UNC baseball falls to red-hot Chanticleers

After dropping a weekend road series to Virginia, the North Carolina baseball team returned home to one of the hottest teams in the nation.

And in Boshamer Stadium on Tuesday, Coastal Carolina lived up to its billing.

No. 13 UNC (25-12) fell 6-3 to the No. 28 Chanticleers (28-10) — who have now won eight straight games and 15 of their previous 16.

The Tar Heels got off to a rocky start under sophomore pitcher Hunter Williams, as Coastal Carolina took an early lead on right fielder Connor Owings' two-run triple. Owings then scored off a single by center fielder Billy Cooke, who reached base for the 29th consecutive game.

The Chanticleers finished the first inning with four runs, four hits and no errors.

“You can lose a game in the first inning. I didn’t just make that up tonight,” Coach Mike Fox said.

“I’ve said that a lot. You can win a game in the first inning; you can lose a game in the first inning. And that’s exactly what happened tonight.”

First-year right fielder Brandon Riley scored off sophomore third baseman Zack Gahagan's single to put UNC on the board in the second inning.

But pitching struggles plagued the Tar Heels throughout. Williams was quickly replaced by sophomore Brett Daniels after giving up seven hits and six runs through 2 1/3 innings.

North Carolina rotated through two more pitchers before settling on first-year Rodney Hutchison, who shut down Coastal Carolina through 4 2/3 innings before junior Zach Rice and first-year Cole Aker combined for the final out.

But UNC's offense couldn't carry the load.

The duo of Riley and Gahagan proved to be a bright spot for the Tar Heels. In the bottom of the fourth, Gahanan brought Riley home once again — this time on a sacrifice fly — to narrow the deficit to 6-2.

And in the sixth inning, Gahagan hit a solo home run over the left-field fence for his fourth of the season to cut the Chanticleers’ lead to three runs.

But the spark wasn’t enough for the Tar Heels.

Neither team scored in the final three innings, and Coastal Carolina delivered the Tar Heels their fourth loss in the past six games.

Quotable

“It’s just been inconsistent. We’re not good enough to play inconsistent and have a chance to beat good teams.” — Fox on his team’s play throughout April.

Notable

Hutchison had a career-high outing against Coastal Carolina, tossing seven strikeouts and giving up just two hits in a shutout performance.

Three numbers that matter

7: Seven different pitchers took the mound for the Tar Heels in the loss.

8: The Chanticleers' eight-game winning streak is the third-longest in the country.

12: Coastal Carolina scored six runs despite leaving 12 runners on base.

What’s next?

The Tar Heels host William and Mary at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

sports@dailytarheel.com