Jason Morgan finds redemption in win over Tribe

Jason Morgan needed to make some adjustments.

After a rough performance against Virginia on Sunday, Morgan took to the mound at Boshamer Stadium on Wednesday seeking a second chance.

And through three perfect innings in No. 13 North Carolina’s 17-2 win over William & Mary, he found that redemption.

“Felt good tonight ...” Morgan said. “Just to get back out there and kind of get the bad taste out of your mouth.”

In UNC’s 15-9 loss to Virginia, the sophomore walked four batters and allowed three runs, retiring from the mound after 1 2/3 innings.

The outing against the Cavaliers was his shortest of the season, 1 1/3 innings shorter than his four-inning performance in a 7-4 loss to Miami on April 3.

“After Sunday, I mean, it’s over,” he said.

“What are you going to do? You can’t go back and fix it.

“You just got to look ahead, kind of sit down and say, ‘OK, what went wrong?’ and just look at how you can fix it.”

Coach Mike Fox said when a starting pitcher struggles in a weekend game, he typically returns him to the mound for a midweek game.

Morgan was no exception.

After struggling Sunday, Morgan said he met with assistant coach Bryant Gaines to tighten some of his mechanics.

In particular, Morgan said he and Gaines were trying to spot differences in his throwing between the spring and the fall — when he was performing better from the mound.

“He was our best strike-thrower in the fall,” Fox said.

“So we’ve been kind of baffled that he’s walked people as much as he has the last few starts. But it was good tonight.”

Morgan set the tone in the first inning, tossing back-to-back strikeouts to open the game. He retired the first 10 batters, holding William & Mary hitless through the first three innings.

With Morgan shutting down the Tribe, UNC’s offense got comfortable at the plate — scoring eight runs on seven hits through the first three innings.

“It’s kind of hard to get the bats going when you’re standing out in the field for a long time,” said first-year Brandon Riley.

“But when you have those quick innings and you can get back and get in the rhythm of hitting, it helps out a lot.”

Morgan stayed on the mound for four innings, recording four strikeouts and a walk while allowing only one earned run.

Morgan said the key to his bounce-back performance was approaching the mound with confidence.

“You just got to go out there and expect to throw strikes and throw well every pitch and expect to win,” Morgan said.

Riley said the team expected nothing less of Morgan.

“I don’t think any of us had any doubt that he was going to come out and he was going to pitch like he did tonight,” Riley said.

“We knew he had it in him. He just needed to get it out.”

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