The UNC baseball team came into Friday’s series opener at Georgia Tech needing to make a statement.

Having slipped to 22nd in the polls, and lost five of their past seven games, North Carolina got what they were looking for when catcher Korey Dunbar played hero, hitting a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that broke a 3-3 tie, and led the Tar Heels to a 5-3 victory in Atlanta on Friday night. UNC improves to 13-8 overall and 4-3 in the conference with the win.

Leaders of the ACC Coastal division heading into the weekend, the Yellow Jackets rallied late in the game to tie things up, but were put out for good after Dunbar’s clutch bomb. Their record falls to 15-6 overall, with a 4-3 ACC mark.

Making his third consecutive Friday start for the Tar Heels was sophomore Zac Gallen, who took a loss last weekend after giving up eight runs in 3.2 innings at Pitt, but struck out 12 Duke batters in a win the week before–in a masterful performance.

To defeat a team as tough as Georgia Tech, UNC needed an appearance from the Gallen that was last seen mowing through the Blue Devil lineup.

Skye Bolt was back in center-field on Friday night after being benched on Tuesday. (UNC Athletics)

Skye Bolt was back in center-field on Friday night after being benched on Tuesday. (UNC Athletics)

Attention was also focused on junior outfielders Skye Bolt and Landon Lassiter, to see if they would respond in a big way after they were each benched for Tuesday’s game against Davidson, and called out publicly by Coach Fox for ongoing academic issues.

In the first inning, it was clear that the “Good Gallen” had shown up in Atlanta, retiring the side in order, including striking out Georgia Tech’s top two hitters, outfielders Keenan Innis and Kel Johnson (both men are hitting above .350 on the year).

And in the top of the third, Bolt and Lassiter got their chance to remind everyone, especially Yellow Jacket starter Jonathan King, what they’re capable of.

Lassiter singled, after Korey Dunbar led off the frame with a double, to set up right-fielder Tyler Ramirez, who hit a sacrifice fly to score Dunbar and give UNC the first lead of the game.

Two batters later, Bolt raked a two-out double into right-centerfield that allowed Lassiter to come around and score. The next man up, freshman shortstop Logan Warmoth followed up with a double of his own, sending Bolt in to give the Tar Heels a three-run lead.

Catcher Korey Dunbar’s double kicked off a three-run third inning and his homer in the ninth clinched the game. (UNC Athletics)

The way Gallen was pitching, it appeared that would be more than enough to secure a victory. Through four innings Georgia Tech had yet to score, and recorded just two hits.

Not until the fifth inning did the Yellow Jackets manage to manufacture some scoring, getting a run on shortstop Connor Justus’s RBI single, but the damage was stopped right there, as Gallen retired the next two men up to escape the inning.

Despite giving up a hit to Kel Johnson in the sixth, Gallen added three more strikeouts to his total–Georgia Tech swinging and missing for the third strike each time.

He lasted seven full innings in total, coming out after surrendering a hit to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the eighth, and as his pitch count reached 98. For the game Gallen struck out seven Yellow Jackets while scattering seven hits, only giving up more than one hit in the fifth, where Georgia Tech got their only run off of the sophomore right-hander.

Trouble struck when junior Trent Thornton took the mound out of the bullpen. Thornton (1-1) got Keenan Innis to fly out, but everything changed in the next at-bat, when Kel Johnson stepped into the batter’s box.

Johnson crushed a two-run home run to right field, tying the contest with just one out in the inning. The Tar Heels would get it together, however, and head into the top of the ninth with the game tied at three apiece.

It was Dunbar's first homer of the season. (UNC Athletics)

It was Dunbar’s first homer of the season. (UNC Athletics)

Adam Pate led off the inning with a single off of reliever Tanner Shelton (1-1), forcing the Yellow Jackets to bring in another pitcher, Matt Phillips.

A sacrifice bunt by second baseman Elijah Sutherland put Pate on second, and brought Korey Dunbar to the plate for his magical moment, which allowed Thornton to pick up the win, and gave the loss to Shelton.

Picking up his second save of the year in the bottom of the ninth was Trevor Kelley, the senior making his team leading 15th relief appearance of the year. Kelley did what he’s done all year, striking out two of the three men he faced in the inning.

Up Next:

Rain in Sunday’s forecast has moved Sunday’s game to Saturday, meaning the Tar Heels and Yellow Jackets will close out the series with a doubleheader tomorrow.

Game 1 is set to begin at 1 P.M. and features JB Bukauskas (3-1, 2.70 ERA) on the mound for UNC, taking on senior Cole Pitts (0-1, 3.97 ERA). Game 2 will start approximately 40 minutes after the conclusion of the first game and will mark the return of the Tar Heels’ senior starter Benton Moss (2-0, 2.30 ERA), as he faces Georgia Tech’s Brandon Gold (3-0, 0.61 ERA).

Game Notes:

  • Landon Lassiter went 2-5 with a double in his return to the lineup, while Georgia native Skye Bolt went 1-2 with a double, a stolen base, an RBI, and two walks (one of them a hit-by-pitch)
  • Georgia Tech’s right-fielder Kel Johnson, who came in with an NCAA freshman high six home runs, went 2-4 with the late two-run homer, but also added two strikeouts.
  • UNC’s pitching held the Yellow Jackets to a 2-14 (.143) performance with runners on base.
  • Trevor Kelley’s ERA drops below the 1.00 mark, as he now has pitched 28 innings and allowed just three earned runs.

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