On a night promoted by Boshamer Stadium as “Fireworks Friday” because of the show put on after the game, Skye Bolt accidentally set them off a bit early.
Bolt’s solo home run in the bottom of the seventh led the Tar Heel baseball team to a 2-1 win over the arch-rival NC State Wolfpack on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd at the Bosh, while Zac Gallen (2-2) went the full nine innings in a masterful display on the mound.
“It couldn’t be more opportune of a time to face these guys,” says Bolt, “It’s Carolina baseball, the battle for the state of North Carolina. We’ve been fortunate to come out on the upper hand the past few years.”
“This marks up the ranks, you go from high school to college, I mean you can talk about Boston vs. the Yankees, it’s what you play for. Shoot it’s Friday night, it doesn’t get any better than this.”
Winners of four straight, Carolina boosts its record to 21-13, and 8-8 in the ACC, while NC State falls to 19-13 with a 7-8 mark in league play.
Skye Bolt points to the heavens after his late home run on Friday. (UNC Athletics)
For the majority of the game, offense was missing in action, as a duel between the two starting pitchers dominated the early phase of the night, albeit with two completely different approaches.
NC State starting pitcher Cory Wilder walked three Tar Heels to load the bases in the bottom of the first inning, but with two outs already, the sophomore right-hander was able to strike out UNC first baseman Adrian Chacon to wiggle out of the early jam–continuing UNC’s season-long struggle with men in scoring position.
Presented with a similar opportunity in the bottom of the third (thanks to two more walks by Wilder), runners stood on first and second for the red-hot Tar Heel right-fielder, sophomore Tyler Ramirez, who slapped an RBI single to left, scoring Brian Miller and putting the home team out in front.
Ramirez’s hit was UNC’s first of the night, and only one through the first three innings (and one of just three for the entire game).
Luckily for them, Zac Gallen was in full control on the mound for Carolina. The sophomore showed great command of his fastball on Friday night, continually throwing first pitch strikes, which kept the Wolfpack lineup back on their heels.
Brian Miller hustles around third base to score the game’s first run on Tyler Ramirez’s RBI single. (UNC Athletics)
“Early in the game, my cutter wasn’t on, so I knew if I could establish the strikes, I could then manipulate my fastball to where they would swing at some bad counts,” Gallen says.
“If I could just get ahead of guys and get [an] 0-1 [count], then I was gonna be in charge.”
While his offense couldn’t seem to find any sort of rhythm against Wilder (besides drawing walks), Gallen held onto the shutout until the top of the sixth inning.
The Wolfpack led-off the frame with back-to-back singles from Logan Ratledge and Preston Palmeiro, and eventually scored the tying run on a two-out throwing error by freshman third baseman Zack Gahagan, on what should have been an inning-ending groundout.
Not until then did the Tar Heels manage a second base-hit, as second baseman Eli Sutherland singled to right-field with two outs in the their half of the sixth, ending the night for Cory Wilder.
Cory Wilder struggled with his control early on, but was tough for the Tar Heels to hit. (D1baseball.com)
In total, Wilder worked 5.2 innings and allowed one run on just two hits while striking out seven. However, he walked six batters during his time on the mound, pushing his pitch count to 105, which forced reliever Joe O’Donnell (4-2) to come in and get the final out of the frame.
Still trucking on, though, was Gallen, who had thrown just 66 pitches through the first six innings, showing the difference that good pitch control can have on a game.
“That’s what every pitcher needs to do. Obviously, it changes the whole dynamic of the at-bat for the hitter,” says Carolina head coach Mike Fox, “It’s pretty common knowledge that 1-0 and 0-1 [are] the two biggest counts in baseball, it changes everything.”
“That’s why Gallen’s good, he’s got good command,” adds the coach.
Wolfpack shortstop Joel McKeithan finally drew the first walk of night from Gallen, to begin the seventh, but Gallen recovered to retire the next three men up.
After Bolt’s home run in the seventh gave UNC the lead back, there was no chance Gallen would let it slip away again.
Teammates congratulate Zac Gallen after finishing off the ninth. (UNC Athletics)
He tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning, before making his way back out to the mound to begin the ninth, much to the delight of the home crowd.
“It’s huge, I don’t have words for it, I just went out there, felt alright, and just tried to keep us in the game,” says Gallen, “Coach Forbes said ‘you feel good?’ [after the eighth], and I said ‘yeah, I’m coming right back out there’…I wasn’t letting him take me out.”
And he would not disappoint his fans, or his coaches, finishing off the complete game win with a perfect ninth inning, getting NC State pinch hitter Bubby Riley to pop out to end the ballgame.
Up Next:
Another sell-out crowd is expected at Boshamer Stadium for Saturday’s second game against the Wolfpack. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m., with UNC’s dynamic freshman, JB Bukauskas (3-1, 2.66 ERA) taking the mound opposite NC State’s freshman lefty Brian Brown (3-2, 2.88 ERA).
Game Notes:
- Gallen threw a strike on the first pitch to 24 of the 35 NC State batters he faced on the night.
- Tyler Ramirez is 9-17 with 8 RBI over the last four games for the Tar Heels. The right-fielder contributed to those numbers on Friday by going 1-3 with a walk and an RBI.
- NC State’s top three hitters (based on batting average) were ranked 3rd, 4th, and 6th in the ACC (Logan Ratledge- .380, Preston Palmeiro- .378, and Jake Fincher- .375) coming into the game.
- Bolt’s home run gives him five on the season–leading UNC in that category all by himself now.
