Baseball drags Elon 16-0

North Carolina outfielder Jeff Bouton has seen little time at the plate this season. But when he earned the start in Tuesday night’s bout against Elon, the freshman made his time count.

In the fourth inning of a scoreless game, the UNC right fielder stepped to the plate with a runner on second and two outs. On a first-pitch fastball, Bouton smacked a single up the middle for the first hit and RBI of his career.

Bouton would add another hit and two more RBI in support of starter Kent Emanuel in what became a 16-0 laugher for the Tar Heels.

“As I walked up there, I was just trying to stay through the middle, trying to pull through and just take a nice easy swing,” Bouton said. “Just to get a couple hits and a couple RBIs for the team feels great. Everyone was picking me up when I scored and got those RBIs. Everyone was yelling my name … I’m on cloud nine right now.”

Ultimately, one run would have been enough for the left-handed Emanuel, who blanked the Phoenix through six innings of work. Emanuel pounded the strike zone with his cut fastball, yielding only one hit and one walk while striking out five.

“He just takes control of the game,” Bouton said. “He can field his position. He can throw strikes. He doesn’t overthrow. He just does his thing, and it’s working.”

That was the second win for the precocious freshman, and for the No. 14 Tar Heels (12-1), it was their sixth victory in a row.

“He pitched great again,” second baseman Tommy Coyle said. “We kind of knew he’d be real good, seeing him pitch this fall. And after his first performance, we kind of expected that out of him today.”

Emanuel was matched up against Elon’s Dylan Clark, and through three innings, the southpaws traded zeroes and surrendered only a hit a piece. But in the middle innings, the complexion of the game changed dramatically from what seemed like a pitcher’s duel to a blowout.

The Tar Heels were aided by an erratic showing from Elon’s pitching staff, which issued 13 free passes on the night. While the starter, Clark, was able to push through early unscathed, his lack of command caught up to him in the fifth inning when he was pulled after loading the bases.

The Tar Heels sent 11 batters to the plate that inning, pushing across five runs, four of which were charged to Clark.

“We just don’t want to give teams like this any momentum,” coach Mike Fox said. “Once we got up six to nothing, I felt like they didn’t feel like they could beat us.”

Along with Bouton’s career day, third baseman Colin Moran and Coyle paced the offense. After leaving four runners on base earlier in the game, Moran drove in five with hits in the fifth and eighth innings.

Coyle, in contrast, played the role of the table setter, swiping three bags and reaching base five times. The sophomore went 3 for 4 while drawing a walk and a hit by pitch.
And he batted twice in the game-changing, five-run fifth.

“Usually its a breakout inning that wins a game for you,” Coyle said. “I kinda felt like we had it coming, so it’s kind of good that we got it earlier rather than later.”

The Tar Heels will wrap up their 10-game home stand Wednesday against St. John’s. It will be the team’s final tune up before it begins conference play at Wake Forest on Friday.

“We’ll get a whole different story tomorrow with St. John’s,” Fox said. “They’ll come in here with a little attitude, and they’re a good team. We can’t look past them.”