Pitching and defense fuel North Carolina baseball to two Sunday wins over USF

Head baseball coach Mike Fox says that his teams win games with pitching and defense. That was exactly what UNC did in 2-1 and 5-3 wins over South Florida in a double-header Sunday.

In an early 10 a.m. start for the No. 5 North Carolina baseball team (7-0), junior Tyler Baum toed the rubber against the Bulls (3-4) at Boshamer Stadium for his second start of the year.

“Tyler Baum set the tone for us this morning,” Fox said. “I thought he was sensational.”

Baum threw seven innings and struck out a career-high 12 batters. In his two starts, Baum has thrown 13 innings, striking out 19 and allowing just one walk.

The starter’s performance was crucial for the Tar Heels in their early victory because the offense managed just two runs that came in the first inning.

“When it’s a close game you just have to keep making your pitches,” Baum said “Your team is going to score some runs.”

The strong pitching for the Tar Heels continued in the second game of the day, which UNC won, 5-3. 

“Our pitching today was spectacular,” Fox said. “We won these games on the mound and with some clutch hitting.”

Junior Austin Bergner started the second game and threw 6.1 innings, allowed 4 hits and 2 earned runs. First-year Will Sandy and redshirt first-year Austin Love came out of the bullpen for a combined 2.2 innings and allowed just one hit.

Despite the solid pitching performance, the Tar Heels were tied 3-3 with the Bulls heading into the eighth inning. 

South Florida was threatening in the top of the frame with runners on second and third with just one out after center fielder, Dylan Harris, dropped a line drive in center field.

However, Harris switched the momentum UNC’s way when the next batter hit a pop fly to center field that looked like it would be an easy tag up for the runner on third. The center fielder caught the ball in stride and rocketed it toward home plate to beat the runner and end the threat.

“I just made sure I moved on to the next pitch and then good things happened,” Harris said.

In the bottom half of the inning, the leadoff hitter walked on four pitches. Junior shortstop Ike Freeman, who had just been moved up to third in the lineup for that game, stepped up to the plate with one runner on base.

“I like when guys are on base,” Freeman said. “When runners are on base I feel a lot more relaxed in the box, I feel like I’m not as pressured to get on and get an inning started.”

Freeman was relaxed as he blasted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall to give UNC the lead and the win.

Even though the home run was the eye catching moment of the afternoon, the pitching was still the team’s focus following the win.

“Our pitching is unbelievable,” Freeman said. “That’s what we expect, we have three of the greatest starters in the league.”

Those starters shut down the Bulls over the course of three games this weekend, allowing just six runs total. If the Tar Heel pitching staff can continue to perform like that, they could be taking another trip to Omaha.

“We preach all of the time that pitching and defense are gonna win games,” Freeman said. “You can’t rely on hitting, I mean, hitting is the hardest thing in sports to do.”

@matt_chilson

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com