UNC Baseball Recaps - Week 1

The #9 North Carolina Tar Heels are in the midst of a weekend series with Radford, starting the season 5-0. Here is a quick recap of this past week with the Diamond Heels.

Here is a quick summary of results as of today:

The Diamond Heels opened with a weekend sweep of Kentucky in Chapel Hill. In the season opener, the Tar Heels kept the Wildcats off the board until the ninth inning. Preseason All-American pitcher J.B. Bukauskas threw six scoreless innings, registering ten strikeouts and giving up just three hits.

In the second game of the series, it seemed as though the Heels were going to cruise after three runs in the bottom of the sixth pushed Carolina’s lead to 6-1. However, three runs in the top of the seventh and one in the eight by Kentucky cut the UNC lead to one. Carolina used five pitchers from the bullpen before Josh Hiatt was able to pick up his second save in as many days. Third baseman Kyle Datres accounted for half of UNC’s score with three RBIs.

In the final game of the series, freshman pitcher Luca Dalatri made his first college start and picked up his first career win. After the Wildcats tied the score in the top of the third, two runs in the bottom half of the inning put the Heels ahead for good. Shortstop Logan Warmoth and designated hitter Tyler Lynn homered for the Heels. This victory was the 800th for Coach Mike Fox at Carolina.

On Wednesday, Carolina hosted Gardner-Webb and cruised to a 11-1 victory. The Heels started hot with a five run first inning that included a two-run home run by Datres. Cole Aker pitched six innings to pick up the win.

Last night, the Tar Heels started a three-game series with Radford. It was scoreless through seven innings until the bottom of the eighth when center fielder Brian Miller hit a two-run shot to put the Heels ahead for good. Bukauskas was pulled after the seventh, so reliever Rodney Hutchison Jr. got the win and Hiatt picked up his fourth save of the season.

Warmoth leads the team in batting average (.444), slugging percentage (.778), and on-base percentage (.500) this season. Datres leads the teams with six RBIs, and four Tar Heels have homered, including Datres and Warmoth.

Today, the Heels play Radford at 2:00 PM at Boshamer Stadium. Temperatures will be in the mid-70s, however there is a chance for some light rain. If there is just a sprinkle or the rain holds off, it should be a nice day for a game at the Bosh.

Here is upcoming schedule for the week as Carolina continues their home stand: