UNC Baseball Recaps - Week 9

The North Carolina Tar Heels had their 11-game winning streak snapped in the series finale against NC State, but are still setting the pace in the Coastal Division. The Diamond Heels are ranked #3 in the country in three of the four major polls. In each of those polls, UNC, Louisville, and Clemson are all ranked inside the top five. UNC is four games ahead of Virginia for the Coastal lead and are just a game back of Louisville for the overall conference lead.

Here are a list of results from the past week:

In the first game of the series against NC State, both teams were scoreless through five innings. J.B. Bukauskas pitched a no-hitter through five, giving up just one run through seven innings of work. A two-run homer from third baseman Kyle Datres in the bottom of the sixth would be enough to give Bukauskas his sixth win on the season. Carolina added three runs in the seventh and two in the eight to stretch the lead to six before State added one run in the top of the ninth.

Carolina’s 7-1 win game two against NCSU secured a sixth consecutive conference series win for the Heels. Luca Dalatri earned the win in six innings of work due to a three-run sixth by UNC. Right fielder Brandon Riley started the scoring that inning with a RBI triple. Relief pitcher Rodney Hutchinson Jr. pitched two and one-thirds innings down the stretch without allowing a hit to the Wolfpack.

On Sunday, the work of NC State relief pitcher Johnny Piedmonte kept the Heels from taking a series sweep. After Carolina cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Piedmonte entered the game and forced a double play and strikeout to end the inning. In the sixth, Carolina loaded the bases but were unable to score, and went scoreless for the rest of the game.

Tuesday evening, Liberty University came to Chapel Hill after being swept at home by Winthrop and upset the Tar Heels. UNC held a 2-1 lead heading into the eighth when the Flames ignited for four runs to put them ahead for good. With the bases loaded and two outs, a RBI single by Liberty scored three runs. A RBI triple in the next at-bat put Liberty up by the final margin.

Logan Warmoth and J.B. Bukauskas remain the statistical leaders for the Tar Heels. Bukauskas continues to lead the ACC in strikeouts (81) and is second in ERA (1.40).

Here are some highlights from the weekend action against NC State, via UNC Athletics:

Starting tonight, the Diamond Heels travel to Pittsburgh for a weekend series against the Pitt Panthers. Next week, UNC hosts in-state rivals Elon and Campbell in Chapel Hill.