Reilly Hovis pitched UNC baseball to a win

Two innings. Four strikeouts.

As sophomore closer Reilly Hovis jogged out to the mound of Boshamer Stadium Wednesday night in what would be his last inning of work on the evening, his self-given instructions were precise. Brief.

“Get the first out,” he said.

“All I’m telling myself is get the first one and go from there.”

It took seven pitches, but he got it.

Danny Grauer then came to the plate for Liberty, who eventually fell to the North Carolina baseball team 3-1. Hovis’s approach was the same, this time a little quicker.

Strike one. Strike two. Strike three. Two outs.

A single and then four more pitches, and that was it. Hovis had single-handedly taken care of all three of the Tar Heels’ final outs en route to a much-needed UNC win after dropping a road game to East Carolina Tuesday.

But his role as a closer hasn’t always been a defined one. He took on the new responsibilities earlier in the season, after the squad’s typical closer Chris McCue found out he’d be sidelined indefinitely due to a blood clot in his right shoulder. 

"It’s not too bad of an adjustment," Hovis said. 

"Maybe the first couple times I had the butterflies but from then on — I mean, at the beginning of the year I was pitching late in games, so it’s not too different. It’s just the last three outs."

But nerves aside, coach Mike Fox said he knew all along that Hovis was the immediate choice. 

“Reilly really, really works ... he’s got that good, live fastball at 92-93 (miles per hour), he’s tall and big, creates that big angle,” Fox said.

“The ball kinda jumps out of his hand and gets on you.”

Wednesday was night was no exception.

Hovis tossed for two innings with four strikeouts, a single walk and only one hit Wednesday thanks to that fastball.

“(Liberty’s) got some big boppers in there that have some long swings, and they don’t like to walk. They like to swing,” Fox said.

“So we said, ‘OK. If you like to swing, here it is.’’’’ 

Sophomore catcher Korey Dunbar lauded Hovis for his command and confidence — the two most important weapons a pitcher can have in his arsenal.

“When he comes in like that it’s kind of relieving. For him to pound the strike zone like he does, which he does very consistently ... it kinda takes the pressure off,” he said.

“He’s something else on the mound, and that’s what we need.”

And that’s what they’re getting.