UNC kicked off its run through the NCAA Baseball Tournament with a bang on Friday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium, as sophomore first baseman Michael Busch homered and drove in five runs in the Tar Heels’ 11-0 victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies.

Busch hit a three-run homer–his 12th of the season–in the bottom of the fourth inning to help remove any doubt about the outcome of the game. This came after the sophomore hit a two-run double in the third to help break what had been a scoreless tie up to that point.

His five RBIs were the most by a UNC player in the NCAA Tournament since Garrett Gore accomplished the same feat back in 2009.

On the mound, Cooper Criswell tossed six shutout innings for the Tar Heels (39-18), while a total of four UNC pitchers combined to strike out 10 NC A&T hitters without walking a single one.

 “It was good to get a win in game one,” head coach Mike Fox said afterwards. “I thought Cooper [Criswell] was really good for us. Pitching is still the name of the game, pitching and defense, and I thought we did that pretty well today. It was a good, clean win for us… Everybody contributed and I’m glad to get a win.”

Up Next:

UNC will now face No. 3 seed Houston on Saturday as part of the winner’s bracket in the regional. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

 

 

FINAL BOX SCORE

 

 

 

Photo via Jeffrey A. Camarati (UNC Athletics)

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