Heels Stumble Into ACC Tournament

At one point the season seemed to be going swimmingly. UNC had won 13 of 16 and headed to Notre Dame looking to grab some key wins with an eye on possibly hosting a regional.

Instead the wheels have officially come off. UNC was swept at Notre Dame, stopped the bleeding briefly with a midweek win over UNCW before getting swept by Virginia in the final home stand of the weekend. It was the first time since 2001 UNC had been swept in back-to-back ACC series.

Game One: Virginia 2 UNC 1 (10)

The first game of the series was a heartbreaker with Zac Gallen shutting down Virginia for 8.1 innings. Gallen was lifted after giving up a double with one gone in the top of the ninth and UNC up 1-0. Trevor Kelley promptly gave up an RBI single to tie the game. Zach Rice walked Virginia's Joe McCarthy before Trent Thornton(the fourth UNC pitcher of the inning) ended the Cavalier threat. UVa went on to score in the 10th and UNC's hopes were dashed on the bottom of the frame after Landon Lassiter popped out with the tying run on second to end the game.

Game Two: Virginia 6 UNC 2

The Cavaliers jumped on freshman starter J.B. Bukauskas early with five runs on the first two innings. UNC failed to capitalize on multiple scoring opportunities with 10 runners left on base as the Tar Heels dropped the second game of the series 6-2.

Game Three: Virginia 8 UNC 2

Senior Day went poorly for UNC and Benton Moss in his final home start as a Tar Heel. Moss gave up seven hits and two runs in just three innings. Kelley and Thornton followed Moss giving up a pair of runs each as UNC was swept for a second straight weekend. Tyler Ramirez hit his ninth home run of the season to tie Skye Bolt for the team lead. It was Ramirez's second home run of the weekend.

UNC has now lost six of seven games and finish 13-16 in ACC play. The Heels managed just an 8th place finish and now must beat Virginia Tech on Tuesday at 3:00 PM to reach pool play in the ACC Tournament.