Sophomore starting pitcher Austin Love was outstanding Friday evening at Boshamer Stadium, leading the No. 18 UNC baseball team to an 8-3 victory in the weekend series opener against Clemson.

Love gave up a two-run homer in the first inning, but went on to retire 19 of the next 21 batters he faced on the way to his third win of the season. Along the way, he piled up a career-high 12 strikeouts and didn’t record a single walk.

At the plate, Danny Serretti and Brett Centracchio each had three RBIs for the Tar Heels (8-4, 4-3 ACC) while Clemente Inclan had two RBIs to represent all of the Tar Heels’ scoring.

Centracchio had a solo home run and a run-scoring triple, while Inclan’s two-run blast in the seventh inning was both the second home run of his career and second home run in UNC’s last two games.

The Tar Heels scored six runs combined over the second and third innings, which allowed Love to pitch with a comfortable lead for much of the day.

Shawn Rapp pitched the final 1.1 innings for UNC, keeping Clemson (5-6) from mounting any sort of comeback.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will look to claim the series victory on Saturday, with first pitch set for 2 p.m.

 

FINAL BOX SCORE

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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