A microcosm of UNC's season in nine tidy innings as UNC falls to Virginia 3-2.
Much like the season has gone, UNC got solid pitching, especially from junior Benton Moss. The junior righthander was sharp early with only Virginia's Branden Cogswell getting hits against him and keeping the Cavaliers largely in check. The problem came in the form of two unearned runs, one the result of a bad throw from shortstop Landon Lassiter and the other on an error from Alex Raburn at third base. Those errors marred an otherwise outstanding effort from Moss and gave Virginia a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile, UNC left eight runners on base in the first six innings. On multiple occasions the Heels had runners in scoring position but could not get a run across. That included having the ball bounce over the fence on a Korey Dunbar hit resulting in a ground rule double that kept Adrian Chacon at third base instead of potentially scoring.
In the bottom of the seventh UNC was the one benefiting from an error with Zach Daly reaching base opening the door for Wood Myers to tie the game with his first career home run. UNC's good fortune didn't last long. Zach Rice hit Joe McCarthy to open the 8th inning. With a runner on first and Spencer Trayner brought in, Virginia proceeded to manufacture the winning run with a stolen base and RBI single to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead. UNC did manage to get Raburn to second in the bottom of the ninth inning but neither Landon Lassiter or Skye Bolt could extend the game.
For the contest, UNC went 0-11 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Given how the season has gone UNC simply does not enjoy the margin of error against a team of Virginia's caliber to let multiple opportunities to score slip by without cashing in.
The Tar Heels fall to 33-25 overall and are in dire need of beating Maryland on Saturday at 3:00 PM both for the pride of the ACC and UNC's NCAA Tournament resume.