For the second straight game, the North Carolina baseball team (40-17, 17-13 ACC) prevailed in extra innings, defeating Miami (39-18, 18-12 ACC) 7-5 in 11 frames on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
What happened?
Already with a 1-0 record in group play of the conference tournament, the Tar Heels began their matchup with the Hurricanes by giving up the first five runs of the game. A three-run first inning, punctuated by a pair of RBI doubles and an RBI single, was followed up by a sacrifice fly in the second inning and a solo home run in the third inning.
Now staring down a 5-0 deficit, the Tar Heels got to work in the fourth inning. RBI singles from first-year Danny Serretti and junior Ike Freeman cut the lead to three, and a solo home run from Brandon Martorano in the fifth inning made the score 5-3.
It would take until the eighth inning for North Carolina to tie the game, thanks to a two-run home run from junior Michael Busch.
With UNC now dominant on the mound, it was simply a matter of scoring the go-ahead runs. It would take until the top of the eleventh inning to do so, helped along by a Freeman sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Ashton McGee to give the Tar Heels a 7-5 advantage.
Needing three outs to secure the win, UNC's Hansen Butler retired three straight Miami batters, sending the Tar Heels to the ACC semifinals.
Who stood out?
Starter Austin Bergner was pulled in the second inning after giving up four runs, and three other Tar Heels took the mound to limit the Hurricanes for much of the rest of the day. The combination of Austin Love, Joey Lancellotti and Butler combined to allow just four hits and one run to go along with nine strikeouts. Defensively, North Carolina was able to strand 10 Hurricane runners.
