By R.L. Bynum
RALEIGH — One game after everything went right for North Carolina, little went the Tar Heels’ way in their regular-season finale.
Against a hot pitcher, No. 2 UNC went from scoring 17 runs on Friday to only having four runners in scoring position, as N.C. State salvaged a game in the three-game series with a 7–2 victory at Doak Field on Saturday.
“They got it done. We didn’t,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “State just played better than we did today.”
Carolina (43–10–1, 22–8 ACC) gets five days off before playing its quarterfinal ACC tournament game at Charlotte’s Truist Field at 3 p.m. Friday against either the No. 7 seed Virginia Tech (29–23), No. 10 seed Notre Dame (30–21) or No. 15 seed Clemson (31–25).
Forbes said the Tar Heels will move on quickly.
“We’ll flush this one really, really fast,” he said. “We got the series.”
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One positive for the Tar Heels was that their streak of multi-homer games extended to six games.
Their only offense came from a pair of home runs to left field — from Cooper Nicholson in the second inning, his team-leading 14th, and Gavin Gallaher in the eighth inning, his 11th.
Wolfpack starter Nance Anderson cooled down UNC’s bats. The sophomore right-hander (4–2) walked five, but only allowed three hits, one run and struck out four in a career-high six innings.
“Credit to Nance,” Forbes said. “I thought he put his team on his back. I thought he threw really well.”
N.C. State (31–21, 13–16), which snapped a three-game losing streak, scored two runs off UNC starter Folger Boaz (3–2) in the first inning for its first lead of the series.
Five of the first six batters reached, four on singles, but on a lot of soft contact. After one-out RBI singles from Chris McHugh and Mikey Ryan, Boaz induced a pop-up and struck out Christian Serrano to limit the damage.
Forbes pointed to the early traffic and the need to stop innings from snowballing.
“We made an error right away, and then he followed that error with a walk, so we tell our pitchers all the time, something negative happens behind you, the key is to get that next guy out,” Forbes said.
After Nicholson’s 394-foot blast in the second inning, Tyler Howe walked and was cut down at the plate on a hands-first slide after a Colin Hynek double to end the inning.
Boaz (3–2; 4 innings, 9 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts) worked around an error and a single in the fourth inning, with first baseman Erik Paulsen throwing out a runner at the plate before Boaz struck out Luke Nixon swinging to end the threat.
Forbes said UNC’s energy was where it needed to be, even as the game tilted.
“Body language-wise, efforts-wise, our guys were ready to play,” Forbes said. “They got after it.”
State led off the fifth inning with back-to-back homers in the fifth inning: Sherman Jackson’s 382-foot shot to right center field and a 415-foot drive to left center by Chris McHugh.
Boaz departed after the third batter of the inning, and Ty Head banged a double off the right-field wall. Walker McDuffie, who threw 44 pitches in Thursday’s opener, came on and retired three straight batters, striking out two.
The Pack got singles off McDuffie (2⅔ innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts) to lead off the seventh inning and scored three runs, the last two on Vincent DeCarlo’s RBI single.
Forbes said the series still reflected the grind of the ACC and what it takes to win on the road, even when the sweep slips away.
“It’s hard to sweep in this league,” Forbes said. “We sure did try.” He added, “It’s a battle in our conference.”
N.C. State 7, No. 2 UNC 2
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
ACC tournament
At Truist Field in Charlotte
Buy tickets here.
Tuesday’s first round
No. 16 Duke 21, No. 9 N.C. State 12
No. 12 Stanford 11, No. 13 California 4
No. 10 Notre Dame 5, No. 15 Clemson 4
No. 14 Pittsburgh 16, No. 11 Louisville 8
Wednesday’s second round
No. 8 Virginia 6, Duke 4
No. 5 Miami 11, Stanford 2
No. 7 Virginia Tech 17, Notre Dame 10
Pittsburgh 7, No. 6 Wake Forest 4
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s results
No. 1 (No. 3 ranked) Georgia Tech 16, Virginia 10
Miami 8, No. 4 Boston College 2
Friday’s results
No. 2 (No. 2 ranked) North Carolina 10, Virginia Tech 4
Pittsburgh 8, No. 3 (No. 11 ranked) Florida State 6
Saturday’s semifinals (ACC Network)
Georgia Tech 9, Miami 3
North Carolina 13, Pittsburgh 5
Sunday’s championship
Georgia Tech 13, North Carolina 6
| 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 |
| 30–31 | 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 | 7:06 p.m. | No. 18 Ole Miss | ESPN |
| 14 | Sunday | 2:06 p.m. (with loss) or 7:06 p.m. (with win) | Troy or West Virginia | ESPN |
Photo via @NCStatebaseball
