Woeful pitching dooms Tar Heels in 5-3 loss to UNC-Greensboro

In its weekend series against Boston College, the North Carolina baseball team used a total of five pitchers — allowing just 10 hits and one run over 27 innings. 

But in their Tuesday night matchup against UNC-Greensboro, the Tar Heels had already matched that mark by the seventh inning and went on to drop a game against their interstate opponent, 5-3. 

Things got out of hand early for UNC, as lefty pitcher Hunter Williams struggled with his command from his very first pitch.  

In the top of the third, Williams gave up a leadoff single to the Spartans' Zac MacAneney. Then a walk. Then another single.  

Williams was relieved after 2.1 innings by Trevor Kelley, who looked to escape the inning without allowing any damage. 

But that wasn't the way things would go Tuesday for North Carolina. The second batter Kelley faced appeared to ground out to end the inning, but the umpire called catcher's interference on Korey Dunbar, allowing the inning to continue. UNC-G would go on to score four runs in the frame, firmly taking the momentum from that point on. 

"That was not a good start. (Hunter) didn't have command of anything," said Coach Mike Fox. "They're a good offensive team, and if you don't pitch well, you're gonna get behind." 

Kelley would give up a solo home run in the fifth to push the lead to 5-0, placing the burden on the offense to try and make a comeback. 

Among those trying to provide an offensive spark was Alex Raburn, who has seen his starts dwindle as the year has gone on. 

But the junior responded emphatically when he was given the starting nod at second base Tuesday. In his first at bat, he smacked a pitch down the left-field line that eventually bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double. In the fifth, he sent a deep shot over the wall in left-center. 

And in the seventh, when the Tar Heels needed to start a rally, the Durham, N.C., native singled, leaving UNC with runners on first and second with no outs. 

"I felt good tonight," Raburn said. "Just got some pitches to hit early in the count, and it was nice to just see a couple fall."

The Tar Heels would eventually load the bases with no outs and draw a walk to cut the lead to 5-3, but that would be the closest North Carolina would get to flipping its fortune, as a Tyler Ramirez strikeout and a Dunbar double play ball ended the inning. 

Following the strong pitching performance against Boston College days earlier, many fans believed that the Tar Heels would cruise past UNC-G without much problem. 

But after the series, Fox begged his team to stay prepared. 

"I pleaded with them Sunday; I pleaded with them before the game to please be ready tonight," he said. "Until tonight, I can't remember a game where we looked like we weren't really ready to play … it's uncharacteristic of this team." 

But Raburn saw the performance differently. He chalked the loss to the Spartans' performance rather than a lack of preparation.

"You have to top your hat to your opponent sometimes, and that's a good hitting team," he said. "They just beat us tonight; there's nothing else to say."