By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Cooper Nicholson’s glove and bat in the sixth inning steadied the game for No. 2 Carolina when the game could have swung Pittsburgh’s way.
A terrific defensive play and a two-run home run by the junior third baseman in the sixth inning accelerated the Tar Heels’ 12–2 eight-inning victory Saturday at Boshamer Stadium, their 11th run-rule win of the season, to secure their sixth consecutive ACC series victory.
Carolina (39–9–1, 19–7 ACC) hasn’t lost a league series since losing its first ACC series of the season against Virginia, and clinched a spot in the ACC tournament quarterfinals. Pitt (28–20, 10–16), which has lost six consecutive games, used 10 pitchers two weeks after Duke needed nine in UNC’s 22–5 7-inning run-rule win.
Nicholson, who was 2-for-4 with three RBI, made a nice diving play to his right to snag a Trey Fenderson liner to lead off the sixth inning.
“When I made that play, I was just trying to stay consistent throughout the time, not trying to get too high on that and just go up to bat, try to do my job,” Nicholson said.
The play became bigger when Carter Dierdorf followed with a home run to right-center field on a 369-foot shot.
UNC coach Scott Forbes pointed to growth on the infield as the season progressed, crediting the behind-the-scenes work as much as the highlight moments.
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“I’ve been so impressed with how much better our infield plays as the season has moved along,” said Forbes, crediting assistant coach Scott Jackson, who played shortstop at Campbell. “Cooper’s not a third baseman by trade. He was a middle infielder, more of a second baseman, at his junior college, but he’s worked his tail off, and those plays, they don’t show up in the box score, but they’re huge.”
Nicholson then ballooned the lead to four runs with his team-leading 13th home run, a two-run, 374-foot shot to left field and his second home run in as many games. He added an RBI single in the five-run seventh inning.
“I don’t think we were trying to do too much at the plate today,” he said. “With runners in scoring position, we’re just trying to put the ball in play, as you saw today with a lot of sacrifice flies.”
UNC starter Ryan Lynch (4–4) didn’t have the same command as six days earlier against Duke, but pitched around traffic well. In six innings, the sophomore right-hander stranded six runners, scattered six hits, gave up two walks and struck out three.
The first three Panthers reached against Lynch in the first inning on two singles and a hit by pitch. He escaped on a double play that cut down a would-be run scorer, with catcher Colin Hynek throwing out the batter at first, and then got an inning-ending groundout.
Forbes said that the opening sequence shaped the rest of Lynch’s day, calling it the story of the game.
“Great mound visit. We grade our mound visits on what happens after,” Forbes said. “Lynch made the pitch … comebacker. We work on those. Hynek turned it to first base, and he got the next guy out. I really felt like, after that, I felt really good about our chances. I thought Lynch would settle in.”
Pitt left fielder Mason Ligenza, hitting ninth, ripped a drive to left-center field off the bricks to the right of the scoreboard for a home run to lead off the third inning.
Two Jake Schaffner (2 for 2 with 3 walks) doubles drove in Hynek for two of UNC’s first four runs. After Hynek walked in the three-run third inning, Schaffner’s drive to center field bounced over the wall for an automatic double. The other runs scored on Owen Hull’s RBI single and Gavin Gallaher’s sacrifice fly.
In the fifth inning, Hynek led off with a double down the left-field line and scored on Schaffner’s double up the middle.
Forbes said Lynch’s ability to keep attacking, even when Pitt was geared for the fastball, allowed him to work out of trouble.
“Teams are going to be on his fastball, and that’s what their goal is going to be,” Forbes said. “That doesn’t mean you stop throwing your fastball, because that’s still his best pitch. You’ve got to move it to both sides of the plate.
“Some days you have your slider, some days you don’t, some decent changeups, but his stuff is that good,” Forbes said. “If he’s not walking you and you have to beat him, I like our chances, because it’s just hard to square him up.”
Sophomore right-hander Walker McDuffie recovered from a rough Friday outing, retiring all six batters he faced over two innings with one strikeout.
Forbes said McDuffie’s response was exactly what he expected.
“He’s really already understood that even if you aren’t off, nine days’ rest, you might not have a great outing as a reliever,” Forbes said. “You have to have a short memory. Like goldfish, you’ve got to move on. I had a feeling today you would see the lights-out Walker McDuffie, and that’s exactly what they saw.”
McDuffie said the difference was mostly about getting back into a game rhythm and not letting Friday linger.
“I think it was just getting my feet wet again,” he said. “They didn’t beat me [Friday]. I beat myself. So I was able to go out there and bounce back.”
McDuffie said he has improved at moving on from outings that don’t go his way.
“You just got to flush it,” he said. “Holding on to it’s not going to do anything for you, and all it can do is linger into the next game.”
UNC sent eight batters to the plate in the five-run seventh inning, highlighted by Tyler Howe’s two-run homer to right field. The Tar Heels did plenty of damage without needing a barrage of hits, Forbes said, by getting runners over and home in the ways winning teams do in May.
“You’re starting to see our offense really understand what it means to manufacture runs,” Forbes said. “We call it day to day that we get our runner on third base with less than two, we just got to score them. It doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t have to do with a hit. So we did that a lot today with sac flies. Obviously, Cooper Nicholson hit the home run, Tyler Howe hit the home run, but we also scored 12 runs, so we were manufacturing runs, which was great to see.”
Nicholson said the Tar Heels’ at-bats have sharpened since the early season as they head into the stretch that matters most.
“Offensively, I think we’re putting up a lot better at-bats than what we did at the start of the year,” Nicholson said. “And the pitching staff, they’re just doing their thing out there.”
Gallaher finished off the win with a one-out sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
After the game, country music star Eric Church, UNC’s commencement speaker on Saturday night, addressed the team in the locker room, and McDuffie said the message fit the time of year.
“He just told us to keep playing, to keep doing our thing,” McDuffie said. “We’re getting to crunch time now. So now it’s time to buckle up and get after it.”
Notes
— In Sunday’s 1 p.m. series finale, junior left-hander Folger Boaz (3–1, 6.64 ERA), who had been scheduled to start the Wednesday game with Winthrop that was canceled, opposes Pitt redshirt junior right-hander Drew Lafferty (4–3, 5.51 ERA).
— In the third inning, Carter French got hit by a pitch, marking the 89th Tar Heel to get hit by a pitch. That’s the most since 1982, with the previous high of 88 in 2013.
— It was Howe’s third home run of the season and first since March 28 at Notre Dame.
— UNC leads the all-time series with Pitt 24–12, including 15–2 in Chapel Hill.
No. 2 UNC 12, Pitt 2 (8)
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
