UNC Baseball Pulls Away Late, Beats VCU in NCAA Tournament Opener

The Diamond Heels scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to blow open Friday night’s NCAA Tournament opener against VCU and win 8-0 at Boshamer Stadium.

𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 😤#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/WCeNlIxO6L

— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) May 30, 2026

“Credit to our guys,” head coach Scott Forbes said afterward. “I thought they played really well in all phases… VCU has a really good team. Very well coached. Tough lineup. They made some big pitches, so it took us a while to get more runs late, which was good to see.”

Starting pitcher Ryan Lynch was brilliant in seven shutout innings, putting together his longest start of the month of May and earning his fifth win of the season. Lynch allowed only two hits and struck out five Ram batters, including the final two he faced. It was his first start of the season in which he didn’t allow a run.

“The last couple of weeks, we haven’t done our job,” Lynch said of the pitching staff. “We haven’t gone nearly long enough. A lot of inefficient outings. Not putting our team in the best spot to win. So I just tried to do whatever I could this week to make sure that wasn’t the case anymore.”

Lynch threw a career high 108 pitches, but sophomore still expressed openness to pitching again during the regional. That statement drew a smile from Forbes and first baseman Erik Paulsen sitting on the interview dais.

“He just works his tail off every day,” Paulsen said of Lynch. “So seeing him go out there and dominate like that, it’s all because of the work he puts in.”

“Obviously, my job is to tell Ryan that he may not be available,” Forbes said. “That’s old school. That’s what you appreciate. We need more of that in college sports. Guys that care about winning first over everything else.”

In support of Lynch, the UNC offense banged out 12 hits, including three from Cooper Nicholson. Nicholson collected an RBI single as part of a three-run first inning before launching a solo home run in the third, which would be Carolina’s last run until its four-run rally in the eighth inning. Paulsen finished with three RBI, two of which came on a first-inning double. All of UNC’s first inning runs scored with two outs.

“I thought that first inning was the key for us,” said Forbes. “You’ve gotta do things like that in the postseason to win big games. Two quick outs, and then boom-boom-boom. Next thing you know, we’ve put three on you.”

The Diamond Heels will be back in action when they face East Carolina in the regional’s 1-0 game Saturday at 5 p.m. The Pirates defeated Tennessee in 14 innings in the regional’s opening game. VCU will face the Volunteers in the day’s first game at 12 p.m. with the loser being eliminated from the regional.

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

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UNC Baseball Pulls Away Late, Beats VCU in NCAA Tournament Opener

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