Road success continues for Tar Heels against Elon

The No. 1 North Carolina baseball team extended its road game winning streak to eight with a 15-3 win against Elon Tuesday night.

Today kicks off a demanding stretch of 15 games in just more than 20 days for UNC.

The Tar Heels are playing five games a week for the next three weeks, concluding with a series against No. 20 N.C. State on April 26-28.

For freshman Skye Bolt, the tough upcoming schedule is more of a positive than a negative.

“I think these next three weeks are going to be a bit of a blessing for us,” he said. “We have good stuff going for us, it doesn’t give us time off the field to think about it or form bad habits.

“Just go out there and keep looking for good performances at the plate, on the mound and in the field together, and that’s all you can ask for.”

The Tar Heels had strong performances from each of those areas last night. Chris Munnelly threw 5 1/3 innings while giving up three runs, the offense scored 14 runs in the last four innings, and the defense adapted well to an unfamiliar turf infield.

Munnelly said that the artificial surface they played on might have helped the team.

“If anything I think it helps the defense because with the turf you don’t have a lot of bad hops,” he said. “It plays pretty true … It gives your infielders the feel of the ball.”

Munnelly improved to 3-0 on the season — giving up five hits and one walk and striking out five. He did all this while relying slightly on his off-speed pitches.

“I felt great, gave up a couple hits … but overall I felt good,” he said. “If (I was favoring) any pitch, probably the slider a little bit.”

Like the rest of the UNC pitching staff, Munnelly was able to get more than enough support out of an explosive lineup that combined for 17 hits.

UNC’s top hitters in the game, Brian Holberton, Landon Lassiter, Colin Moran and Bolt, each had multiple hits and combined to score 10 runs. They also combined for just three walks and no strikeouts.

“We started out a little slow,” Munnelly said. “But we kept grinding it out and then we had a couple big innings late that really fuels your momentum.”

The team might have gotten off to a slow start Tuesday night, but that has been anything but the case this season. The players recognize that UNC is playing top-notch baseball and expect that their success will carry over into what could be the most difficult stretch of the season.

“I think it’s a good thing (to be playing a lot of games) when you’re hot,” Bolt said. “Maybe a little bit of a grind when you’re not hot, and fortunately for us, one through nine, and even the guys on the bench, and in the pen are all in the game right now.

“It’s fun to play with a team that is hungry to win every time we step out on the ball field.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.