Eleven games into the season, the No. 1 starting lineup in the country just hit its first home run.
Before its 10-2 win against Davidson on Tuesday, not one regular North Carolina baseball starter had homered. But on a cold, rainy afternoon at Boshamer Stadium, Cody Stubbs finally went yard.
“We have some guys who are capable of hitting the ball out of the ballpark, and I think they will come,” coach Mike Fox said. “It was nice to see Cody put a good swing on that one.”
The top-ranked Tar Heels (11-0) are undefeated this season, but it hasn’t been because of overwhelming power. They’ve been manufacturing runs and driving the gaps, but they haven’t been clearing the fence.
That’s how the game against Davidson (5-6) started — in the third inning, the Tar Heels scratched out the game’s first three runs on a soft Colin Moran single through the left side of the infield, a wild pitch and an error.
Then Stubbs came up.
With Skye Bolt on third, Stubbs turned on a 2-1 pitch and launched a line drive through the trees behind Boshamer Stadium’s right-field fence.
“The guy had only a fastball,” Stubbs said. “So I was sitting on fastball, pretty much. And he threw it right down the middle, thank goodness.”
It was the big blow in the game, giving UNC an early five-run lead that was more than enough for starting pitcher Trent Thornton. He went 5.2 innings, allowed two unearned runs and struck out five Wildcats to get his second win.
