Mike Fox stunned as UNC baseball drops second straight game

Mike Fox never saw it coming.

On a night where the No. 3 North Carolina baseball team fell to Liberty, 5-2, the Tar Heels’ head coach was stunned.

“Maybe the experienced coach in me probably should have (seen it coming),” Fox said. “Coming off an emotional weekend, and going on the road this weekend — all teams have letdowns during the middle of the week.”

“But this one surprised me.”

In a season where UNC (29-8) has had no shortage of offense, the Tar Heels’ offense — averaging more than seven runs per game entering Tuesday — ran dry against Liberty (21-14) in the team’s second straight loss at Boshamer Stadium.

North Carolina set the wrong tone early, stranding runners at third base in the second and third innings with nothing to show for it.

“We just weren’t locked in,” Fox said. “We just weren’t ready. If you’re not ready to play night in, night out, and the other team executes, you’re gonna have a hard time winning the game.”

“That was the case for us tonight.”

The only UNC runs came off solo home runs from Tyler Lynn and Ashton McGee in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.

McGee’s solo shot put North Carolina up 2-1, but it also served as the fourth and final hit for the Tar Heels on the night.

UNC’s slim lead was almost good enough to eke out a win before Liberty exploded for four runs in the eighth inning — punctuated by a three-run double from Trey McDyre to give the Flames the lead for good.

“Credit to them, they did a good job of mixing stuff up,” junior shortstop Logan Warmoth said. “We hit some balls hard that didn’t fall.”

McGee — the bright spot for UNC at the plate with three walks and a home run — said he didn’t notice any change in the team’s approach.

It was just some bad luck.

“Honestly, I think it wasn’t anything too special,” he said. “We were hitting balls right at people. We just didn’t get anything to show for it.”

Fox said he was happy for Liberty head coach Scott Jackson and assistant coach Bryant Gaines, two former UNC assistants. And in his 19th season in charge of the Tar Heels, he knows how to handle setbacks like these with his own team.

He said it’s best over the course of a long season to let the players handle things themselves.

“I’m probably just gonna get in my car and go home,” Fox said. “Because I’ve learned over the years that sometimes I can go in there and I just better not talk. I’ll go in there and tell them, ‘See you tomorrow.’ That’s probably the smart thing to do.”

“If I get talking, I might say the wrong thing.”

sports@dailytarheel.com