Wierzbicki helps UNC baseball’s offense come to life

After earning not a single hit in North Carolina’s 4-2 win against UNC-Charlotte on Tuesday, Tar Heel first baseman Jesse Wierzbicki decided he needed some extra practice.

So instead of celebrating the UNC victory after the game, the hard-hitting senior went back to the drawing board.

“He wasn’t really happy with his performance,” North Carolina coach Mike Fox said. “Jesse’s kind of a grinder. He’s a hard-working kid. He just went back and hit off the tee and did some work on his own.”

Wierzbicki was the last Tar Heel to leave Boshamer Stadium that night. But in Wednesday’s 14-6 win against Davidson College, he witnessed his extra work pay off in a big way.

Putting the previous game’s disappointments behind him, Wierzbicki sent a third-inning pitch out of the park.

“It was actually a hit-and-run pitch,” Wierzbicki said. “Hit-and-runs you pretty much gotta swing, and I got a fat fastball, so it was a good pitch to hit.”

The game served as an early-season trial run for coach Mike Fox’s pitching staff, as nine different UNC pitchers saw time on the mound.

Centerfielder Ben Bunting led North Carolina batters with three hits in six at-bats and three RBI.

Wierzbicki was pleased with the mid-week win, but he was even more enthusiastic about the ample opportunities he and his teammates had to get the bats off their shoulders.

“It’s good to just get some at-bats, even if it’s not weekend pitching,” he said. “These guys still have some good arms out there. Any kind of practice you can get is definitely good for the team. It was nice for us to swing the bats today.”

Wierzbicki’s home run was a much-needed morale boost for UNC, but he wasn’t the only Tar Heel to shine in the third inning.

After closing the second inning with a 3-2 lead, UNC was searching for a burst of momentum. And with a little help from shaky Davidson pitching, that’s exactly what it got.

Wildcat hurler Ryan Overcash struck out Jacob Stallings to open the third inning, but two hit batters and two Wildcat errors later, the Tar Heels closed the inning with a six-run lead.

North Carolina batted around during the inning — and then some. Eleven Tar Heels reached the plate, and UNC registered five hits.
After receiving the spark they needed, the Tar Heels never looked back.

Davidson slashed UNC’s lead with a four-run rally in the sixth, but four more North Carolina runs in the seventh sealed the deal for the Tar Heels.

Despite walking nine batters, UNC pitchers gave up only six hits during the game, while Tar Heel batters racked up 18.

After watching some of his team leaders struggle through a sluggish start to the 2011 campaign, Fox was grateful for the opportunity to see his players perform as well as they did.

And earning a win in the process — well, that was good, too.

“Sometimes you need a game like this, you know, where you bang out a bunch of hits,” Fox said.

“The guys that have been struggling a little bit, they get two or three hits (and) it’s a confidence-builder a little bit for them.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.