UNC baseball drops series to Louisville with 10-6 loss Sunday

The No. 17 North Carolina baseball team fell 10-6 to No. 5 Louisville on Sunday. With the loss to the Cardinals (38-10, 16-8 ACC), the Tar Heels (30-17, 10-14 ACC) are now 2-8 in their last 10 ACC games. 

What happened?

UNC carried the momentum of Saturday's walk-off win into the early innings of Sunday's contest. The Tar Heels plated a run in each of the first two innings, and looked like they might break out of the offensive funk that has hindered them in ACC play. 

Pitcher Jason Morgan also seemed prime to break out of his slump as well. In his six conference starts prior to Sunday's outing, the sophomore lasted five innings or more on two occasions. Through two innings Sunday, Morgan— aided by some great plays by his defense — allowed just one runner to reach base. 

But the strong performances didn't hold for long. In the top of the third inning, Morgan gave up a solo home run to Colin Lyman. In the next inning, he allowed the leadoff batter to single up the middle, and was promptly pulled from the game. 

A.J. Bogucki came on in relief of Morgan, and gave up a two-run single to Corey Ray that gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead after the top of the fourth inning. 

Louisville broke the game wide open in the top of the sixth inning, scoring four runs on four hits to push its lead to 7-2. UNC answered in the bottom of the inning with a two-run home run by Zack Gahagan, but couldn't climb all the way back over the final three innings. 

Who stood out?

Ray caused problems for UNC all day at the plate, where he went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. After flying out to center field on the first pitch of the game, the speedy outfielder picked up a double and a two-run single in his next two plate appearances. 

When he came to the plate with runners on second and third and one out in the top of the sixth inning, UNC elected to intentionally walk the junior to load the bases. 

The strategy didn't pay off, however, as the next batter — catcher Will Smith — doubled to the left-center gap, scoring three runs. 

In Ray's next at-bat, he singled to right with runners on first and second. UNC's right fielder, Adam Pate, let the ball get by him, allowing both runs to score and Ray to reach third base. 

When was it decided?

With one on and one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, first-year left fielder Drew Ellis ripped a pitch down the left-field line. The third-base umpire called the ball fair, but Coach Mike Fox, the players and the North Carolina fans inside Boshamer Stadium all thought the ball fell foul. 

The umpires conferred and ultimately decided to uphold the call, much to the chagrin of Fox, who exchanged words with the home-plate umpire after the call. 

UNC intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases, and Smith cleared them with a three-run double, putting the game out of reach. 

If the ball would have been called foul, the Tar Heels might have been able to get out of the inning without allowing a run. Instead, they entered the bottom of the inning down by five. 

Why does it matter?

With the loss, North Carolina now sits at 10-14 in the ACC with six conference games left to play. 

In 2015, the Tar Heels limped into the ACC Tournament as the No. 8 seed. The Tar Heels won the play-in game, but were unable to do any damage the rest of the way. 

Three days after UNC's final game in the tournament, the team was left out of the NCAA Tournament field for the first time since 2001. 

This season, the Tar Heels are in serious danger of missing out on the ACC Tournament. The top-10 teams in the conference earn a bid to the Tournament, and after the loss to Louisville on Sunday, North Carolina is currently in 12th place in the ACC. 

While things aren't looking good for the Tar Heels, they have a chance to slide into the field with strong performances in the final two series of the season. 

UNC has three-game series against Notre Dame and N.C. State to close out the season, and would likely need to win both series to earn a spot in the Tournament. 

Where do they play next?

The Tar Heels take on the East Carolina Pirates at Boshamer Stadium on May 10 at 6 p.m.

@jbo_vernon

sports@dailytarheel.com