UNC baseball drops two of three against N.C. State to end regular season

The No. 17 North Carolina baseball team (38-17, 17-13 ACC) played its final three games of the regular season this weekend against No. 18 N.C. State (41-15, 18-12 ACC) and lost its fourth ACC series of the season, dropping two of three games at Boshamer Stadium.

Game One: UNC 5, N.C. State 3

In the Tar Heels’ victory on Thursday night, first-year Aaron Sabato’s strong play at the plate propelled his team to victory.

Sabato gave the Tar Heels an early lead when he hit a two-run home run over the centerfield wall, one that tied him for second all-time in home runs by a UNC first-year with 13. 

Sabato’s bat remained hot throughout the game. He hit a single in the third inning, a double in the fifth inning, and in his last at-bat in the contest, he hit a two-RBI triple off the centerfield wall to complete the cycle for the first time in his career and give North Carolina a 4-3 lead. Sabato is the first Tar Heel to hit for the cycle since Colin Moran in 2012. 

In this contest, Sabato was responsible for four of the six North Carolina hits, and drove in four of the team's five runs. This was also his 19th multi-hit game of the season, and 15th multi-RBI game.

In addition to Sabato, two other Tar Heels secured hits in this contest, Danny Serretti and Ike Freeman. Freeman’s hit came in the bottom of the eighth inning with a home run that just cleared the left field wall, pushing the North Carolina lead to 5-3 and securing the victory in the ninth.  

Although the Tar Heels were out hit by the Wolfpack, 8-6, they were able to limit the N.C. State offense enough to win. Starter Tyler Baum pitched 6.2 innings, gave up seven hits and three runs

Once Baum exited the game, three other North Carolina pitchers took the mound: Caden O’Brien, Hansen Butler and Joey Lancellotti. With two men on base and two outs in the seventh inning, Butler entered the game, and struck out the only batter he faced to get out of the jam. Then Lancellotti pitched both the eighth and ninth inning and secured the victory for the Tar Heels. Butler earned his second win of the season, and Lancellotti recorded his second save of the season. 

Game Two: N.C. State 11, UNC 2

N.C. State got going at the plate in game two.

The Wolfpack were able to jump out to an early lead by scoring three runs in the first inning. Starting pitcher Austin Berger was pulled after pitching 3.1 innings, giving up eight hits and six runs to UNC's zero.

After falling behind, the North Carolina hitters could not find their groove at the plate when it mattered, leaving 12 batters stranded on base. The Tar Heels did not get on the board until the fifth inning, after Dylan Harris hit a triple and scored after Michael Busch hit a RBI groundout.

Although UNC would score another run in the eighth inning, the Tar Heels allowed five more runs in the game, and found themselves unable to catch up. N.C. State was able to limit the North Carolina offense and secure the victory, 11-2, to tie the series.

Game Three: N.C. State 11, UNC 0

Prior to the rubber match in this three-game series, North Carolina celebrated its four seniors on senior day: Hesterlee, Butler, Dylan Enwiller and Brendan Illies.  

After the celebration, first-year Will Sandy took the mound for North Carolina, looking to win the crucial conference series. However, much like the previous game, the Tar Heels were unable to contain N.C. State. 

The Wolfpack again jumped out to an early lead, and much like Bergner in the previous game, Sandy was forced to exit early after giving up five hits and six runs.

In the third inning alone, all nine Wolfpack hitters came to the plate, facing two different UNC pitchers and manufacturing five more runs to take a 7-0 lead, thanks in part to multiple Tar Heel errors. That was not all for the Wolfpack, as they scored four more runs in the seventh inning to make the final margin 11-0.

UNC could not find its groove at the plate throughout the contest, and Busch and McGee were the only Tar Heels to have multiple hits. 

Throughout the series, N.C. State scored a combined 25 runs while UNC managed just seven. Defensive miscues also hurt the Tar Heels all weekend, as UNC committed seven errors, most in an ACC series this season.

With the series loss, North Carolina finished in third place in the ACC Coastal Division behind Georgia Tech and Miami. The Tar Heels will be the fifth seed in the ACC Tournament next week, and will face Miami and Virginia in their bracket. North Carolina played both teams this season at Boshamer Stadium and won both series.

@TorreNetkovick

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com