UNC Baseball Swept at Wake Forest, Demon Deacons Walk-Off Winners

Trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning Sunday–on the verge of yet another ACC loss–the No. 17 UNC baseball team was desperately in need of a spark.

Enter Tyler Lynn.

The junior college transfer from Phenix City, Alabama came off the bench and led off the frame with a game-tying solo home run–appearing to shift all momentum to the visiting dugout.

Wake Forest had other ideas, however, as sophomore Stuart Fairchild doubled home Will Craig in the bottom of the ninth against UNC reliever AJ Bogucki–giving the Demon Deacons a 3-2 victory in walk-off fashion.

Hunter Williams got his first weekend start of 2016 on Sunday, allowing a pair of homers in the third inning. (Joe Bray/ UNC Athletics)

It also completed a clean sweep for Wake Forest (26-17, 10-11 ACC), which continually saw its superstar, Craig, come up clutch against the Tar Heels (26-15, 9-12 ACC) all weekend long.

UNC head coach Mike Fox shook up his pitching rotation in another attempt to give his team some life, but it made no difference.

Lefty Hunter Williams got the call over Jason Morgan, who pitched on Wednesday against William & Mary but had been the starter in each of the team’s Sunday games in 2016.

Williams lasted just three innings, though, as he surrendered a pair of solo homers in the third–the first to Kevin Conway and the second to Craig, who now has 13 on the season.

After his offense powered the Demon Deacons to a win on Friday–and his pitching sealed the deal on Saturday–the mere threat of Craig at the plate turned out to be UNC’s undoing on Sunday.

Despite having thrown over four solid innings out of the bullpen, the call was made for Bogucki to intentionally walk Craig with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

A wild pitch allowed Craig to reach second base, which allowed him to easily score the game-winning run on Fairchild’s double down the left-field line.

Brandon Riley doubled to start the ninth for UNC, but the Tar Heels weren’t able to capitalize. (Joe Bray/ UNC Athletics)

The Tar Heels’ offensive woes continued to haunt them as Wake Forest starter Connor Johnstone held them to just four hits across seven innings.

Eli Sutherland’s RBI single in the seventh was the only time Johnstone found himself in the slightest bit of trouble.

Not until the Demon Deacons went to their bullpen did UNC get its life.

Lynn homered off Garrett Kelly to tie the game in the eighth, while freshman Brandon Riley doubled off John McCarren to lead off the ninth–putting the Tar Heels in position to take the lead.

Seven pitches and three outs later, those hopes were brought to a halt.

Fairchild’s game-winner sent UNC to its fourth straight ACC loss and 12th in total–more than any other team in the conference except for Virginia Tech, which entered Sunday with 17.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will return home to Boshamer Stadium for a non-conference battle against UNC-Wilmington on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Game Notes:

• Riley’s ninth-inning double was the only extra-base hit UNC had during the game.
• Will Craig’s 13 home runs for Wake Forest this season are more than Tyler Ramirez (seven) and Eli Sutherland (four)–the top two men on UNC’s list this year–have combined for.
• Not one time during the game Sunday did UNC have a man on third base with less than two outs.

FINAL BOX SCORE

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