Tar Heels Take Their Talents to Pittsburgh

ACC baseball play continues this weekend with the 11-5 Tar Heels, ranked 11th in the country, taking their talents up north to face the 6-8 Pittsburgh Panthers. The Panthers are 1-2 in conference play after dropping two out of three against Virginia last weekend, while UNC is 2-1 in the ACC so far with the recent series win over Duke.

Last week, each of these teams received phenomenal performances from their starting pitchers.

Carolina got 12 strikeouts and seven innings from Zac Gallen in a win over Duke, but it was Pittsburgh sophomore TJ Zeusch who was named ACC Pitcher of the Week.

Zeusch struck out eight Virginia batters in eight scoreless innings to hand the third-ranked Cavaliers their first loss of the season, something UNC head coach Mike Fox is all too aware of.

Pittsburgh sophomore right-hander TJ Zeusch was named ACC Pitcher of the Week for his outing against #3 Virginia. (Pitt Athletics)

“They had a really close series in those first two games. The kid (Zeusch) pitched great against Virginia (winning) 1-0, in what was his first time up there playing on turf,” Coach Fox says.

The emergence of Carolina’s freshman duo of first baseman Zack Gahagan and infielder Logan Warmoth has energized the Tar Heel lineup.

Warmoth, who is tied for third on the team in hits, began the year at third base, but has since moved over to shortstop for the injured Wood Myers.

Gahagan is second on the team with two home runs and 11 RBI, despite having only started in half of UNC’s 16 games, trailing in each category to right-fielder Tyler Ramirez, who spoke about the progression of his young teammates.

“I’ve been really impressed. Those two have worked all fall, all spring to get to where they’re at now,” Ramirez says, “I think everybody’s seeing that on the field, just how hard they work and how good of attitudes they have, and I’m really glad to see they’re having success. But I also think it comes down to our leaders on our team, which have been helping guide them.”

Coach Fox, too, has been quite impressed with what he’s seen from the two young guns, who are also roommates.

“Zack’s really confident right now. He’s a good player, and he’s been swinging the bat good. He stepped up there with runners in scoring position and attacked the first fastball he saw (against Gardner-Webb), the single to right. He’s very athletic over at first, got a good approach to the game, very calm, listens, he’s very coachable, very teachable, and Logan’s the same way,” Coach says, “They’re gonna be good players.”

Zack Gahagan has started to earn the bulk of the playing time at first base. (UNC Athletics)

This weekend, UNC’s contributions from its infield defense, including Warmoth and Gahagan, will be crucial to securing wins in a tough road environment, along with great pitching, adds Coach Fox.

“Any time you go on the road in this league, you’ve got your hands full,” Fox says, “From everything we hear, it’s a tough place to play. They’re very well coached, they’ll be playing at home. We’ll have to pitch (well) and play great defense in order to be in every game, and hope we get a big key hit here or there.”

First pitch of the series is scheduled for 3 P.M. on Friday, with the Tar Heels sending Zac Gallen to the mound likely to match up with the Panthers’ TJ Zeusch.

Myers Injury Update:

UNC shortstop Wood Myers has been officially diagnosed with a broken left fibula, and his status will be updated after he has surgery sometime next week. The injury was suffered Tuesday in the loss to Coastal Carolina as Myers turned back towards first base after hitting a single.

Tar Heels Take Their Talents to Pittsburgh

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