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 (6–35) 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 played 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. 13 N.C. State | 15–6 | — | 30–12 |
| No. 5 Florida State | 12–6 | 1½ | 31–9 |
| No. 4 North Carolina | 15–9 | 1½ | 34–10 |
| Georgia Tech | 15–9 | 1½ | 30–14 |
| No. 3 Clemson | 13–8 | 2 | 36–10 |
| Duke | 14–10 | 2½ | 30–15 |
| No. 17 Louisville | 12–9 | 3 | 31–13 |
| Miami | 12–9 | 3 | 27–18 |
| Virginia | 11–10 | 4 | 24–16 |
| Wake Forest | 12–12 | 4½ | 29–16 |
| Virginia Tech | 11–13 | 5½ | 27–17 |
| Notre Dame | 10–14 | 6½ | 24–17 |
| Boston College | 9–15 | 7½ | 21–23 |
| Stanford | 7–17 | 9½ | 22–19 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–15 | 9 | 20–21 |
| California | 6–18 | 10½ | 18–25 |
Thursday through Saturday series results
No. 3 Clemson at No. 13 N.C. State: State swept 14–4 (8), 8–3; 4–1
Friday through Sunday series results
No. 4 North Carolina at Pittsburgh: Friday: UNC 15–5; Saturday: Pitt 4–2; Sunday: UNC 6–0
Miami at Boston College: Friday: Miami swept 2–1, 13–4 and 3–2
Virginia at Georgia Tech; Friday: Virginia 12–9; Saturday: Virginia 6–5; Sunday: GT 7–6, 10 innings
No. 5 Florida State at No. 17 Louisville: Friday: FSU 10–2; Saturday: UL 9–4; Sunday: UL 14–2
Virginia Tech at Duke; Friday: Duke 6–3, 11 innings: Saturday: VT 9–8, 11 innings 3; Sunday: Duke 14–0
California at Notre Dame; Friday: ND swept 8–1, 10–0, 6–5
Wake Forest at Stanford: Friday: Stanford 7–6: Saturday: WF 12–9; Sunday: WF 10–0
Monday’s result
Stanford 2, Sacramento State 1
Tuesday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 13, George Mason 4
Louisville 11, Eastern Kentucky 5
Boston College 13, Massachusetts 6
Liberty at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Akron, 6 p.m.
Appalachian State at Wake Forest, 6 p.m.
VCU at Virginia, 6 p.m., ACCN
Notre Dame at Purdue, 6 p.m.
UNCW at No. 13 N.C. State, 6 p.m.
San Francisco at California, 9 p.m.
Wednesday’s games
Navy at Virginia, 1 p.m.
Maine at Boston College, 5 p.m.
Queen’s at No. 4 North Carolina, 6 p.m.
California at San Jose State, 9:05 p.m., Mountain West Network
Thursday through Saturday series
No. 19 Louisville at Notre Dame, 7 (ACCN), 6:30, 2
Friday through Sunday series
Stanford at Boston College, 6, 2, 1
Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh, 6, 3, 1
Western Carolina at Georgia Tech, 6, 4, 1
No. 13 N.C. State at Miami, 7, 6, 1
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Time/ score | Opponent (current rank) | TV */ 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. 19 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 No. 17 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 | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens | |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Campbell | |
| 8–9, 11 | Thurs.-Friday, Sunday | 6, 6, 1 | vs. No. 13 N.C. State | ACCN (Sunday) |
| 13 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW | |
| 15–17 | Thu.–Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | at No. 5 Florida State | ACCN (Thurs., Fri.) |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 20–25 | Tue.–Sun. | Single-elimination event | Durham Bulls Athletic Park | |
| 30–31 | Fri.–Sat. | NCAA regionals | Campus sites | |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | NCAA regionals | Campus sites | |
| 6–8 | Fri.–Sun. | Super Regionals | Campus sites | |
| 18–30 | Wed.–Mon. | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
* Unless otherwise indicated, games only stream on ACC Network Extra.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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