Baseball looks to build off momentum from win against UNCW

The first step was picking up a win against UNC-Wilmington .

Senior outfielder Tom Zengel acknowledged that fact  immediately after Duke swept the North Carolina baseball team last weekend — a North Carolina baseball team that recently dropped out of the top 25 .

“Hopefully, starting this week, with our midweek game, we’ll start to play a little bit better and get back on the winning side,” he said.

With a 9-4 win against the Seahawks, it’s safe to say UNC has taken that first step.

“That kind of helped gain some momentum,” UNC ace Trent Thornton said. “You know we got the bats working, our pitching was pretty good. So, we’re just kind of building off that confidence for the series and just let things work from there.”

The next step takes the team back into conference play, with a three-game series against Boston College this weekend. Fortunately for UNC, the Eagles are one of the worst teams in the ACC and will provide an excellent opportunity for a much-needed series win.

The Eagles come into this series as the worst-hitting team in the conference with a .225 batting average, .311 on-base percentage and .283 slugging percentage .

They also rank dead last in runs, hits, total bases and home runs .

But none of that matters for Thornton.

“We’re just going to go right after them,” he said. “We’re going to go right after them like we would any other team, and hopefully it will work out.”

In addition to having a poor offense, Boston College’s struggling pitching unit could give Skye Bolt and Landon Lassiter some confidence at the plate. Both are hitting below .225 on the season but are crucial to the offensive success of the team.

Bolt started to get back on track with a three-hit game against UNC-W, but three games against Boston College could still be good for him and Lassiter.

The Eagles are 11th in earned run average (4.02) and batting average allowed (.251). They also sit at the bottom of the conference with 171 strikeouts.

More than anything, though, this weekend series gives North Carolina a chance to turn their season around.

“When we went through that rough patch ... we hadn’t really experienced that in a while,” Thornton said.

“You know, not losing two games in a row last year, so going through that rough patch was kind of tough for us, but leaders stepped up told everyone to stay positive, keep your head up and we’re going to get things going.

“And I think we’re getting the right direction now.”

UNC already took the first step. Now, it’s time for another.

sports@dailytarheel.com