UNC baseball wins Miami series 2-1

The top-ranked North Carolina baseball team was deadlocked at one with No. 29 Miami in the bottom of the eighth Sunday with two men on base and two outs.

UNC still had the ninth inning to break the tie, but there were no guarantees the team would get as strong a chance at a run. Freshman outfielder Skye Bolt up to the plate, realizing that this kind of situation is one kids dream about.

The No. 3 hitter, Colin Moran — whom Bolt calls his mentor — looked back and smiled after being intentionally walked, offering encouragement.

The first pitch was a low fastball. Bolt thought it was a pitcher’s pitch, and he laid off. The second pitch was what he was looking for, a fastball on the inner third of the plate. Bolt pulled the trigger and sent a three-run bomb over the left field fence of Boshamer Stadium.

“I felt good contact on the ball,” Bolt said. “Kind of that trampoline effect of the ball squaring up on the barrel … I followed through and maybe I shouldn’t have, but I put my hands up in the air as soon as I hit it, and I knew it was gone.”

But he wasn’t the only one celebrating.

“I looked at Coach (Scott) Jackson down at first base and his little acrobatic self jumping up in the air, throwing his hands in the air and doing all sorts of crazy stuff,” Bolt said. “I got pumped, and as soon as I shook his hand around first base it was pretty surreal.”

Bolt’s blast gave the top-ranked Tar Heels (18-1, 5-1 ACC) a 2-1 series victory against Miami (15-7, 2-4).

The Hurricanes took the series opener Friday 4-1, handing the Tar Heels their first loss of the season.

In hindsight, the decision to intentionally walk Moran, who hit a solo home run in the first inning, and face Bolt might look like the wrong one, but Coach Mike Fox said he would have done the same thing if he had to make the decision.

“Yeah, I would have done the same thing probably,” Fox said. “Because Colin is established and you’ve got a freshman sitting there … fortunately for us it worked out. (Bolt) is pretty special.”

UNC starter” Hobbs Johnson,”:http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2013/02/hes-back-in-the-bullpen who had issues with his forearm earlier in the season, worked through five innings, giving up one earned run, three hits, three walks and striking out seven.

“(My forearm) felt fine today,” Johnson said. “Happy we got the win, but I didn’t feel like I pitched very well. I am still working my way back, but I’d like to be a little sharper.”

Though the outing wasn’t as neat as he would have liked, Johnson managed to work out of a few jams and get UNC deep enough into the game to hand it over to relief pitchers, Trevor Kelley and Chris McCue, who combined for four innings and allowed just four hits.

Kelley went 1 1/3 innings, giving up one hit and walking one, having faced six batters. McCue pitched 2 2/3 innings, striking out one, having faced 11 batters.

The Hurricanes’ sole win of the series came against ace Kent Emanuel, who allowed four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings on Friday.

The Tar Heels got a more efficient outing Saturday from starter Benton Moss. He pitched seven innings, taking a no-hitter into the sixth, to lead the Tar Heels to a 14-2 victory.

“We’ve got the capability of being a good offensive team,” Fox said. “But pitching is the name of the game.

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.