By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Tyson Bass came to UNC with a reputation as a dangerous power hitter, and showed that off during the fall season.
That’s been slow to come this spring, but after hitting only four home runs in his first 40 games, the graduate right fielder has three homers in the last four.
His blast gave No. 4 Carolina an early lead, and the Tar Heels knocked off Atlantic 10 co-leader George Mason 13–4 Tuesday at Boshamer Stadium for their 12th double-digit-run game of the season.
While playing terrific defense, Bass has had to adjust to this level after hitting a program-record 48 home runs in his four seasons at North Carolina Wesleyan. But he’s found his power stroke of late.
“Just being a little shorter, a little quieter, trying to hit the ball 400 feet instead of 700,” Bass said with a smile. “Just slowing down. You don’t realize it until you actually realize that the ball moves faster when you’re moving faster. So maybe you shouldn’t move so fast, and the ball won’t be so fast.”
Bass powered a second-inning pitch high off the netting to the left of the scoreboard in left field. It would have gone more than 400 feet but substantially fewer than 700 feet.
“His timing was really good today, and that was a big spark to him. He crushed that ball,” said UNC coach Scott Forbes, who said the expectations from some for Bass may have been too high after his impressive fall season and good preseason.
“What makes Tyson so good is the last game doesn’t affect him. The last at-bat doesn’t affect. He helped us win that game on Sunday, and he had a bad day offensively. He had an unbelievable day defensively,” said Forbes of Bass, who struck out four times Sunday.
Tyson said that the pitching he’s seen this season has been different from what he saw at the Division II level.
“Stuff is better,” Tyson said. “Everybody throws harder. You get less pitches that you can actually hit. So being selective, being on time, things like that [are important].”
Bass, who went 2 for 4 and reached base three times, aggressively went from first base to third base after walking and later scored in UNC’s eight-run seventh inning.
“I got to second, and I was checking up, and then I saw the center fielder just kind of being lazy,” Bass said. “And I was like, ‘You’re gonna be lazy, I’m just gonna go to third.’ I should have scored, but Coach Forbes told me to stop.
The Tar Heels (34–10) churned out 15 hits and continued to pour on the offense, taking advantage of a season-high five errors by George Mason (29–16) with continued pressure on the base paths.
“Being able to capitalize is huge,” Bass said. “There are only a select amount of pitches in a game that determine the outcome; it’s been going in our favor. Hopefully, it keeps going that way.”
Freshman right-hander Walker McDuffie, in his first start, was outstanding again, throwing a season-high 5⅓ innings, giving up two hits and one run after never previously going more than 3⅔ innings. McDuffie, UNC’s fifth starter in the last five mid-week games, struck out three.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Forbes said. “I think he saw a glimpse of what he’s capable of doing. And he reminds me a lot of Trent Thornton in his freshman year.”
McDuffie and right-hander Ryan Lynch (winner, 4–0) are the first freshman duo to each have multiple saves since 1997. Lynch had a rare tough outing in relief. In 1⅔ innings, he gave up four hits and a season-high three earned runs while striking out two.
After the Bass homer in the second inning, junior DH Rom Kellis drove an RBI double to the wall in left-center field and scored from third on a wild pitch to give UNC a 3–0 lead.
McDuffie came out after giving up a walk and a fielder’s choice to start the sixth inning. Graduate left-hander Tom Chmielewski entered the game but came out after giving up consecutive singles, one that plated a run, on four pitches. Lynch came on to get out of the inning without further damage.
UNC quickly got that run back when DH Rom Kellis reached on an error and scored on Kane Kepley’s double to left field.
The Patriots tied it with three consecutive two-out RBI singles off Lynch after he had given up a leadoff double and hit a batter in the seventh inning, but UNC scored eight in the bottom of that inning. The Tar Heels got a pinch-hit RBI double from Sam Angelo, and RBI singles from Carter French, Jackson Van De Brake and Hunter Stokely.
Van De Brake walked and scored on a wild pitch to add a run in the eighth inning.
Reliever Olin Johnson gave up three hits and struck out one working the final two innings.
NOTES — UNC hosts Queens (6–36) at 6 p.m. Wednesday (ACC Network Extra) before getting six days off for final exams, with sophomore left-hander Folger Boaz (3–0) starting for the Tar Heels. The Royals lost 25–0 with only four hits in a 7-inning run-rule game at Winthrop on Tuesday night. … Carolina is 19–1 in nonconference play, with the only loss coming 5–1 to UConn on March 19. … Carolina has won all 10 meetings with George Mason after the first meeting since 2014.
No. 4 UNC 13, George Mason 4
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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