In a game that started out going back and forth like a see-saw, the UNC baseball team pulled away in the final innings for a 9-3 victory over the #22 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium.

UNC has now won two in a row after dropping the first two games this past weekend at Clemson, and improves to 19-13 overall with the non-conference victory. Coastal Carolina, who had won 12 of their last 14 games, drops to 23-9 with the loss.

Coach Mike Fox’s club also avenges their biggest loss of the season to date, as they traveled to Coastal on March 10 and came away with a 13-2 beating, and yes, revenge was most certainly on their minds.

Striking first on Tuesday, though, were the Tar Heels, after lead-off man Adam Pate drilled the first pitch he saw from Coastal starting pitcher Shane Sawczak right down the third base line for a double. That play set the table for right-fielder Tyler Ramirez, who came up three batters later and singled to send Pate home.

“Before the game, coach told us [the last game between UNC and Coastal] was the biggest loss we’ve had in nine years,” says Ramirez, “That definitely gave us a little motivation to come out and put a few on, so I think revenge was definitely on the back of our minds today.”

Making his first career start on the mound for UNC, the 6'6" freshman Jason Morgan allowed two unearned runs over 3.1 innings. (UNC Athletics)

Making his first career start on the mound for UNC, the 6’6″ freshman Jason Morgan allowed two unearned runs over 3.1 innings. (UNC Athletics)

Immediately after that, the Chanticleers made things all square against UNC freshman Jason Morgan, who was making his first career start on the mound. Catcher Casey Schroeder walked to begin the top of the second, and found himself on third base following a single by teammate Jack Curtis. Then Korey Dunbar couldn’t handle a pitch from Morgan, allowing Schroeder to cross the plate and tie the game at one apiece.

Making noise again, in his second at-bat, was Adam Pate. The sophomore designated hitter led-off the bottom of the third inning with a solo home-run to left-field, the first of his career, putting the Tar Heels back in front.

“I was just glad it went out, I’m just glad I didn’t pop it up, to be honest,” Pate says, “I’m not a big home run hitter, but it was really cool, it was a really special moment.”

With one out in the top of the fourth, the North Carolina coaching staff turned to their heavily maligned bullpen a bit earlier than they probably would have liked to, pulling Morgan after just 3.1 innings and 61 pitches.

Morgan was replaced by reliever Spencer Trayner (2-3), and charged with a second run allowed (both unearned) when Coastal’s Al Molina hit a sacrifice fly to even things up yet again. Trayner would get out of the inning without any further damage being done, however.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

That theme continued into the Tar Heel half of the fourth, when the boys in baby blue wrestled the lead back on a line-drive RBI double from freshman third baseman Zack Gahagan, which scored Adrian Chacon all the way from first base, and ended the day for Sawczak (1-2) on the mound.

Sawczak, also a freshman, gave up three earned runs in three innings of work, increasing his season ERA to 6.16. He also walked three men, contributing to the season high 11 walks provided by the Chanticleer pitching staff.

Coastal Carolina shortstop Michael Paez homered in the fifth off UNC's Spencer Trayner. (Coastal Carolina Athletics)

Coastal Carolina shortstop Michael Paez homered in the fifth off UNC’s Spencer Trayner. (Coastal Carolina Athletics)

Gahagan’s freshman classmate, shortstop Logan Warmoth tacked on another run for UNC with a single off Coastal reliever Tyler Poole before the inning was over, putting the Tar Heels ahead by two.

Of course, the Chanticleers responded right away with a home run by shortstop Michael Paez off Spencer Trayner to begin the top of the fifth, cutting the lead in half. And for a minute it appeared as if the high-powered Coastal lineup would swing their way into the lead.

However, senior reliever Trevor Kelley came in and recorded all three outs without letting the visiting team do any more damage.

Kelley stayed on to pitch a scoreless sixth, before the Tar Heels extended the lead in their half of the inning with RBI from Skye Bolt and Tyler Ramirez giving their team a three-run cushion heading into the seventh.

Neither team manufactured any offense in the seventh, which kept the lead right where it was for junior closer Trent Thornton, who came on for Kelley to begin the eighth. Kelley threw three innings and gave up just two hits during his time on the hill.

Retiring the first three Chanticleers he faced, Thornton showed some of the stuff that he’s displayed in previous years as a member of the weekend starting rotation. In the bottom of the frame his offense wanted to make sure there was no chance the Charlotte native could blow it in the ninth, as they added three more runs to double the margin for error.

The extra tallies would not be needed, though, as Thornton pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the ninth to slam the door shut, and complete his sixth save of 2015.

Despite the big win over a ranked opponent, Coach Fox says he isn’t necessarily feeling a “sense of urgency” with this team, as they find themselves in desperate need of more wins like this one for their NCAA tournament hopes. He pointed out one flaw in particular after the game.

“This team’s kinda hard to figure out,” says the coach.

“I think we need a little more toughness. I mean, we wait until the eighth inning to get a couple base-hits with runners in scoring position. Up to that, I think we left the bases loaded three times, and we thought the score should have been expanded a lot earlier than it was.”

Up Next:

More baseball awaits the Tar Heels on Wednesday, with the Liberty Flames coming into town for a rematch of the game played at Liberty on March 2nd. Carolina won the previous meeting by a score of 6-4. Hunter Williams (2-1, 1.83 ERA), the big freshman left-hander, will take the mound for UNC opposite Liberty’s Shawn Clowers (7-1, 1.95 ERA), also a lefty. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

Game Notes: 

  • Adam Pate led the UNC offense for the night, going 3-4 with a homer and a pair of walks. His average sits at .364.
  • With his appearance out of the bullpen, senior Trevor Kelley extended his NCAA lead in relief appearances to 23.
  • Michael Paez, who homered for Coastal in the fifth, was last week’s Big South Conference Player of the Week.
  • Tyler Ramirez now has seven RBI in his last two games for the Tar Heels. He leads the team in that category with 29.