Benton Moss grows as UNC baseball loses 3-2 to Virginia

If the North Carolina baseball team had any chance of beating the third-ranked Virginia Cavaliers on Friday, they needed a big outing from starting pitcher Benton Moss.

But while the Tar Heels got what they wanted from Moss, they still fell to UVa. 3-2.

"I thought Benton was sensational tonight and he certainly pitched well enough to put ourselves in a position to win," coach Mike Fox said.

Moss did everything in his power to will the Tar Heels to victory pitching 6.2 innings, allowing two unearned runs and striking out eight.

The only runs Moss allowed resulted from errors by Landon Lassiter and Alex Raburn.

"It's just baseball, you know, the pitcher can control what the pitcher can control, and after the ball leaves my hand I can't do anything," Moss said.

With two outs in the fourth inning, Lassiter overthrew first base which allowed Nick Howard to score from second.

In the seventh Raburn lost control of a grounder to third base that allowed another run to score.

"Virginia is so good at taking advantage of our mistakes and getting some big hits," Fox said.

Despite the defensive miscues, Moss only allowed four hits to the Cavaliers.

With one out in the first inning, Branden Cogswell hit a triple over the head of Skye Bolt in center field.

While the Cavaliers threatened a big inning to start the game, Moss locked in and struck out the next two batters to escape the danger.

Moss stayed in the zone when UVa. threatened again in the fifth when Nate Irving popped up a bunt intended to advance a runner at first.

Moss sprinted and dove with no regard for his body. He nestled the ball just inches away from the ground to record the out and keep the runner at first.

After the runner advanced on a steal, the ACC's leading home run hitter, Mike Papi, stepped to the plate.

Papi would go down on strikes as Moss let out a yell of exuberance to express his enthusiasm in the crucial moment.

Cogswell would be the only batter to find any success against Moss on Friday, going 3-for-3 against the righty. The rest of the UVa. team wouldn't get a hit until the seventh inning.

Down 2-0, the Tar Heels tried to fight back with a two-run home run by Wood Myers in the seventh. But Joe McCarthy scored on Derek Fisher's eighth-inning RBI single that gave UVa. the winning run.

The Tar Heels have only one more ACC tournament game Saturday against Maryland and they will look for Moss to continue his run of excellence in the NCAA tournament.

"I think that young man has a very, very bright future," UVa. coach Brian O'Conner said. "I like North Carolina's chances with that guy on the mound next weekend, hopefully advancing on."

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.