UNC baseball explodes for 48 runs over three days in sweep of Boston College

The No. 5 North Carolina baseball team swept Boston College (9-20, 1-14 ACC) over the weekend. UNC (26-6 10-3 ACC) was powered to victory by its prolific offensive performance. The Tar Heels collected a record-setting 47 hits and 48 runs over the course of the three game series in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

“I’m really proud of our team,” head coach Mike Fox said. “Our kids, they were ready. They were ready from the first pitch to the last this weekend.”

Though North Carolina got an unusually shaky performance from its number one starting pitcher in the series' first game, the team still found a way to win 17-7.

In his shortest appearance of the season, junior pitcher J.B. Bukauskas allowed seven runs in four innings. But, this wasn’t a problem for UNC as, in an incredible display of depth, every starter either drove in or scored a run in the game.

After Boston College took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Tar Heel offense went into overdrive. Sophomore third baseman Kyle Datres got things started off by tying the game with a solo home run to left center in the top of the fifth.

“We felt great,” Datres said. “We just went out and took care of business like we had to.”

Junior outfielder Brian Miller followed Datres’ lead in the sixth inning, as he sent a two-run home run over the right-field wall to make it 9-7.

North Carolina would score five more runs in the inning, four of which came from a grand slam to left field by junior infielder Zack Gahagan. The grand slam was the first of Gahagan’s career and the first for the team this season.

“I didn’t know what to think about it until I got to home, but it sparked us up and it led us to an incredible series,” Gahagan said.

UNC tacked on three more runs in the seventh while four shutout innings from sophomore reliever Rodney Hutchinson delivered the 17-7 victory.

The Tar Heels’ offense kept up the intensity in the second game of the series, as it collected a season-high 20 hits in the contest.

By the end of the second inning, North Carolina already had a 3-0 lead established. Gahagan extended this lead in the third as he hit his second home run in as many days to make it 5-0. Not to be outdone, Datres hit his second home run of the series in the fourth inning. The three-run shot made it 8-0.

Boston College answered with a run in the sixth but by this point it was too little too late for the Eagles, as the Tar Heels cruised to a 16-4 victory. First-year pitcher Gianluca Dalatri picked up the first ACC win of his career in the victory.

“We just went into the box and competed on every pitch from beginning to end,” Datres said. “We’ve had some games where we’ve let off towards the end and we didn’t do that this weekend. We finished off games well.”

Datres finished the weekend with seven hits, eight RBIs and two home runs.

The final game brought more of the same for North Carolina. At the end of the third, UNC had a 10-1 lead, thanks in part to a five-run second inning. Though the Eagles would scrape together three runs, the Tar Heels would add on five more of their own to bring the final score to 15-3.

First-year pitcher Austin Bergner, who has been solid in relief all year, picked up the win in his first start of the season.

The victory gave North Carolina its second sweep of the year in conference play. UNC’s 48 runs were the most the team has scored against an ACC opponent in a three-game series since the conference switched over to the three-game format in 1990.

“Our players are confident; its been everybody throughout our lineup,” Fox said. “We haven’t been relying on one player and that's the sign of a good team.”

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