Florida State drops Heels late in series

Long after North Carolina had raced to two early leads on Friday and Sunday and long after the Tar Heels had subsequently lost each with late rallies by Florida State, UNC coach Mike Fox dropped a quite unexpected line during his postgame interview.

“I don’t think the story Friday or today is our bullpen,” Fox said Sunday. “I was really proud of the guys that we brought in today.”

Sure, No. 17 UNC (15-6, 2-4 ACC) had entered the eighth inning of both games with leads of at least two runs. And sure, the Tar Heels squandered away each game, but Fox wasn’t biting on the blame game of sorts.

North Carolina had lost the series to No. 4 FSU, two games to one, but Fox argued that he couldn’t be more pleased.

He had gotten another absolute gem from his staff’s ace, Matt Harvey, on Friday. The junior pitched seven innings, while allowing just two hits and no runs. Only when Harvey exited did the Seminoles (15-4, 3-3 ACC) begin to resemble an offensive dynamite.

When they did, UNC pitchers Jimmy Messer and Greg Holt were FSU’s victims. They were lit up for five hits and three earned runs, and the Tar Heels fell 4-3.

“I’m disappointed with the way I pitched on Friday,” Holt said. “I feel OK (with what I’m throwing). But I’m still struggling with my two-strike pitches and finishing batters.”

On Saturday, redshirt junior Colin Bates miscued early, as FSU jumped on him with two runs. The UNC bats emphatically responded.

UNC grabbed the lead in the second inning and never looked back, as the Tar Heels battered the Seminoles pitching staff in a 10-4 win.

UNC’s offense continued to sizzle Sunday — especially after first baseman Dillon Hazlett hammered a double to a gap in the right, pushing in three runs.

But when Florida State pitcher Brian Busch entered in the third inning, that all changed. Only one hit followed and no more runs occurred during his six innings on the mound.

 “The story today was Busch just shut us down from the third inning on,” Fox said.

Still, it wasn’t as though Florida State was having much luck against North Carolina starter Patrick Johnson. In five innings of work, the junior recorded six strikeouts and allowed just one run.

Even so, Johnson eventually wore down, forcing Fox to signal his bullpen — one of the team’s question marks entering the season.

With the departure of Brian Moran to the Seattle Mariners via the MLB Draft and with the transition to starting pitching for Bates, Fox and pitching coach Scott Forbes have been left with few options.

One such option has been Holt. And on Sunday, Fox again called for him. But, after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, Holt allowed a homer in the seventh.

“It’s something they’re going to have to work through,” senior Ryan Graepel said of the bullpen’s struggles. “They really didn’t do that bad of a job. They just got a couple unlucky breaks today.”

FSU scored four runs in the eighth and ninth innings and won 5-3.

“I think that was the key to our bullpen; we just couldn’t finish,” Fox said. “We just couldn’t finish guys off.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.