Ranked No. 10 in this week’s D1Baseball.com Top 25, the UNC baseball team has sprinted out to a hot start behind a group of pitchers who seem completely uninterested in allowing opponents to score.

That trend continued at Boshamer Stadium on Friday–with the Tar Heels also receiving some offense to match–during UNC’s 7-2 series-opening victory over the Miami Hurricanes.

Junior starting pitcher JB Bukauskas improved to 4-0 for in 2017, as he used his overpowering repertoire to strike out nine Hurricane hitters over seven shutout innings.

The Tar Heel offense was led by freshman Ashton McGee, who went 3-for-5 with an RBI and continued to make quite the impression hitting out of the number three spot for head coach Mike Fox.

Miami (10-12, 3-4 ACC) pulled starter Jesse Lepore prior to the fourth inning after he struggled to find the strike zone in any way, shape or form.

UNC (17-5, 5-2 ACC) rocked the right-hander for five runs on seven hits during the first three frames, while drawing five walks as well. Of Lepore’s 87 pitches in the game, only 44 went for strikes.

Four innings into the game, the Tar Heels held a commanding 6-0 lead.

This, of course, proved to be way more than enough for Bukauskas and a UNC pitching staff with a microscopic ERA of 2.21 entering the weekend.

The Hurricanes tacked on their only two runs in the top of the eighth against Jason Morgan, who was making a rare relief appearance after being a part of the starting rotation for parts of the last two seasons–perhaps signaling a change in UNC’s plans moving forward.

Morgan came into the game with the highest ERA on the team, and was pulled before he had a chance to finish off the eighth.

His struggles have been just a minor blip on the radar, however, for a Tar Heel team that continues to build a strong lead atop the ACC Coastal Division here in the first third of the conference season.

With pitching this dominant, it’s not crazy to think this UNC squad could compete for a league title despite missing the conference tournament completely in 2016.

Up Next:

Freshman sensation Luca Dalatri (2-2, 2.41 ERA) will take the mound for UNC on Saturday against Miami, with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

Game Notes:

  • Bukauskas lowered his personal ERA to 0.90 this season, and now has 60 strikeouts compared to just nine walks in his 40 innings on the mound.
  • UNC has now won the Friday series opener in all three of its ACC series.
  • No Tar Heel opponent has scored more than five runs in a single game this season.
  • McGee’s 13 hits against ACC competition leads all Tar Heels in that category.

 

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