The Diamond Heels lost a game they should have won Friday night in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament, stranding 10 runners on base (including the tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth) in a 5-4 loss to Iowa. Carolina will now play to extend its season tomorrow afternoon against Wright State.

UNC may as well have marched to the plate without a bat once runners got on base, and it would have been just as effective as what actually happened. Before a three-run rally in the ninth, the Tar Heels hadn’t recorded a single hit with runners on base. That mediocrity served as poor support for starting pitcher Jake Knapp, who only mustered 2.1 innings while surrendering three runs to the Hawkeyes. Carolina’s bullpen was able to keep the Iowa bats in check for much of the rest of the game, but two runs in the bottom of the eighth proved to be the difference.

In the ninth, the UNC bats finally woke up to the tune of a two-run home run by Alberto Osuna (his sacrifice fly in the fourth had scored the only Carolina run to that point). The Tar Heels continued to threaten for the rest of the frame, scoring another run on a double by Jackson Van De Brake and putting runners on second and third with one out. But consecutive strikeouts by Tomas Frick and Hunter Stokely served as a fitting end to the frustrating evening, and now the Tar Heels are one loss away from a frustrating season meeting a frustrating conclusion.

UNC will face Wright State on Saturday at 12 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

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