In a 13-inning battle, the North Carolina baseball team lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes, 6-5, and were eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
What happened?
The Diamond Heels, who have struggled with hitting when runners are in scoring position, found hits early as junior outfielder Mac Horvath notched a double and junior second baseman Jackson Van De Brake hit an infield single. UNC was able to juice the bases but a strikeout and fly out left all three men stranded.
Redshirt first-year outfielder Casey Cook — coming off his defensive heroics against Wright State — continued his fireworks in the second, homering to right field, scoring junior shortstop Colby Wilkerson, who had drawn a walk. It was Cook’s third home run of the season and it gave the Tar Heels a two-run lead.
The Hawkeyes found their first run a frame later on an RBI sacrifice fly with two men in scoring position and cut the Tar Heel lead in half.
First-year Cameron Padgett remained on the mound until the fifth inning, when head coach Scott Forbes turned the game over to the bullpen and he was replaced first-year Kyle Percival.
The Hawkeyes took advantage of the pitching change as Brennen Dorighi blasted a three run bomb to center field, giving Iowa their first lead of the game.
Iowa added another run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly ball to right field, scoring Sam Petersen.
As in the previous game against the Hawkeyes, the Tar Heels were able to attempt to mount a comeback in the eighth. Junior catcher Tomas Frick and junior first baseman Hunter Stokely were both able to knock singles into the outfield off of Hawkeye’s starting pitcher Ty Lagenberg.
