If traveling all the way across the country is supposed to have any effect on baseball players, the Long Beach State pitching staff has yet to show it.

The Dirtbags clinched a series victory at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday, after limiting the eighth-ranked Tar Heels to just five hits in a 4-1 win.

Junior second baseman Zack Gahagan went 3-for-5 at the plate for UNC (8-3), but the rest of the team combined to go just 2-for-26.

Head coach Mike Fox made a slight switch to his pitching rotation for the game, moving 6-foot-6 freshman Luca Dalatri–last week’s ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week–into the Saturday starting spot in place of junior Jason Morgan.

Coming off a 15-strikeout performance against Radford last Sunday, Dalatri struck out just three Dirtbags in this one.

The New Jersey native allowed only two earned runs during a solid six-inning stint on the mound, but earned his first collegiate loss due to the lack of offensive support.

Long Beach State (6-4) didn’t need to do anything incredible to win, either. The Dirtbags kept it simple and grinded out a single run in four different innings, including the ninth.

Four different players recorded RBIs for the visitors, with three of them coming by way of singles–and the other on a sacrifice fly.

This loss was more about the Tar Heels inability to find any type of momentum at the plate, an issue that has plagued the team heavily in recent seasons.

Up Next:

UNC will attempt to reverse the trend in Sunday’s series finale, as it looks to avoid a four-game losing streak, and a sweep at the hands of Long Beach State. First pitch is set for noon.

Game Notes:

  • The Tar Heels went 0-for-15 with runners on base, and 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
  • John Sheaks (1-1) was credited with the win, after pitching the first 5.1 innings for Long Beach State.
  • Freshman catcher Brandon Martorano drove in the only UNC run in the third inning with an RBI groundout, which tied the game at 1-1.

 

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