UNC baseball bounces back from loss with 10-2 win against UNC-Charlotte

After a 9-8 loss to UNC-Wilmington Tuesday night, North Carolina baseball coach Mike Fox was blunt about his team’s opinion of losing — something they’ve only had to deal with three times all season.

“These guys don’t like to lose,” Fox said. “They don’t like to lose. So every time the game starts, it’s about winning that game.”

When asked if the loss provided extra motivation for the club, Fox also had a strong opinion.

“If you’re looking for it externally, usually it’s kind of short-lived,” he said.

No. 1 UNC’s losing streak was also short-lived. That streak halted at one when the Tar Heels defeated another member of the UNC system, knocking off UNC-Charlotte 10-2 Wednesday night.

UNC got on the board first in the bottom of the opening frame when Brian Holberton grounded into a double play, scoring senior Chaz Frank from third.

In the next inning, freshman pitcher Reilly Hovis gave up a run, but it was the only run Hovis would allow in five innings of three-hit ball.

Fox said that he and pitching coach Scott Forbes had drawn up their ideal game plan, but the plan relied on five good innings from Hovis, which the freshman provided.

“It went exactly like we wanted on the mound in terms of using the guys,” he said.

After using four pitchers in the game against UNC-W, the Tar Heels needed a strong outing by their rookie.

While he never doubted his teammate, Frank said that he was not sure what the pitcher’s mentality would be coming into his third start of the year.

“After a loss, you never know how your freshman is going to go out there and throw,” Frank said. “But Reilly did a fantastic job.”

Hovis said the run support UNC provided made his job easier.

“I never really worry about the run support because I know we can hit,” Hovis said. “We’ve proved it all year. As a pitcher, it’s what you ask for.”

In the sixth inning, both teams decided to make a pitching change, but the moves had little effect on the outcome of the game.

UNC’s Trevor Kelley pitched two perfect innings while his UNC-Charlotte counterpart was not able to slow UNC’s overpowering offense.

Frank and company outscored the 49ers 9-1 after the game was tied in the top of the second inning. Cody Stubbs’s three-run bomb in the fifth and the four-run sixth inning in which every Tar Heel batter stepped up to the plate highlighted UNC’s 19th double digit-run day this season.

The North Carolina bats were able to swing free of pressure with Hovis supporting them on the mound in the first win of his career.

“He’s got a chance,” Fox said. “He’s one of those freshman who, if you look at him now compared to when he first got here, he’s bigger, he’s stronger, he’s bought into our work ethic.”

And just like the freshman, UNC’s go-to list of pitchers is getting bigger and stronger as the season progresses — an asset the Tar Heels made good use of in their rebound game Wednesday, and a reason the team doesn’t need the extra inspiration a loss can give.

“If you’re trying to find (motivation) somewhere else and not from within, you’re generally in trouble,” Fox said.

But as the first Division I team to reach 40 wins this season, the Tar Heels have generally not found themselves in trouble. If you haven’t heard, they don’t like to lose.

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.