Heading into the seventh inning stretch, it appeared as if the No. 16 UNC baseball team was in position to open the year with a series win against one of the nation’s top programs.

Instead, the Tar Heels will have to wait until Sunday–as the No. 11 Bruins rallied to win 6-5 on Saturday after a walk-off infield single by right fielder Eric Filia, just the fourth hit produced by the Bruin offense all night long.

Each team is now 1-1 to start 2016, despite UNC manufacturing 12 hits in the game. Eight of the nine hitters in the new-look Tar Heel lineup picked up at least one.

Sophomore starting pitcher JB Bukauskas used his 97 mph fastball to help strike out nine hitters, but threw 85 pitches across 4.2 innings.

He gave up four runs on the day, but only two were earned–as the pitchers showed they haven’t all quite shaken off the offseason rust just yet.

Free passes were a problem in this one, as UNC walked the Bruins seven times–including three to third baseman Luke Persico, whose expense-covered trip to first base in the ninth inning later turned into the game-winning run.

Persico stole second base, then came around to score on the lightly hit single by Filia that found its way up the middle.

He was also on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, when a wild pitch by UNC reliever Hansen Butler allowed UCLA to tie the game back at 5-5.

UCLA's Eric Filia drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 9th. (Getty Images file photo/Stephen Dunn)

UCLA’s Eric Filia drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 9th. (Getty Images file photo/Stephen Dunn)

The reason Bukauskas was pulled by pitching coach Scott Forbes in the fifth was because he issued back-to-back walks.

UCLA’s Kort Peterson immediately singled both runners home against reliever Zach Rice in the at-bat following Bukauskas’ removal, giving the home team its first lead of the day.

Griffin Canning, the Bruins’ starter, struggled against the revamped Tar Heel offense all day though.

UNC took a 3-0 lead off Canning in the second inning, starting with an RBI single by shortstop Logan Warmoth. Junior right fielder Adam Pate followed Warmoth in the order with a run-scoring double, and later came home on a groundout by freshman catcher Cody Roberts.

Pate’s single off Canning in the top of the sixth tied the game up at 4-4, setting the stage again for Roberts, who gave the Tar Heels a 5-4 lead with a single to left field–ending the day for the Bruin pitcher before he could record an out in the frame.

However, the Bruin bullpen locked things down–tossing four shutout innings as the offense clawed back to pick up the victory.

Up Next:

The rubber match in the series is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. tomorrow, with 6-foot-6 righty Jason Morgan on the mound for UNC against UCLA freshman Kyle Molnar.

Game Notes:

  • Eric Filia, who picked up the game-winning hit, has had to sit out each of the last two seasons–2014 due to a shoulder issue and 2015 due to an academic suspension.
  • Tar Heel pitchers combined to strike out 16 hitters.
  • The win was credited to UCLA reliever Tucker Forbes (1-0) while the loss went to Hansen Butler (0-1).
  • UNC put the lead-off man on base in five out of the nine innings.

 

FINAL BOX SCORE

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