UNC bests the Seahawks 4-2

Freshman Benton Moss started Tuesday night’s 4-2 win against UNC-Wilmington, but the Tar Heels also used six other arms to close out the Seahawks.

“Our pitching staff is amazing,” freshman right fielder Adam Griffin said. “We can just bring out another guy after another guy and you just know that their going to do well for us.”

After lasting just 1.2 innings on Saturday, Moss picked up the win on Tuesday with three innings of work. Normally three innings is not enough to constitute a winning performance but the UNC coaching staff declared the tilt with the Seahawks a “Staff Day,” evidenced by the number of pitchers the Tar Heels used.

Friday night starter Kent Emanuel even got a few licks in.

But Moss used the performance to focus in on sharpening up his placement.

“(Coach Forbes) wanted me to work on my location,” Moss said. “I felt like I had good stuff (Saturday) … my curveball and fastball were pretty good. I was just leaving it up in the zone and they were tattooing it. That’s what good teams are going to do. So I just have to have good stuff and locate.”

Coach Mike Fox gave freshman Shell McCain the start against UNC-W’s left-handed starter in the designated hitter slot despite Brian Holberton’s success against left handed pitching last weekend.
McCain stepped up in his first about and moved Tommy Coyle to third after faking the bunt and slapping a shot to right center.

Freshman Adam Griffin later brought Coyle home with a sacrifice fly to the right fielder to give UNC the 1-0 lead.

“That’s what coaches like,” Griffin said. “You get people on base, you do your job and you get the runner in. That’s what we’ve been doing lately.”

Leading off the fourth, Fox replaced McCain in the DH slot with Holberton and he knocked one off the wall in right center that turned into a triple. Griffin recorded his second RBI of the game with another sac fly. That makes three straight games for the freshman with two RBI.

“I’m just trying to get hits whenever there’s people in scoring position to get them in,” Griffin said. “I’m not really worried about getting a base hit or anything. I’m just trying to help out the team and get some more runs for us.”

Holberton slapped a ball into the right field corner in the seventh inning and despite Fox’s signal, made the turn at second base and kept going for his second triple of the game.

Chaz Frank brought home another run in the bottom of the sixth for the Tar Heels with another sacrifice fly. The Seahawks brought in Jack Lane, a 6-foot-10 reliever, and though his presence may have been intimidating, accuracy was certainly not his strength. After issuing a walk to Michael Russell that loaded the bases, Lane plunked Colin Moran to give UNC another run and the 4-1 lead.

The Tar Heels posted two runs and stranded three on the bases in the sixth without registering a hit.

The Seahawks responded in the seventh and again in the eighth with a run in each inning.

But after the Seahawks cut the lead to two the Tar Heels brought in closer Michael Morin for the four-out save. And for the 14th time this season, Morin delivered.