By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — After hitting only seven home runs in the first nine games, No. 8 North Carolina showed off its power Wednesday night.
Led by four hits and two home runs from Stony Brook transfer Erik Paulsen, the Tar Heels blasted three long balls in a 13–3 seven-inning victory over VCU at Boshamer Stadium, their fourth run-rule win of the season.
The Tar Heels (8–1–1) also got an impressive relief outing from freshman left-hander Jackson Rose, who earned his first collegiate win with three one-hit, scoreless innings and touched 93 mph with his fastball.
Coach Scott Forbes liked how his team responded a day after he challenged it to meet program standards after suggesting that it didn’t meet them in a 9–1 win a day earlier over N.C. A&T.
“It’s not the expectations, it’s the outside expectations, it’s the standards of our program, and that is: Should be ready to play every pitch, every day,” Forbes said. “It’s a great group. They work. They’re coachable. That’s where coaching comes in.”
The Tar Heels looked ready from the outset. Paulsen (4-for-4 with 3 RBI) smacked the first pitch he saw in the first inning 384 feet, high off the netting beyond right field. He blasted an 0–2 pitch 385-foot two-run drive to right-center in the fourth inning. DH Colin Hynek added a 371-foot homer to left field in the fourth.
“I thought the first inning was key,” Forbes said. “Two quick outs, their guy had a good fastball, and then Paulie jumps them.”
Catcher Macon Winslow doubled to left-center after Paulsen’s homer and later scored on Owen Hull’s infield single to make it 2–0. UNC added four more in the fourth, highlighted by the homers from Paulsen and Hynek.
Paulsen already has four home runs in 10 games after hitting 13 in 99 career games at Stony Brook. He credits mechanical adjustments and a simplified approach.
“Really, it comes down to timing,” said Paulsen, crediting work with assistant coaches Scott Jackson, Jesse Wierzbicki and Forbes. “We’re back in the cages and talking about timing, approach, and it’s really helped. And I’m so grateful for them.”
The biggest tweak?
“I think the biggest thing is just starting earlier,” he said of swinging early in at-bats. “You start earlier, you see the ball better. So, that’s really what I’ve been trying to do back on [the] Trajekt [hitting machine] and live at-bats in the preseason.”
Paulsen said he did not enter the season expecting a sudden power surge, and just wanted to get his best swings.
“We tapped into some power that I haven’t shown in previous years,” he said. “Who knows what happens this year? But I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.”
His homers came off fastballs and his other two hits were off curveballs. Even when sitting on a heater, he trusted his preparation.
“Working on Trajekt, you think less and more will happen,” Paulsen said. “If you overthink it, you’ll be caught in between pitches. So, if you think less and just react, just trust yourself and your preparation [you’ll have] a lot of success.”
Forbes said Paulsen’s power is sustainable.
“He’s bought into what Coach [Wierzbicki] has worked with him about. He’s got the ability to hit home runs. He’s always been such a high average guy,” Forbes said of Paulsen, who hit .358 last season. “We believe he can do both. He knows the strike zone, and now he’s starting to tap into that power, and he’s got power to all fields.”
The Tar Heels were aggressive throughout, striking early and often against a VCU staff that issued eight walks. Sawyer Black drew a bases-loaded walk in the third inning, and Carter French lined a two-run single up the middle. In the VCU fourth, Quinn Maher’s two-out, two-run single briefly cut into the lead before UNC answered again.
UNC starter Boston Flannery (2⅓ innings, 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 4 walks, 1 strikeout) picked off baserunners at first base in each of the first two innings, but exited after putting two on with one out in the third inning.
Walker McDuffie (1⅔ innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts) walked the bases loaded before giving up an RBI groundout to Nick Flores, then getting out of the inning.
Rose drew a rare mid-inning mound visit from Forbes that didn’t include a hook.
“I was a little worried, but he just came out there, told me to settle down, and he’s not taking me out,” Rose said. “He told me, you’re gonna get the next guy out and then strike out the next two.”
It didn’t work out exactly like that, but he escaped the jam in the fifth inning and walked off the mound showing plenty of emotion.
“It felt like a big moment for me, because in the preseason I struggled going back out there [with] runners on a little bit,” Rose said. “It seemed like a big pitch for me, and I was just really excited.”
Rose admits to being nervous in earlier outings, but that’s given way to confidence.
“The more I pitch, I feel like, the more comfortable I get out there,” he said. “Especially with Coach Forbes giving me the confidence. Just felt good to be comfortable.”
He felt especially good when he saw the speed of his pitches.
“Today was the hardest I’ve ever thrown,” Rose said of throwing a 93-mph fastball.
His teammates made sure he knew it.
“Actually, the first pitch was 92,” he said. “I was like, OK, I guess I’m feeling pretty good today. I might have glanced once and saw 93, but my teammates made sure to tell me when I got back in the dugout after the first inning.”
Rose retired nine of the 11 batters he faced, including a crisp eight-pitch fifth inning in which seven pitches were strikes. Forbes sees significant upside in the ultra-athletic freshman.
“He’s a type of talent and eventually can be a weekend starter,” Forbes said. “If the velocity is going up, and now it’s not just to change-up. His sliders improved, and that’s going to help us.”
Shortstop Jake Schaffner ended the game in the seventh with a run-scoring double. An error on the play brought home another run to trigger the 10-run rule.
Forbes is not overly concerned with how the wins come, only that they do.
“I don’t care if it’s a run rule, it’s a walk off, whatever it is, as long as we win,” he said. “Anytime you 10-run rule a good team, it’s hard to do. So credit to our guys.”
With the power beginning to surface and young arms settling in, North Carolina appears to be finding its stride.
“I think the power potential of this team is good,” Forbes said. “I think it can be distributed throughout the lineup. I think it can come off the bench.”
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Notes
— UNC continues its 11-game homestand with the first of a three-game series at 4 p.m. Friday against first-year Division I program Le Moyne (0–6). LeMoyne got swept in a three-game series at Tarleton State and at James Madison, giving up double-digit runs in five of those games.
— Carolina won its seventh game in a row against VCU and leads the all-time series 28–7.
— The Rams fell to 4–4, with three of those losses to top-10 teams. In addition to falling to UNC, they lost twice last weekend at No. 9 Coastal Carolina.
No. 8 UNC 13, VCU 3 (7)
| 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. No. 10 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. No. 24 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 | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point | |
| 23–25 | Thu.-Sat. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke | Thurs. ACCN |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 7 Coastal Carolina | ACCN |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens | |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | ACCN |
| 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 N.C. State | Thurs. ACCN |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Charlotte | ACCN (final ESPN2) |
| 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. |
- Games not on TV stream on ACC Network Extra unless otherwise note.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
