Freshman Skye Bolt works to cement his spot in UNC's batting order

Skye Bolt shortened up his swing with two strikes, hit the ball where it was pitched and lined a hit into the outfield.

That’s not one specific at-bat for the North Carolina freshman right-fielder. It’s a typical one.

It happened on Wednesday against St. John’s in the first inning of No. 1 UNC’s 18-5 win, when Bolt poked a 3-2 pitch into right field for an opposite-field single. And it’s been happening all season.

“You get comfortable when you start controlling the barrel a little bit better, and your confidence gets to where you’re sitting dead red and you know you’re not gonna miss,” Bolt said.

Right now, Bolt couldn’t be much hotter. Through his first seven games as a Tar Heel, he is batting .538 with a .606 on-base percentage. That’s 14 hits in 26 at-bats, and many of those have come with two strikes.

“All you’ve got to do is find a hole,” Bolt said. “You don’t have to drive the gap — you don’t have to do any of that. You choke up and put the ball in play, and they’ve been finding the holes lately.”

Bolt has also had multiple hits in five of those seven games. And he’s reached base in every one — he walked once in his only hitless game.

Against the Red Storm, Bolt went two-for-four with two walks, his latest multi-hit performance. In addition to his two-strike hit, he tacked on an RBI single in the second inning.

Just how hot is Bolt? That two-for-four performance actually brought his average down. He came into the St. John’s game hitting .545.

With each passing game, Bolt looks like he’s cementing a spot in the middle of the Tar Heel order. He started the season batting seventh, but after going six-for-eight in his first two games, coach Mike Fox quickly moved him into the cleanup spot. He’s been there since.

Fox said Bolt has earned the right to keep batting fourth.

“We’ll probably keep him there for now,” Fox said. “We’re 7-0, and he’s hitting about .500, so I’d say he’ll probably be in that four-hole Friday (against No. 12 Rice) — I don’t think much past the next game, quite honestly.”

And Colin Moran, UNC’s No. 3 hitter, said Bolt gives him plenty of protection. With Bolt batting behind him, Moran reached base in all six of his plate appearances against St. John’s, finishing with four walks and two hard singles.

Moran said he was more than comfortable with Bolt hitting behind him.

“It’s nice,” Moran said. “He’s on fire. He’s a real good hitter. So all in all, it’s good protection.”

Still, it wasn’t a perfect game for Bolt. The two outs he made weren’t pretty. And he said that’s what lets him know he still has plenty to work on.

Bolt fouled out to the catcher in the fourth inning and struck out swinging in the seventh, and neither was a good at-bat. He popped out reaching for an outside pitch while trying to defend with two strikes. And on the strikeout, he waved at a fastball well off the plate on a 2-0 count, then swung through two fastballs over the plate.

And for all his success, Bolt still hasn’t done one thing — hit a home run.

He said he’s tried. Once.

“That’s only come up in my mind one time, to be honest,” Bolt said. “It was two games ago, when we were playing Stony Brook in that Sunday game when we put it on them (7-1).

“But that’s the only time. I know it will come.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.