UNC Baseball Recaps - Week 8

The North Carolina Tar Heels have won eight of nine, and are back in the polls this week. The only blemish since dropping the series versus Florida State on March 25 was the Sunday series finale against Miami.

Here is a breakdown of UNC rankings in the major polls:

• D1Baseball.com Top 25: 21
• NCBWA: 23
• Baseball America: 20
• USA Today Coaches Poll: NR
• RPI: 14

Take a look at the latest results and updated record:

In the opener against Miami, UNC got on the board first during the second off the bat of Dallas Tessar. His single to left brought in two runs. Miami responded with two runs of their own in the next inning.

During the sixth, Miami went ahead by a run, but Carolina came back in the next half inning when pinch hitter Clemente Inclan drove in a run on a single up the middle.

The Heels had a great opportunity in the eight with one out and the bases loaded, but were unable to bring anyone home.

For the second time in five games, UNC went to extra innings.

In the 11th, Josh Ladowski hustled out a triple. With Ladowski stealing home, Cody Roberts put down the bunt on the suicide squeeze and it worked. However, in the next half of the inning, Miami scored on a play at the plate to continue the game.

In the top half of the 12th, Carolina busted the game open with four runs, highlighted by two RBIs by Ladowski to claim the first game of the series.

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In game two, Carolina once again struck first in the first off a Miami wild pitch. A three-run shot by Miami in the bottom half put them ahead by two.

Kyle Datres drove in a run off a sac fly, then Zack Gahagan drove in another run to tie the game. In the next inning, Michael Busch cleared the bases with a three-RBI double, but the Carolina lead shrunk to one after the bottom half of the fourth.

In the sixth, a Brandon Martorano RBI triple would become the game and series-winning run. The Heels tacked on two more runs in the seventh to put nine runs on the board.

Cooper Criswell came in relief for the Heels in the fourth and went the distance for the win. He struck out 13, allowing just three hits and one run during five and two-thirds innings.

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In the series finale, rain shortened the ball game to just five innings, salvaging a win for Miami.

The Hurricanes tallied the first run in this game, but Carolina responded with three runs in the second. Inclan, in the designated hitter spot, drove in Ashton McGee on a double. In the next at-bat, Martorano drove in both base runners with a double of his own.

In the fifth, Brandon Riley drove in two runs before being thrown out at second, expanding the Tar Heel lead to 5-1.

In the bottom half of the inning, Miami poured it on before the rains poured. The Hurricanes scored six to lead by two before the game was called for rain in the sixth.

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Carolina hosted App State on Tuesday night at the Bosh. The Mountaineers opened the scoring in the fourth with a run.

In the bottom half of the next inning, Martorano and Riley both tallied RBIs on ground outs, while Kyle Datres added an RBI double. That hit extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Datres scored on an infield error in the seventh for the final run of the game.

Brett Daniels, coming in relief in the fifth, earned the win, while Josh Hiatt picked up his third save of the year.

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Below are the team leaders for UNC.

Batting:

• Batting average: .376 - Kyle Datres (2nd in ACC)
• Slugging percentage: .556 - Michael Busch (T-9th in ACC)
• Home runs: 8 - Michael Busch (T-5th in ACC)
• RBIs: 42 - Michael Busch (2nd in ACC and 2nd in the nation)
• Hits: 50 - Kyle Datres (T-1st in ACC)
• Runs: 32 - Kyle Datres (T-3rd in ACC)
• On-base percentage: .463 - Kyle Datres (7th in ACC)

Pitching:

• ERA: 1.22 - Brett Daniels (minimum 10 innings pitched)
• Strikeouts: 51 - Tyler Baum
• Innings pitched: 44.2 - Tyler Baum
• Wins: 5 - Brett Daniels (5-0) (T-3rd in ACC)
• Saves: 3 - Josh Hiatt

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The Tar Heels are heading to Charlottesville to take on Virginia (19-15, 5-9). UNC and UVA will play in the 299th, 300th, and 301st games in their all-time series this weekend, with the Tar Heels leading 182-112-4. Carolina took last year’s series 2-1.

Junior second baseman Andy Weber leads the Cavaliers with a .373 batting average, 50 hits, and 31 RBIs. His 50 hits tie Carolina’s Datres for the conference lead.

Righty Derek Casey his tied for the league lead in innings pitched, and is second in the ACC with 70 strikeouts.

Tyler Baum and Austin Bergner are the likely starters for Carolina on the road. Tangentially related is the fact that ace Gianluca Dalatri may not play this season after an early-season elbow injury. Dalatri had been slated to come back around this time, but the injury is apparently still affecting him.

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