In just his second start at North Carolina, sophomore righty Cody Stiles took a deep breath before delivering his first pitch.
Four balls later, Davidson’s Jack McLindon jogged to first base. Followed by a double, the Wildcats struck early against the Tar Heel pitcher.
But Stiles regained his composure to earn his first career win on a hectic Wednesday for UNC’s pitching staff, as nine total Tar Heels spent time on the mound.
“Slow start — four-pitch walk to lead off the game and a double, but Cody’s kind of a work in progress,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “But then he settled in and did a nice job, and we were just trying to run a bunch of guys and get a lot of guys some work today.”
Giving up two hits and two earned runs, Stiles threw a wild pitch and struggled to find the strike zone. After settling down, the sophomore finished with a strong performance in his remaining three innings.
Stiles was then followed by eight other Tar Heels who left the bullpen for the field in North Carolina’s 14-6 victory.
“We didn’t pitch very well,” Fox said. “We had nine walks — which is way too many — but we got a lot of guys in the game.”
Three true freshmen competed with the host of relievers for the game’s remaining innings. Although walks plagued all but three of the pitchers, the game gave the team’s youth experience.
Freshman Andrew Smith put in an inning of work to contribute three strikeouts to the staff’s total of 10. Redshirt senior Bryant Gaines threw a similarly commendable effort to grab Fox’s attention as the righty struck out two Wildcats in his one inning.
