Behind the bats of unheralded redshirt freshman Will Stewart and star shortstop Danny Serretti, the No. 3 seed UNC baseball team held on for a 5-4 victory on Friday night over No. 2 seed UCLA in its opening game of the NCAA Tournament.

Stewart came into the night having started just two games this season due to a hand injury — each back in March against Clemson — but stepped up huge with two hits and three RBIs over the first four innings as the designated hitter on Friday.

“We thought Will would have 100 or 150 at-bats possibly this season,” head coach Scott Forbes said about Stewart’s inclusion to the lineup. “He was a starter for us last year. But he kept lifting. He kept working. And I just felt like, ‘Hey, he’s looked good.’ That’s just a situation where you go with your gut.”

Serretti added a two-run homer with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, which added just enough insurance for the Tar Heels (27-24) to weather a late rally by UCLA (35-19).

It took a crucial at-bat from Angel Zarate to set up Serretti’s opportunity, though, as Zarate battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk and keep the inning alive.

“I was telling the guys earlier, I think that what allowed [the home run] to happen was Angel’s at-bat,” Serretti told reporters. “Down 0-2 and he worked the walk there. That pretty much won the game right there.”

The Bruins trailed 3-2 when Serretti hit his home run, but clawed back within one after scoring a run in the bottom of both the seventh and eighth innings.

Reliever Gage Gillian came in to pitch the ninth inning for the Tar Heels and retired three of the four hitters he faced — including a pair of strikeouts — to seal up the victory.

First Team All-ACC performer Austin Love played a huge role on the mound as well for UNC, limiting a UCLA offense which ranks 26th nationally in scoring offense to just three earned runs across 6.2 innings while striking out nine hitters.

“He pitched a heck of a game,” UCLA centerfielder Kevin Kendall — who went 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI — said about Love’s performance. “He definitely did his part. He did a great job of commanding his three pitches. Kept us off balance. We had our opportunities and capitalized on some. But at the end of the day, it just wasn’t enough.”

The Tar Heels also received a big lift offensively from first baseman Brett Centracchio, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will face No. 1 seed Texas Tech — the NCAA Lubbock regional host — on Saturday night at 9 p.m.

 

FINAL BOX SCORE

 

Photo via NCAA Media

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