With their season hanging in the balance, the UNC baseball team played lights out Friday night at Doak Field in Raleigh.
Literally.
A stadium power outage in the middle of the sixth inning delayed the game for 17 minutes–with the Tar Heels ahead 8-2–before their 16-4 blowout of the No. 13 NC State Wolfpack was finally completed.
The first four hitters in UNC’s lineup–Brian Miller, Logan Warmoth, Tyler Ramirez and Zack Gahagan–each had at least two RBIs, providing all the power the Tar Heels (34-20, 13-16 ACC) would need.
Zack Gahagan was part of a four-man wrecking crew for the UNC offense against NC State on Friday–going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. (Joe Bray/ UNC Athletics)
Warmoth in particular, though, was the standout performer–going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in the fourth inning and a two-run double in the eighth.
In two games this series, the sophomore shortstop has gone 6-for-9 with seven RBIs.
JB Bukauskas (7-2) continued his stellar season on the mound for the Tar Heels, delivering six innings while adding nine strikeouts–giving him 111 on the year, good enough to lead the ACC.
After UNC opened up a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, Bukauskas had the benefit of pitching from ahead the entire time he was in the game.
The Wolfpack (33-18, 14-13 ACC) finally broke through against Bukauskas in the middle innings with a pair of two-run blasts–one by left fielder Brett Kinneman in the fourth and another by Preston Palmeiro in the sixth following the power outage.
By that point, however, NC State’s chances of coming back against a clearly motivated Tar Heel team were as dim as its stadium during that 17-minute delay.
UNC exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh, before adding two in the eighth and one more in the ninth–just to be safe.
It was a blowout of epic proportions, comparable to last November’s football game between the two Triangle rivals.
Head coach Larry Fedora’s Tar Heels jumped out to a 35-7 first quarter lead in Carter-Finley Stadium that day, then cruised to its 11th straight victory.
Wyatt Cross picked up his first career hit when his RBI double gave UNC its 16th, and final, run of the night. (Joe Bray/ UNC Athletics)
On each occasion, the Tar Heels had a number of reasons to leave Raleigh feeling quite good about themselves.
Not only did it clinch a big rivalry win Friday, a pair of losses by Notre Dame this weekend also moves UNC into position to finally clinch a berth in the ACC Tournament.
Should the Tar Heels win the series finale with NC State on Saturday–or if Boston College loses once during its double-header against Georgia Tech–they will be locked into the field of 10 that will play next week in Durham.
Some national writers, like Aaron Fitt of D1baseball.com, are saying that UNC may have already done enough to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens.
UNC will be 13-16 after today; RPI currently No. 16. If UNC loses tomorrow, could still get in at 13-17 with that RPI. But 14-16 much safer.
— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) May 21, 2016
A win Saturday would clinch bragging rights for the Tar Heels, however, and sometimes that means more.
Up Next:
The series rubber match between the Tar Heels and Wolfpack is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Game Notes:
- UNC’s 16 runs were the most by either team in the series since the Tar Heels won 16-7 in Raleigh back in 2001.
- The Tar Heels had 18 hits and walked 9 times against seven different NC State pitchers.
- Warmoth’s four RBIs give him 53 for the year–the first Tar Heel to reach 50 this season.
- AJ Bogucki and Cole Aker combined to throw the last three innings for UNC after Bukauskas was removed from the game.
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