CHAPEL HILL – No. 6 N.C. State evened up the weekend series in Raleigh as the No. 1 UNC baseball team fell 7-3 in game two.
The Wolfpack got things started first on their home field after taking a beating in game one. N.C. State put one up in the third with leadoff batter sophomore Trea Turner reaching with a single. After stealing second, he was in place to score when the number two batter sophomore Brett Austin singled to center.
The Pack scored three in the fourth and three in the fifth to take the controlling 7-0 lead.
However, Carolina got the bats going in the top of the seventh. Freshman Landon Lassiter reached on a single to right, followed by a walk by sophomore Brian Holberton. Despite a pitching change by N.C. State, junior Cody Stubbs found the right-field fence to clear the bases and bring UNC within four.
The late momentum stopped there, and the Wolfpack defense held on for the 7-3 win.
That marks North Carolina’s first road loss of the season in which it fell to 41-4, 18-3 in the ACC; N.C. State improved to 34-11, 15-8. The Tar Heels hold on to a four-game lead in the Coastal Division; the Wolfpack is tied with the Florida State Seminoles for the Atlantic lead.
First pitch of the rubber match at Doak Field is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Sunday and can be heard live on WCHL and Chapelboro.com.
