Logan Warmoth's walk-off home run gives UNC baseball important win against Louisville

The No. 17 North Carolina baseball team worked a little extra-inning magic to take down No. 5 Louisville 3-2 at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday. 

After not scoring the night before, the Tar Heels (30-16, 10-13 ACC) were able to scratch across enough runs to get the job done, and came up big in high-pressure situations against the Cardinals (37-10, 15-8 ACC).

What happened?

It was a pitchers duel for the majority of Saturday's contest, as UNC sophomore J.B. Bukauskas and Louisville junior Drew Harrington took turns fooling the other team's batters. 

The Cardinals had at least one hit in each of the first five innings, but were only able to plate one runner during that span. But, as it did the night before, North Carolina struggled to string together hits in the early going to take advantage. 

In the bottom of the third inning, the Tar Heels put runners on the corners with one out. Junior Adam Pate was unable to successfully execute a squeeze bunt, however, as the pitcher quickly picked up the attempt and fired to the catcher to get the runner at home. 

UNC was able to load the bases later in the inning, but couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. 

North Carolina got on the scoreboard for the first time in the series in the bottom of the sixth inning, as a two-out triple from Brandon Riley scored Zack Gahagan to tie the score at 1-1. In the next inning, Logan Warmoth brought in another run with a sacrifice fly, giving the Tar Heels a 2-1 lead. 

It seemed like the Tar Heels would escape Boshamer Stadium without allowing another run, but the Cardinals had other ideas. After chasing Bukauskas with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Louisville strung a few hits together and plated the tying run. 

The two sides headed to extra innings, but they weren't there for long. 

In the bottom of the tenth inning, Warmoth hit a home run over the wall in left field to end the game. 

Who stood out? 

Bukauskas, much like Zac Gallen did the night before, put North Carolina in a position to win the game through a stellar display on the mound. He gave up at least one hit in seven of the nine innings he pitched in, but was able to work out of trouble in almost every occasion. 

Coming into the series, Bukauskas was No. 2 in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (13.34). Against Louisville on Sunday, the sophomore fanned eight batters while only giving up one walk. 

While Bukauskas didn't factor into the decision, he showed why he has shot up prospect rankings as the year has progressed. After throwing primarily fastballs as a first-year player in 2015, the right-hander has added a slider and a change-up to keep batters guessing this season. 

Bukauskas also showed some grit during the late stages of the game Saturday. After developing a blood blister on one of the fingers on his pitching hand over the last few weeks, the sophomore popped it while throwing a pitch in the top of the eighth inning. In spite of the pain, he was able to get out of the inning without allowing a hit. 

When was it decided?

Warmoth led off the bottom of the tenth inning for the Tar Heels, and even though his sacrifice fly scored a run a few innings earlier, he didn't have a hit in the game up to that point. 

Louisville reliever Shane Hummel started Warmoth off with two-straight change-ups, but when he tried to sneak a fastball by on the third pitch, Warmoth turned on it — and he knew it was gone as soon as he made contact. 

"I had a good feeling," he said. "I took a peak (at the left fielder) and saw his head was up, so I had a good feeling."

Why does it matter?

North Carolina's 18-2 start to the regular season was filled with blowout wins, but that may have cost the Tar Heels once they got into the heart of the ACC season. 

In the team's four conference series before playing Louisville, UNC was 1-9 when they scored less than five runs in a game. After playing the majority of the first few months of the season up by a handful of runs, the Tar Heels hadn't been able to come through in low-scoring games until Saturday's win against the Cardinals. 

After two months of making things very easy on themselves, the North Carolina bats have come back to Earth. Now they're having to grind for every win. 

"I think this team is destined to take the rocky road to where we want to go," Coach Mike Fox said. "Around the mountain, down the valley, up the hill. If we get where we want to go I think it's going to be that ride for us."

Fox and the rest of the team hope that Saturday's close contest will be the type of jolt the team needs when playing these types of games in the future. 

Where do they play next?

Game 3 of the series between UNC and Louisville will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, as the Tar Heels will look to win their first ACC series since the team won two-of-three games against Virginia Tech from April 8-10.

@jbo_vernon

sports@dailytarheel.com