Tar Heels take down UNC-G Spartans in road game

GREENSBORO — Let no one say that the No. 17 North Carolina baseball team doesn’t have a flair for the dramatic.

The Tar Heels had hits in every inning, but it wasn’t until well after night had fallen in Greensboro that UNC (16-6) made its move. After trailing the entire game to UNC-Greensboro, the Tar Heels jumped out to take the lead in the eighth and hung on for a 4-3 win.

UNC’s Jesse Wierzbicki started the eighth inning with a solo home run high over the left field wall to bring the score to 3-2.

Following the homer, the Tar Heels created a walk and a hit, then scored the tying run off a wild pitch. They finally took a 4-3 lead on an error by the second baseman.

“We talked about starting the game on a good note, and not giving a team that we’ve beaten some confidence,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “We really had to fight hard for this one.”

UNC-G jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but as the night wore on, the game turned into a grinder.

Spartan Colby Hyatt allowed just a single run in six innings, but his teammates couldn’t find a way to add on to their lead. The Spartans (11-9) didn’t have another hit until the sixth inning.

And despite seven hits of their own, the Tar Heels managed just one run in the first seven innings. UNC left 12 runners on base in the game.

Garrett Davis, who pitched five innings of a 12-2 rout of UNC-G on Feb. 23, had the start Wednesday. The right-hander’s second outing against the Spartans didn’t begin nearly as smoothly.

A pair of infield hits and a walk loaded the bases in the first before UNC-G had its first out. Davis then gave up a sacrifice fly and three more hits, giving the Spartans an early 3-0 lead.

But Davis quickly made the inning seem like a fluke. He pitched three more innings and didn’t give up another hit, giving the Tar Heels an opportunity to get back into it.

“A couple things didn’t go my way, but I think that’s one of the biggest steps I’ve taken the past couple years, just not panicking and not overthinking,” Davis said.

Davis gave up four hits and three earned runs in four innings, with three strikeouts and a walk.

His relief pitchers struggled as well. Left-hander Zach Bernard came in, walked a batter and was promptly replaced with freshman Chris Munnelly.

Initially, Munnelly wasn’t much better, but he regained his poise and managed to get out of the inning without allowing a run.

All-in-all, UNC placed six pitchers on the mound on Wednesday night.

“We had to use too many guys, and we used some of them we didn’t want to with Georgia Tech coming in here Friday,” Fox said. “But that’s the nature of it.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.