Zac Gallen was two outs away from his third complete game of the season for the Tar Heels when it all fell apart.

“Any time you get in a good groove you don’t really want to come out,” says Gallen, “But it’s Coach’s decision, so you gotta do what he says. I mean, I would have loved to finish the game out but what [am I] gonna do?”

Trailing 1-0 entering the ninth inning, the Virginia Cavaliers rallied to force extra innings against Gallen’s replacements out of the bullpen before picking up a thrilling 10 inning 2-1 victory on Thursday night, beating the UNC baseball team at Boshamer Stadium.

The blown opportunity drops the Tar Heels below .500 in the conference, at 13-14, while their overall record slips to 32-20.

Virginia jumps to 13-15 in league play, and 31-19 against all competition after the come from behind win.

Pitching and defense ruled the night at Boshamer Stadium on Thursday. (UNC Athletics)

Pitching and defense ruled the night at Boshamer Stadium on Thursday. (UNC Athletics)

Thursday’s major storyline focused on Gallen and Virginia sophomore right-hander Connor Jones, who went toe-to-toe in a fantastic pitchers’ duel all night long.

After allowing a pair of Cavalier hits in the top of the first inning, Gallen settled down and cruised through the opposing lineup with ease–until giving up a crucial one-out double in the ninth.

Gallen’s counterpart, Jones, also finished eight innings while putting up an impressive stat line. The right-hander gave up a home run, but struck out nine Tar Heels while only walking one.

The Tar Heel bats–which have started to heat up recently–definitely cooled back down on Thursday.

Only two UNC runners reached second base over the first five frames, despite the team slapping five base hits during that time.

That changed momentarily in the bottom of the sixth, however, when right fielder Tyler Ramirez caught all of a 2-0 pitch from Jones–sending it flying over the fence in left center field for the game’s first run.

Tyler Ramirez shows some excitement after his home run in the sixth. (UNC Athletics)

Tyler Ramirez shows some excitement after his home run in the sixth. (UNC Athletics)

From there, the attention went right back to Gallen’s bid for a shutout on the mound.

Virginia led off the seventh inning with a single by catcher Robbie Coman, but Coman got himself caught trying to steal second base, as Gallen finished off the inning with a pair of flyouts.

Daniel Pinero, the Cavaliers’ shortstop, then reached base in the eighth on a two-out walk–only to head right back to the dugout when his teammate Matt Thaiss flew out to left.

Even though his pitch count had reached 104, Gallen came back out for the ninth to try and finish off yet another Boshamer masterpiece. The sophomore came into Thursday night having thrown complete games in each of his previous two home starts.

Unfortunately for him, Virginia left fielder Pavin Smith launched a one-out double over the head of Skye Bolt in center field, which was enough for Coach Fox to make the move to Trevor Kelley out of the bullpen.

And just like that, the game took a surprise turn.

“You gotta give them a lot of credit,” says UNC head coach Mike Fox, “We made some mistakes, and they took advantage of it at the plate. We bring Trevor in and we know we’re gonna get a groundball–probably–[and the] matchup we wanted.”

“The ball should have stayed in the infield and it didn’t.”

Robbie Coman got the best of Kelley–the Tar Heels’ go-to reliever–by smashing a single up the middle, which scored Smith and tied the game for the visiting team.

UNC kept more damage from being done by turning to two more relievers, Zach Rice and Trent Thornton, who made sure things stayed tied heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Carolina’s offense was then set down in order in their turn at the plate, giving the Cavaliers a shot to steal the victory.

Virginia led off the 10th inning against Thornton with another big-time double, this one by center fielder Adam Haseley.

Korey Dunbar (right) and reliever Zach Rice (left) meet on the mound after UVA tied the game up. (UNC Athletics)

Korey Dunbar (right) and reliever Zach Rice (left) meet on the mound after UVA tied the game up. (UNC Athletics)

A pair of walks then loaded the bases for Pavin Smith, who again came through in the clutch. His groundball led to a fielders’ choice, allowing Haseley to come home and score the eventual winning run.

The Tar Heels’ did threaten to score against Virginia closer Alec Bettinger in their half of the 10th, but ultimately came up just 90 feet short.

Alex Raburn walked to lead-off the inning, and later advanced to third base on a sacrifice by Logan Warmoth, and a pitch from Bettinger that got by the catcher.

However, Landon Lassiter couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity at the plate, popping out to end the game.

With Thursday’s loss, and a win by Wake Forest, the Tar Heels still find themselves needing a win to get in to the ACC tournament–much to the dismay of their coach.

“I can’t even believe we’re talking about that as our goal, but it is right now,” says Fox.

“It’s just a tough loss. We’ve got to get up off the mat and try it again tomorrow. We’ve been in this situation before. This league prepares you for a lot of things, and it prepares you for this. You have a tough loss and you gotta play the next day.”

Up Next:

The second game of the series is scheduled to begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. Tar Heel freshman JB Bukauskas (4-2, 3.70 ERA) is set to take the mound opposite Virginia lefty Brandon Waddell (2-4, 4.88 ERA).

Game Notes:

  • This was the 290th meeting all-time between UNC and Virginia, tying NC State as the Tar Heels’ most common opponent through the years. Carolina still holds the series lead with a 179-107-4 record.
  • Tyler Ramirez is second on the team in home runs, hitting his eighth on Thursday to move within one of team leader Skye Bolt.
  • The teams combined to go 2-25 with runners on base. UNC went 0-12.
  • Gallen has now pitched in 42.1 innings at Boshamer Stadium this season, while surrendering just two earned runs.

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