When Stanford finally scored a run in the top of the eighth inning in Friday’s NCAA super regional, North Carolina pitcher Patrick Johnson’s streak of 30 2/3 scoreless innings was snapped.
But after UNC’s 5-2 win against the Cardinal, it didn’t really seem to faze him.
“It was a good run,” Johnson said. “We got a lot of wins during it and we got another win today and that’s all that matters.”
Johnson, now 13-1 on the season, allowed five hits, one run and struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings pitched.
Ben Bunting batted in the Tar Heels’ first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning, but solid pitching from both teams kept either from scoring during the next four frames.
And when Seth Baldwin stepped up in the bottom of the seventh inning, it looked as if he, too, would go down without a fight.
The right fielder had just one hit in nine at-bats during last weekend’s NCAA regional games.
But with two strikes against him, Baldwin blasted a two-run homer to left field, extending UNC’s lead to three runs.
“I was definitely frustrated a little bit,” Baldwin said. “I was actually thinking that I was probably going to bunt again… I just tried to sit back and get a good pitch to hit.”
The Cardinal trailed UNC 3-2 after scoring a pair of runs in the top of the eighth, but Stanford pitcher Scott Snodgress walked two batters in the bottom half of the inning and the Tar Heels tacked on two more runs.
