April can’t end soon enough for the UNC baseball team.

The No. 17 Tar Heels are now just 5-8 in the month–which has been filled with games against high-level competition–after a 6-3 loss to the No. 21 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium.

Sophomore lefty Hunter Williams started on the mound for UNC (25-12), but was rocked for four runs in the first inning by the sweet-swinging Chanticleers (28-10)–who won their 15th game in 16 tries.

Six days after Williams, who entered Tuesday with a 0.99 ERA, tossed six shutout innings against South Carolina he surrendered all of Coastal Carolina’s six runs, twice as many as he had allowed all season.

Early on, the Chanticleers got two hits apiece from GK Young, Connor Owings and Billy Cooke to help build a 6-1 lead after three innings. Cooke and Owings each drove in two runs as well.

UNC's outfielders combined to go just 2-for-11 against Coastal Carolina. (Smith Cameron Photography)

UNC’s outfielders combined to go just 2-for-11 against Coastal Carolina. (Smith Cameron Photography)

Williams was pulled in the third inning, and by the end of the fourth the Tar Heels had used four pitchers.

However, freshman Rodney Hutchison provided a steadying presence once he entered to begin the fifth.

Hutchison gave up just two hits and struck out seven over the next 4 2/3 innings–keeping UNC within striking distance.

Offensively, the Tar Heels were carried by sophomore third baseman Zack Gahagan. The Fletcher, North Carolina native went 2-for-3 with all three of the team’s RBIs, including his fourth home run of the year–a solo blast in the bottom of the sixth that was the last run scored by either side.

Gahagan also had an RBI single in the second inning and a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Freshman Brandon Riley went 2-for-4 for the Tar Heels with a pair of singles, while Eli Sutherland, Kyle Datres, and Cody Roberts rounded out the contributions from UNC’s bats.

The Chanticleers held the Tar Heels’ top two hitters, Brian Miller and Tyler Ramirez, to a combined 0-for-9 performance at the plate–which keyed their ability to hold on to the early lead.

Hitting has typically decided whether UNC wins, as the Tar Heels are 19-1 when scoring at least six runs. (Smith Cameron Photography)

Hitting has typically decided whether UNC wins, as the Tar Heels are 19-1 when scoring at least six runs. (Smith Cameron Photography)

It was just the latest chapter in UNC’s month to forget.

April began with the Tar Heels beign swept at Miami, then lost games the next week to UNC-Asheville and Virginia Tech–two teams who have less wins combined than this season than UNC has.

Following a huge 15-0 win over a top-10 team, South Carolina, last week, the Tar Heels had a chance to make a statement against defending national champion Virginia–but instead dropped two of three.

Although the talent on the roster has proven its capable of big things when it puts everything together, inconsistency has plagued UNC against top-level competition.

Tuesday was no different.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will stay at home Wednesday, where they will have a chance to regroup against William & Mary (17-18).

Game Notes:

  • UNC shortstop Logan Warmoth, a sophomore who has started all but two of UNC’s last 85 games, sat out due to an injury suffered on Sunday. He was replaced by freshman Utah Jones.
  • Coastal Carolina has won two of its last three games against UNC dating back to last season.
  • The Tar Heels are now 3-8 when the opponent scores at least six runs.
  • With runners on base Coastal Carolina went 7-for-19 in the game (.368).

 

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