UNC's Austin Love pitches longest outing of career in 9-3 win over Miami

The No. 14 North Carolina baseball team needed an impactful performance on Saturday and that’s exactly what the team got from redshirt first-year Austin Love. 

Love is UNC’s normal closer but he came into Saturday’s 9-3 win over Miami (15-5, 3-3 ACC) in the sixth inning. The pitcher ended up with an unconventional four-inning appearance and allowed no runs on one hit for the Tar Heels (16-5, 2-4 ACC). 

“We feel like he is one of our best guys and we were going to ride him right then as long as we could,” head coach Mike Fox said.

This outing was crucial for Love personally because, in his last ACC appearance, he gave up his first earned runs of the year on a walk off two-run home run against Clemson. 

“That night, it was rough for me, but I know I only made one mistake so I just knew the next week I wouldn’t make that mistake again,” Love said. 

And Love was right about not making that mistake again. He has had a successful campaign all season after taking a redshirt season last year. 

“I went back, got in the weight room, worked with coach Woodard on bullpens and stuff all year and then came back in the fall after summer league and got better,” Love said.

Love has only allowed two runs in 19.1 innings and has four wins in his first year appearing in games.

While Love and the starting pitcher, junior Tyler Baum, held Miami to just three runs, the UNC bats exploded for nine runs.

Juniors Michael Busch and Ike Freeman paced the Tar Heel offense with two hits each. Busch had the loudest hit of the day for North Carolina when he hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that gave Love two more insurance runs going into the last frame.

“I was just trying to hit the fastball,” Busch said. “He’s a good pitcher, if you don’t hit that fastball I think he’s an even better pitcher so I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and put a barrel on it.”

Busch, a preseason first team All-American, had just two hits in his previous five games, but he may have broken through along with the rest of the Tar Heels in Saturday’s game.

UNC needed to break through to stay in the race for the ACC Coastal Division. Love and the Tar Heel offense did just that on Saturday.

The Tar Heels dropped 10 spots in the rankings after being swept by ACC foe Clemson. That sweep along with UNC’s loss to Miami in the first game of the series put UNC in a situation where it wanted to win the last two games of the series.

Love had a big performance to prevent a home series loss in the second game. His four innings were the most of his career and Love, along with the rest of the Tar Heels, rode that momentum into a rubber match win on Sunday.

“You can’t afford to lose a home series,” Fox said. “It’s the biggest game of our season for sure so our kids will be ready.”

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@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com