UNC baseball team wins rain-shortened game

If it can happen on a baseball field, it happened on Tuesday.

A collision at first base, a nasty hop at short, a seven-run inning, back-to-back squeeze bunts, even a bit of rain and lightning — Boshamer Stadium was home to all that and more Tuesday. But amid all the chaos, No. 4 North Carolina still managed to emerge victorious.

In a midweek duel with Princeton, the slumbering Tar Heel offense woke up with alarm bells ringing, topping the Tigers 15-5.

And they only needed 6 1/3 innings to do it.

“The game had a little bit of everything. Entertaining, I guess,” coach Mike Fox said after the rain-shortened UNC win.

“We finally strung together some hits, albeit, some of them weren’t hit very hard. But they found holes … and it’s about time we took a little bit of pressure off our pitching staff. We’ve been asking them to pitch lights-out for us.”

After the Tar Heels weren’t able to capitalize on six strong innings from Benton Moss in Sunday’s 1-0 loss, it looked briefly like Tuesday would be another struggle.

UNC jumped out to an early lead on an RBI single by designated hitter Tom Zengel in the second inning, but with a little help from the Tar Heel defense, the Tigers quickly retaliated.

With two outs in the top of the third, UNC starter Chris O’Brien threw a wild pitch, sending Princeton’s two baserunners in motion. Catcher Jacob Stallings tried to catch the runner heading to second, but second basemen Mike Zolk bobbled the ball on the tag.

It would’ve been the final out, but the error allowed a run to score. And then the Tigers tacked on one more to take a 2-1 lead.

“I think I got to the base a little bit late,” Zolk said. “And actually he was probably out if I would’ve held on to the ball, but I guess when he slid in, he slid in a little harder and knocked it off my hand.”

But Zolk didn’t have to wait long for redemption. In the bottom half of the third, he drove in the first run in what became a UNC offensive frenzy. The inning began with a fluke single from Colin Moran that dinged off an infield sprinkler, and it ended with nine Tar Heel hits, two successful squeeze bunts and seven UNC runs on the board.

But the frame was just one small taste of a topsy-turvy Tuesday evening.

Just one inning earlier, UNC was concerned less with the score and more with the health of their first baseman. Cody Stubbs ripped a ball right back at the Princeton pitcher, then slammed into the Tigers’ first baseman as he tried to field the errant throw. Stubbs was removed and is day-to-day with concussion-like symptoms.

Fast forward to the seventh inning, and it was the home-plate umpire on the ground after he was struck in the head by a pitch — though he was able to remain in the game.

Between the collisions, wild bounces and torrential rain, the Tar Heels did manage to play 6 1/3 innings.

And they’re certainly happy with the result.

“It was definitely a crazy game with all the collisions and almost knocking out the umpire,” Moran said. “But it’s good to get the win.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.