
NOTES — Carolina opens a three-game series at Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. Friday (ACC Network Extra). The Hokies (24–13, 9–9 ACC) won 11–4 Tuesday night at East Tennessee State after No. 7 Florida State swept them in a series at Blacksburg last weekend. … Gallaher is the ACC Player of the Week after hitting four home runs last week. … UNC leads the all-time series with Charlotte 38–8–1, including 23–4–1 at home.
No. 12 UNC 14, Charlotte 4, 8 innings
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 | Times | Opponent (current rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | |||
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sat. | 4, noon, 1 | vs. Indiana |
| 17 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Richmond |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Longwood |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 4 (Greenville), 2 (DBAP), 2 (CH) | vs. East Carolina |
| 24 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. N.C. A&T |
| 25 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. VCU |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | 4 p.m., 2 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| March | |||
| 1 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| 3 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Elon |
| 6–8 | Fri.-Sun. | 4, 2, 1 | vs. Virginia |
| 10 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Bucknell |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | 9, 5, 4 | at California |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. UNCG |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 8, 2, 1 | vs. No. 8 Louisville |
| 24 | Tuesday | 6:30 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte |
| 27–29 | Fri.-Sun. | 6:30, 3, 1 | at Notre Dame |
| 31 | Tuesday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Fri.-Sun. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (non-conference game) | vs. Duke |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Charlotte |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites |
| June | |||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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