By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina’s pitching staff is so deep that there are young arms in the bullpen that could easily be in weekend starting rotations for other teams.
For the second time in three games, a freshman pitcher came out of the pen with an impressive outing and a season-high pitch count.
Friday, it was right-hander Caden Glauber, who threw 94 pitches and 5⅓ innings of two-hit relief as No. 6 UNC evened the series against No. 22 Boston College with a 5–2 victory at Boshamer Stadium.
“Globe was outstanding, got us to the ninth, made some great pitches, and that was the story of the game,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “We were having trouble getting that big hit today to put them away.”
Just as with left-hander Jackson Rose, who threw six two-hit shutout relief innings in Tuesday’s marathon 5–4 14-inning win against Campbell, Forbes visited the mound but kept the young pitcher in the game.
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It took a unanimous vote of the infielders surrounding the mound to seal the deal.
“[Forbes] came out, and we kind of did a little vote as a team to see who wanted me to stay in the game or go to the bullpen,” Glauber said. “These guys are in it for me every single pitch, and it’s just awesome to see they had so much confidence in me.”
Forbes had a sense of it before he even left the dugout.
“It was clear that he had the support of the infield,” Forbes said. “I did think I was going to leave him in. But if I got out there, and I have some key questions, if he didn’t answer the key questions like I thought it should be answered, I would probably have made a change. It was clear that he felt good enough that he wanted to go back out.”
Glauber (3–0) walked a season-high four batters but struck out five, his third game this season fanning at least that many batters. He leaned on his slider when he needed it most, mixed with his fastball and changeup.
“Fastball was getting away from me a little bit,” Glauber said. “The slider always is my put-away pitch.”
Glauber, who said he threw more than 97 pitches only a couple of times in high school, couldn’t convince pitching coach Bryant Gaines to let him go out for the ninth inning.
Instead, sophomore right-hander Walker McDuffie, who pitched two innings Thursday, finished off BC in the ninth inning for his first save of the season, striking out Colin Larson looking to end the game.
Forbes liked what he saw at the back end.
“His stuff was really, really good,” Forbes said of McDuffie. “He threw a 90-mile-an-hour changeup, so we need to not let it be 90 mile an hour and loosen that grip a little bit. But he was outstanding.”
Gavin Gallaher quickly gave UNC (26–5–1, 9–4 ACC) the lead with a 373-foot shot to left field with one out in the first inning for his seventh home run of the season. UNC made it 3–0 in the second inning on Jake Schaffner’s two-run, two-out triple down the right-field line after Tyler Howe had doubled and Cooper Nicholson walked.
Forbes pointed to Schaffner’s earlier swing as a turning point.
“That was a huge hit, took a little bit of pressure off,” Forbes said. “You just keep getting runners in scoring position, and eventually somebody is going to come through with a big knock.”
Schaffner’s swing, and the reaction that followed, felt like a release after Thursday’s missed chances. He was robbed of two hits by diving catches from BC left fielder Colin Larson on Thursday and still had three hits. Friday, he went 2-for-4 with two RBI, a double, and his ACC-leading fifth triple.
“I think baseball is a tough game where you can put a great swing on the ball and it might not fall,” Schaffner said after hard-hit UNC balls repeatedly went for outs in the series opener. “Some balls fall, some don’t, that’s really the game of baseball.”
Jason DeCaro, whose start was delayed a day after he was sick earlier in the week, cruised through the first 2⅔ innings before it came apart for him in his shortest outing in nearly two years.
“I thought Jason was outstanding early. I don’t know if the sickness got to him a little bit, or he lost his legs,” Forbes said.
After three walks and a wild pitch plated a BC run in the third inning, Glauber came on to strike out Nick Wang swinging and leave two runners stranded.
UNC added a run in the fifth inning when Schaffner led off with a double down the right-field line and scored on Macon Winslow’s sacrifice fly.
Schaffner said the lineup carried a different edge the night after the loss.
“We all came today with a chip on our shoulder, and it was great to see everyone compete their butts off today,” he said.
BC (22–10, 9–5) broke up the no-hit bid with one out in the seventh inning when Gunnar Johnson’s single to left off Glauber scored Carter Hendrickson, who led off with a single. Glauber struck out Julio Solier to leave two runners stranded.
Even deep into his outing, the freshman’s approach never wavered.
“You’ve got to stay the same,” Glauber said. “You’ve got to remind yourself that, no matter what, you’re better than this guy, and if you just compete the same way every single pitch, then good things are going to happen.”
That mindset, and the depth behind it, is what continues to show up for UNC in these spots.
“Jackson Rose stepping up and doing what he did allowed us to not use Globe,” Forbes said of the Campbell game. “We definitely have some depth, but we have to keep improving that depth.”
Notes
— In Saturday’s noon finale, Carolina junior left-hander Folger Boaz (2–0, 6.28 ERA) pitches against Eagles sophomore left-hander Brady Miller (0–0, 0.82 ERA). Both games will stream on ACC Network Extra.
— DeCaro’s shortest career outing was April 18, 2024, in his freshman season, a 9–8 loss at N.C. State in which he gave up six hits, five runs and four walks with four strikeouts in 2⅓ innings.
— UNC moved to 2–3 against ranked teams.
— UNC leads the all-time series with BC 35–8, including 18–4 in Chapel Hill.
— Seth Trimble was at the game.
No. 6 UNC 5, No. 22 BC 2
| 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. 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. 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 | W, 9–2 | vs. High Point | 34–7–1 |
| 23–25 | Thur.–Sat. | W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7) | at Duke | 36–8–1, 17–7 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 12–2 | vs. Coastal Carolina | 36–9–1 |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | 37–9–1 |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3 | vs. Pittsburgh | 40–9–1, 20–7 |
| 12 | Tuesday | W, 13–7 | at UNCW | 41–9–1 |
| 14–16 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2 | at N.C. State | 43–10–1, 22–8 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | W, 10–4 | Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech | 44–10–1 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 13–5 | Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh | 45–10–1 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 13–6 | Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech | 45–11–1 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 8–0 | VCU | 46–11–1 |
| 30 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | East Carolina | ESPN2 |
| 31 | Sunday | noon or 5 p.m. | TBD | TBD |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Monday | TBD | (if needed) | TBD |
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | Super Regionals | in Chapel Hill (if UNC advances) | TBA |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. | TBA |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
