By R.L. Bynum
DURHAM — Carolina got another outstanding pitching performance, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a big early mistake and consistently failing to get a big hit.
Duke snapped its six-game losing streak by turning three double plays and forcing the Tar Heels to strand 11 runners on base in a 3–1 victory Friday at Jack Coombs Field to even the series.
“I thought they played better than us in every facet of the game,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “So, they won the game.”
UNC (35–8–1, 16–7 ACC) will go for its sixth consecutive ACC series win on Saturday against the Blue Devils (23–22, 9–13). Because of the forecast for rain, game time has been moved one hour earlier to 2 p.m.
Jake Schaffner’s one-out double brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. But Duke reliever Ben Dean struck out Gavin Gallaher and Owen Hull looking for two of his four strikeouts to end the game for his first save of the season.
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UNC starter Ryan Lynch (3–4; 7 innings, 3 runs, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts) fell behind 3–0 in the first inning when he would have escaped unscathed without right fielder Carter French’s two-out error.
After battling out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, he got into a groove, retiring 13 of the last 16 batters with seven strikeouts. Forbes said Lynch’s response after the early damage was the night’s clearest bright spot.
“I thought Ryan Lynch, after giving up those three, was outstanding,” Forbes said. “I told him, stop focusing on the fact that you gave up three runs. You can’t do anything about the past, and he did it. He settled in.”
It wasn’t the first hard-luck loss for Lynch. The last time UNC went scoreless through seven innings was in Lynch’s 2–0 loss to Louisville on March 21.
“I don’t know why it was him,” Forbes said, musing about why UNC’s usually potent offense has failed Lynch twice. “Maybe he needs to eat something different on game day. I have no idea, change his routine.”
After a pair of two-out Duke singles in the first inning, French let the ball go off his glove on Michael DiMartini’s drive to the wall. Both baserunners scored, and DiMartini came home on second baseman Gallaher’s throwing error to give Duke an early 3–0 lead.
Forbes defended French while acknowledging the swing the error created.
“Carter French has made a million great plays for us,” Forbes said. “He just dropped the ball, and thankfully, he dropped it in a regular-season game, and he’ll catch that ball in a postseason game. That kid’s a heck of a defender, but everybody makes mistakes.”
Duke starter Peter Lemke (2–4; 7⅔ innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 1 strikeout) was efficient and came out after throwing a season-high 101 pitches. He consistently escaped trouble after allowing the leadoff runner to reach base in four of the first six innings.
“I thought he won the big pitcher counts, I call them, especially the 1-1 counts, especially 3-2 counts,” Forbes said. “He made some great pitches and just beat us.”
UNC left two on base in the first inning, then hit into double plays in the second, fourth and sixth innings, and left a runner at third base twice. Jadyn Nunez, starting instead of Colin Hynek at DH, hit into two of those double plays.
Forbes said the ground balls with traffic were costly, but he pointed just as much to the lack of sustained quality at-bats.
“Obviously, when you ground into two double plays, that hurts the momentum,” Forbes said. “The matchup was good, Jadyn has been good. He just hit two hard ground balls. Early on, I thought we stung some balls, and we hit them right to ’em.”
Two late Carolina drives were caught at the outfield wall: A seventh-inning French drive that right fielder R.J. Hamilton snagged and an eighth-inning Owen Hull shot that center fielder Michael DiMartini caught.
“I felt like there was a gap in between our quality at-bats, really, until that eighth and ninth inning,” Forbes said. “We gave some at-bats away, and didn’t have many back-to-back-to-back good at-bats.”
UNC finally broke through after Lemke gave up a pair of two-out walks in the eighth inning and gave way to Dean.
Dean, who allowed one hit and no walks in 1⅓ innings, hit the first two batters to force in a run before striking out Hynek swinging to leave the bases loaded.
Forbes credited Duke’s two pitchers for winning the pivotal counts.
“I feel like they made some really good pitches,” Forbes said. “On the reverse side of that, I thought our at-bats, top to bottom, were pretty bad, so we’ll work on that and try to get better at it.
Tar Heels reliever Matthew Matthijs retired Duke in order with one strikeout in the eighth inning. Forbes said Matthijs’ recent pitch mix gives Carolina another option in leverage spots.
“I thought Matthijs was outstanding as well,” Forbes said. “He’s throwing the split now, so he’s got an added pitch, which is a great force.”
Carolina’s frustration was that Lynch gave the Tar Heels a path to win, even after the first inning put the Heels in a hole. Forbes said the performance on the mound made the missed chances at the plate feel even more frustrating.
“You pitch the game like that, you should win the game,” Forbes said. “At the end of the day, as Coach Roy Williams said, your dudes got to be your dudes, and that wasn’t the case tonight.”
Carolina will try to respond quickly on Saturday in the series finale.
“We’ve got to shore it up,” Forbes said. “Quick turnaround, try to get the series tomorrow.”
Immediately after Friday’s game, Forbes hadn’t named a starter for the series finale, saying it could be freshman right-hander Caden Glauber, freshman left-hander Jackson Rose or junior left-hander Folger Boaz.
Boaz has been the Game 3 starter all season in league play and was warming up in the bullpen at one point Friday.
Notes
— Duke right-handed graduate student Andy Leon (2–2, 5.15 ERA) will start for the Blue Devils on Saturday.
— Jason DeCaro, Glauber and Walker McDuffie were three of 43 named semifinalists for the National Pitcher of the Year, awarded by the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
— Erik Paulsen was back starting at first base after missing Thursday’s opener with a virus.
— Catchers Macon Winslow and Hynek have allowed just 14 steals on 25 attempts. Hamilton, the ACC’s leading base-stealer, got caught for the second consecutive game after previously only being thrown out twice this season.
— On May 3, UNC and Duke will play a non-conference game at Boshamer Stadium.
— UNC leads the all-time series 203–109–2, including 80–52–1 in Durham.
Duke 3, No. 2 UNC 1
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Georgia Tech | 25–5 | — | 45–9 |
| No. 2 North Carolina | 22–8 | 3 | 43–10–1 |
| No. 11 Florida State | 19–11 | 6 | 38–15 |
| No. 23 Boston College | 17–13 | 8 | 36–20 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 9 | 38–18 |
| Miami | 16–14 | 9 | 36–17 |
| Virginia Tech | 15–15 | 10 | 29–23 |
| Virginia | 14–16 | 11 | 35–20 |
| N.C. State | 14–16 | 11 | 32–21 |
| Stanford | 13–17 | 12 | 27–25 |
| Notre Dame | 13–17 | 12 | 30–21 |
| Louisville | 13–17 | 12 | 30–26 |
| California | 12–18 | 13 | 29–25 |
| Pittsburgh | 11–19 | 14 | 30–23 |
| Clemson | 10–20 | 15 | 31–25 |
| Duke | 10–20 | 15 | 24–29 |
Thursday-Saturday series
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh — Pitt, 6–3; ND, 6–4; ND, 21–10 (7)
Virginia at Louisville — Va., 8–3; UL, 12–2; UL, 10–5
Miami at No. 11 Florida State — FSU, 7–6 (11); FSU, 11–1; Miami, 7–4
Wake Forest at Duke — WF, 7–2; WF, 7–2; Duke, 7–3
Clemson at Virginia Tech — VT, 5–1; VT, 2–1; Clemson, 10–7
No. 3 Georgia Tech at No. 23 Boston College — GT swept 9–0, 14–1, 15–2 (7)
No. 2 North Carolina at N.C. State — UNC, 9–4; UNC, 17–7 (8); State, 7–2
Stanford at California — Stanford, 7–6; Cal, 4–3; Cal, 2–1
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Tuesday through May 24
Truist Field in Charlotte
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 30–31 | Sat.–Sun. | W, 7–5; W, 9–3 | East Carolina | 48–11–1 |
| June | ||||
| Chapel Hill Super Regionals | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 4–0; W, 4–3 | Southern Cal | 50–12–1 |
| College World Series | Omaha, Neb. | |||
| 12 | Friday | W, 6–2 | No. 18 Ole Miss | 51–12–1 |
| 14, 17 | Sun., Wed. | W, 5–2; W, 12–7 | No. 9 West Virginia | 53–12–1 |
| 20–22 | Sat.-Mon. | L, 9–3; W, 6–2; L, 13–2 | CWS Finals vs. Oklahoma | 54–14–1 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
