UNC baseball misses several opportunities in 7-4 loss to Louisville

Matched up with No. 3 Louisville in the ACC Tournament, the North Carolina baseball team was going to have to play a near perfect game to pull out a victory Wednesday night. 

Defensively, senior Benton Moss pitched his team through three innings of near-perfect play. Sound early pitching would be crucial against a loaded Louisville batting lineup. 

“They’re a free swinging team,” Coach Mike Fox said. “I felt like we needed Benton out there.” 

Moss threw six strikeouts and allowed just one hit through the first three innings. Even on short rest, Moss looked fresh and in control of nearly every pitch. 

With Moss pitching zeros to start the game, the UNC offense forged a 4-0 lead. But as has been the story all year long, the Tar Heels left scoring opportunities on the field. 

Those opportunities would loom large in the end, as the Tar Heels fell short to the Cardinals 7-4. 

UNC’s offense was humming early after scoring a leadoff home run and loading the bases before the first out of the first inning. But despite the favorable position, the team could not manufacture another run in the frame, leaving three runners on base. 

Two more runners would be left on base in the second inning, after the UNC offense looked ready to break through again. 

“We missed an incredible opportunity in the first two innings,” Fox said. “It’s somewhat been the tale of our season.”

Despite missed opportunities, the Tar Heels were able to produce a big third inning to extend their lead. With three runs and two hits in the inning, UNC found itself up 4-0 against the No. 1 seed in the tournament. 

But the players and coaches knew it would not be enough.

“We did have a big inning, but we could have had more than one,” Fox said. “I think you have to in order to beat a team like Louisville.”

The response everyone was expecting came in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings — where Louisville finally ended their batting drought.

A two-run blast by Brendan McKay put the Cardinals on the board in the fourth inning. McKay, who finished the day 4-4 at the plate, simply could not be stopped. 

After getting ahead of McKay 2-2, Moss had the prolific batter swinging. But McKay’s next swing wouldn't miss the target, as he bit at Moss’ pitch and got all of it. 

“I had a little bit of doubt before I threw that pitch, honestly,” Moss said. “I wish I could have thrown a different one.”

But Moss knows that in baseball, you can have no regrets.

“That’s the nature of the game,” he said. “You can’t take anything back. You just have to learn from it.”

The game didn’t get any easier for the Tar Heels, as Lousiville scored five runs in the fifth and sixth innings. With Moss coming out, the sixth inning saw nearly as many UNC pitchers as runs. 

“We had used Trevor (Kelley), so we were going to come out of the bull pin with a lot of young guys,” Fox said. “And you never know how they’re going to respond or throw.” 

The task proved to large for the young pitchers who saw action against Lousiville, but with no runs in the final six innings, the offense didn’t do them any favors.