Zack Gahagan took a pitch on the arm with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to lead the Tar Heel Baseball team to a walk-off 3-2 win over the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday night, clinching the series in the process.

“I’ve never been a part of a walk-off anything,” Gahagan says, “This is my first time, so it’s pretty exciting, especially against State. [They’re a] good team, but way to finish it.”

“It feels awesome, I mean, the rivalry has hit me hard.”

Yes it has. Literally.

The win is Carolina’s fifth in a row, lifting its record to 22-13 overall and 9-8 inside the ACC, while NC State falls to 19-14 with a 7-9 league record with the loss.

It seemed right from the get-go that UNC’s JB Bukauskas and State’s Brian Brown decided to pick up where Zac Gallen and Cory Wilder left off in their fantastic pitchers’ duel in Friday’s series opener.

After the first nine batters of the game for either team were set down in order by the two freshman starting pitchers, the Tar Heels found themselves with a prime opportunity to score in the bottom of the second.

JB Bukauskas cut through the Wolfpack lineup on Saturday night, despite allowing two home runs. (UNC Athletics)

JB Bukauskas cut through the Wolfpack lineup on Saturday night, despite allowing two home runs. (UNC Athletics)

Much like Wilder on Friday, Brown displayed a live arm for the Wolfpack, but also had troubles with his control early on–hitting Tyler Ramirez with a pitch, and then issuing walks to Joe Dudek and Korey Dunbar to load the bases with two outs in the frame.

The outcome, though, was no different than it was in Friday’s second inning, with Tar Heel shortstop Logan Warmoth striking out to end the inning–and the threat.

And stuck on cruise control, just like Gallen the night before, was Bukauskas. The flame-throwing freshman, who warms up to the Johnny Cash song “Cut You Down”, was doing just that to a baffled NC State lineup, facing the minimum of 10 batters until senior second baseman Logan Ratledge (the Wolfpack’s leading hitter) stepped into the batter’s box with one out in the bottom of the fourth.

On a 1-1 count, Ratledge got the sweet spot of his bat on a Bukauskas fastball, driving it barely over the wall in left field for the game’s first hit, first run, and first lead.

Carolina responded quickly, getting its first hit of the game in their half of the inning when Zack Gahagan’s groundball took a bad hop and couldn’t be handled by Wolfpack freshman third baseman Joe Dunand. After Gahagan advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Brown, Joe Dudek then smacked an RBI single up the middle to tie the game back at one apiece.

Wolfpack head coach Elliot Avent congratulates Logan Ratledge. (News & Observer/Robert Willett)

Wolfpack head coach Elliot Avent congratulates Logan Ratledge. (News & Observer/Robert Willett)

However, Bukauskas found some more trouble in the top of the fifth, as NC State designated hitter Shane Shepard sent a hanging breaking ball into the right-field trees to put his team back out in front. The second solo bomb of the game for the Wolfpack was also Shepard’s first of his young career.

“They swing a lot, that’s what I think it is. I think they swung at a whole bunch of first-pitch fastballs, and they were just able to get the bat out. They’re a good hitting team,” says Bukauskas.

“I try not to worry about it, I honestly didn’t feel like I could locate very much tonight.”

But again, the Tar Heels refused to stay behind.

Last night’s star, junior center-fielder Skye Bolt, hit a two-out single to score Korey Dunbar on a play that maybe shouldn’t have had a chance to happen, since Dunbar only reached base due to a throwing error by the third baseman, Joe Dunand.

Bukauskas shut down State in the top of the sixth, as he continued to get outs on the mound, but his counterpart Brown was done in the bottom half of the inning after surrendering a lead-off single to Tyler Ramirez.

For the night, Brown delivered five strong innings of four-hit ball, striking out three and giving up just one earned run (two total), but he did labor through 102 pitches during that time frame.

Similar fate found Bukauskas in the top of the seventh, as a walk to left-fielder Ryne Willard spelled the end of the road for the freshman after tossing just 74 pitches.

In all, he worked 6.1 innings, and gave up just four hits, two of which just happened to be homers. Coach Mike Fox decided to make the early switch to the NCAA leader in relief appearances, senior Trevor Kelley (3-1), who was able to get out of the frame unscathed.

“The game’s all about pitching, as we all know,” says UNC head coach Mike Fox, “Trevor Kelley, he’s been our savior this year, so far. He was lights out again tonight. And JB’s pitched into the sixth or seventh inning almost every start in our league. It’s amazing to me how young he is, the composure that he has.”

Aided by an incredible catch in left-field by Landon Lassiter, Kelley sat the Wolfpack down in order in the eighth, setting his team up with a perfect opportunity to steal the victory, however, three consecutive flyouts by the UNC offense ensured the game would come down to the ninth inning–if not extras.

The UNC dugout was on their feet throughout the final innings. (UNC Athletics)

The UNC dugout was on their feet throughout the final innings. (UNC Athletics)

With the State offense failing to score in the top half of the ninth, the pressure was put on NC State reliever Curt Britt, who promptly walked Joe Dudek to lead things off, and was then pulled in favor of freshman Tommy DeJuneas (1-2).

A walk to Eli Sutherland put two men on with no outs, but DeJuneas recovered for back-to-back strikeouts, before getting Brian Miller to fly out to center-field to provide the fans with some extra baseball.

Another 1-2-3 inning from Kelley put the Tar Heels in a favorable position again in the tenth, with the first three men up–Skye Bolt, Landon Lassiter, and Tyler Ramirez–loading the bases on three walks by DuJuneas, bringing Zack Gahagan to the plate with the game on the line.

And after Gahagan got hit by pitch, the Tar Heels were anti-climatic walk-off winners, not needing a single hit in the extra frame to take the win.

“They fought hard yesterday, they fought hard today. It’s one thing that some of the players know each other and want to get the win, but it’s a rivalry, so we gotta come in here and play like it,” says Gahagan.

“It’s our state. That’s what I gotta say,” adds the freshman.

Up Next:

The series will conclude with Sunday’s finale, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. On the mound for the Tar Heels will be senior Benton Moss (5-0, 3.21 ERA). Moss’s opposition will be NC State sophomore right-hander Johnny Piedmonte (1-1, 1.96 ERA). The game will be broadcast online on ESPN3, and carried on WCHL’s radio airwaves.

Game Notes:

  • Shane Shepard, the Wolfpack freshman DH who hit his first career home run in the fifth, came into the game batting just .154, and slugging .231.
  • Two games into the series, Carolina has recorded just eight hits.
  • Logan Ratledge’s homer for State in the fourth extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
  • The Tar Heels have played in extra innings their last three Saturday games (vs Miami, at Clemson, tonight).

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