The Diamond Heels owe a thank you to the state of Minnesota, for it was Minnesota natives, juniors Max Carlson and Mac Horvath, that made their mark in UNC’s 5-0 victory over Wright State in a Terre Haute Regional elimination game.
The Tar Heels faced a win-or-go-home scenario after losing to Iowa — where starting pitching and the struggle to hit with runners on base were a struggle all night.
As head coach Scott Forbes preaches, it all starts with pitching.
“We told our pitching staff today, we didn’t talk about anything about winning today,” Forbes said.
Carlson took that mantra to heart and came out hot, going nine up, nine down through the first three innings. While the righty allowed sixteen hits over 7.2 innings in his last two appearances, Carlson was efficient, allowing only one hit in his outing.
Even with an umpire's inquiry to hand fluttering in Carlson’s windup, he went 6.2 innings, striking out five and producing a strike percentage of about 73.
His fellow Minnesotan, Horvath — nicknamed “Donkey” — had a personal goal for the regional matchup, to “protect the swamp," in an ode to Shrek. Horvath did protect his team’s hopes of a regional victory and had his bat in four of the Diamond Heel’s five runs.
In Horvath’s previous outing against Iowa, however, he racked up four strikeouts on the night and struggled with timing at the plate. Those issues seemed to slither into Horvath’s early performance against the Raiders, striking out in the first inning and inducing a double play in the third.
But, Horvath’s 6-4-3 double play scored junior catcher Tomas Frick and gave the Tar Heels their first lead of the game.
