They played two games and 18 innings of baseball on Saturday at Notre Dame’s Frank Eck Stadium, with the Fighting Irish coming out on top of the No. 24 UNC baseball team in both legs to take the series win.

A late offensive rally helped Notre Dame take the first game of the afternoon by a score of 10-5, as they scored the game’s final eight runs–while pitchers Ryan Smoyer and Brandon Bielak combined to hold the Tar Heels to four hits in the nightcap, with the Fighting Irish taking the second game by a score of 3-1.

Sweeping the day’s games moves Notre Dame to 14-12 in the ACC and 32-18 overall. UNC falls to 13-12 inside the conference, with a 30-18 mark in all games.

Game One

The Fighting Irish snapped a 5-5 tie against the Tar Heels’ top two relievers, Trevor Kelley and Trent Thornton, by scoring five times in the bottom of the eighth to take control of the series with a series opening 10-5 victory.

Skye Bolt hit a solo home run in the top of the first, his seventh of the season, to give the Tar Heels the first lead in a game which they had every opportunity to come out on top.

Notre Dame tied the game in their half of the third inning against UNC starting pitcher Zac Gallen on an RBI fielders’ choice by left-fielder Ryan Bull, and then pulled in front in the fifth inning on a run-scoring single from another guy named Ryan–catcher Ryan Lidge.

Zac Gallen pitched well in the first game, but was let down by his bullpen. (UNC Athletics)

Zac Gallen pitched well in the first game, but was let down by his bullpen. (UNC Athletics)

After that, Bolt ignited a big Tar Heel rally, leading off the sixth frame with a walk, before coming around to score and tie the game on a double from freshman designated hitter Brian Miller.

The team in light blue did not stop there, however as they scratched across three more tallies in the frame, as they were helped by an error in center-field by Notre Dame’s Kyle Richardson.

Richardson’s blunder on Logan Warmoth’s fly-ball followed an RBI single by Alex Raburn, and let Raburn reach home with Warmoth advancing all the way to second.

When Warmoth came home on Eli Sutherland’s single, the score had been pushed to 5-2 in favor of the Tar Heels, with all of the momentum seemingly residing in the visiting dugout.

Then Jake Shepski happened.

Shepski, the Fighting Irish’s freshman designated hitter, hit a home run off of Gallen in the Notre Dame half of the sixth that turned the tide in favor of the home team. Gallen, who went 5.2 innings on the day and allowed three runs on five hits, was done after hitting the batter directly after Shepski.

UNC head coach Mike Fox made the move to senior Trevor Kelley (5-2), his most reliable bullpen arm, to try and hold onto the lead heading into the final innings, but Kelley was not able to keep the Irish off the scoreboard.

First he allowed a game-tying two run homer to Ryan Bull in the bottom of the seventh, and then he put the first two men he faced in the eighth on base–resulting in four earned runs for the Wilmington native, as Notre Dame converted on seemingly every opportunity they had against Kelley’s replacement, Trent Thornton.

By the end of the late onslaught, the Fighting Irish had come back from a three run deficit and scored in each of their last four trips to the plate to bury the Tar Heels into too deep of a hole to dig out of in their final turn at the plate.

Reliever Scott Tully (4-4) , who picked up the win by pitching the final 2.1 innings, finished the game off with a perfect ninth by striking out Korey Dunbar and Brian Miller before getting Joe Dudek to fly out to close the book on the day’s opening act.

Game Two

Right away Notre Dame jumped on Carolina freshman starting pitcher JB Bukauskas for two runs in the first inning, added another in the third, and then held on from there–behind the superb pitching of Ryan Smoyer and Brandon Bielak.

Bukauskas (4-2) walked the first two batters he faced before allowing Ryan Lidge to single home Cavan Biggio, striking first blood for the Irish.

Outfielder Robert Youngdahl then followed up with a sacrifice fly, which scored Kyle Fiala for the second run of the inning.

JB Bukauskas, on the other hand, struggled in his start. (UNC Athletics)

JB Bukauskas, on the other hand, struggled in his start. (UNC Athletics)

For the day Bukauskas would last for just three innings, surrendering three runs on four hits as he struggled with his control–walking five batters as well.

Alex Raburn’s sacrifice fly in the fourth inning off of Smoyer (7-0) served as the only offense the Tar Heels could muster in the second leg of the doubleheader, with the team struggling to get anything going all night long.

Smoyer would pitch the first six innings before being relieved by Brandon Bielak, who pitched just as well, as neither man gave up more than two hits.

Following Raburn’s RBI, Carolina received a single from Eli Sutherland in the seventh and another from Joe Dudek in the ninth, but were otherwise completely shut down against the powerful Notre Dame pitching staff.

On the bright side for UNC, the unheralded bullpen trio of Hansen Butler, Spencer Trayner, and lefty Zach Rice combined to throw the final five innings without ceding any more offense to the Irish, giving up no runs on just three hits in that time frame.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will look to avoid the series sweep on Sunday with senior Benton Moss going to the mound to face-off with Notre Dame’s Nick McCarty. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on WCHL and ESPN3.

Doubleheader Notes:

  • This was the first time Notre Dame and UNC have met as ACC opponents.
  • Notre Dame leads the nation in fielding double plays.
  • The Tar Heels have now lost three of their past six games after previously winning 12 of 14.

GAME ONE BOX SCORE

GAME TWO BOX SCORE