Gavin Gallaher's walk-off grand slam pushes Diamond Heels to 11-8 win over LIU in Chapel Hill Regional

Led by first-year third baseman Gavin Gallaher’s six-RBI night, the No. 1-seed UNC baseball team (43-13) walked it off on Friday for an 11-8 victory over No. 4-seed LIU (33-24) to begin NCAA tournament play on Friday.

The 18-year-old first-year pitcher Jason DeCaro took the mound to open the game for the Tar Heels. After a pair of fly outs, DeCaro walked the next two batters and found himself in early peril. A first-pitch popout to senior first baseman Parks Harber with two runners on, though, kept the Sharks scoreless.

Redshirt sophomore Casey Cook earned UNC’s first hit of the game in the bottom of the first, laying down a picture-perfect bunt down the third base line to beat the shift. The Tar Heels would scratch across their first run of the game later in the inning when senior designated hitter Alberto Osuna blooped an RBI single in front of the charging LIU right fielder. 

DeCaro found himself in a similar spot in the second, with runners on first and second and two outs. Again he delivered, forcing the LIU batter to roll over on an 83 MPH breaking ball for an easy groundout to first.

The first-year continued to struggle to find the zone in the third inning. The Sharks generated runners on first and second for the third consecutive frame after DeCaro hit the leadoff batter on the first pitch and walked the next batter on four pitches. This time, LIU capitalized by launching a three-run shot off the netting in right field to take the lead. 

“Jason just couldn't control the ball like he had been,” head coach Scott Forbes said. “And he had to fight through it, and he did.”

The Tar Heels appeared to get one back in the bottom of the frame.

With Harber standing on first and two outs, graduate right fielder Anthony Donofrio roped a double into the gap in left center field. Harber rounded third and was called safe on a bang-bang play at the plate. A replay review, though, changed the call at home and Harber was ruled out, keeping UNC down two.

Gallaher would leave no doubt in the fourth.On a 3-1 count, he rocketed a 378-foot solo blast into left field to bring the Tar Heels within one.

“We were talking about Gavin the other day,” Forbes said. “I talk to [Peter] Haskin a lot. He's kind of the grandpa of our team. And he goes, ‘slow heartbeat. That kid's got a slow heartbeat.’ And he had a slow heartbeat tonight.”

Senior pitcher Garrett Yawn’s dominance continued in the bottom of the fifth. After walking the leadoff batter, Yawn responded by striking out the next three Tar Heels in order to maintain the Sharks’ lead. Despite topping out at 89 MPH, he produced weak contact all evening to keep the high-powered UNC offense at bay. 

Sophomore pitcher Matthew Matthijs, who came on in relief of DeCaro in the fifth, found trouble in the sixth. Following a meeting at the mound with pitching coach Bryant Gaines, Matthijs dug in with runners on the corners and one out. Two ground outs, one to Gallaher at third and the other to senior shortstop Colby Wilkerson, allowed Mattijis to get out of the inning unscathed.  

Gallaher’s hot night at the plate ignited a three-run bottom of the sixth for UNC.

The third baseman brought home his second RBI of the evening with a roped double into left field. The next batter, graduate second baseman Alex Madera, found a hole through the left side of the infield with two runners in scoring position to put the Tar Heels up two.

The Sharks refused to go away.After retiring the first five batters he faced, redshirt sophomore Dalton Pence left one over the plate and pinch hitter Matthew McGurk didn’t miss it. His solo homer to center pulled LIU within one in the eighth.

Senior pitcher Matt Poston came in to earn the close in the top of the ninth, inheriting a runner on first and no outs. A weak groundout moved the runner into scoring position, and a two-out, two-strike double down the left field line for LIU tied the game at five. Two batters later, graduate center fielder Jacob Pipercic hit a three-run moonshot to take an 8-5 lead.

“We were just trying to slow the game down and take it one pitch at a time,” Gallaher said. “Because when you have a roster like ours, it's so easy to trust the guy behind you that you just know you have to get it to him.”

A hit by pitch and a single brought the tying run to the plate for the Tar Heels in the bottom of the ninth. After an infield RBI single by Osuna and RBI walk by first-year catcher Luke Stevenson later in the inning, Gallaher came to the plate with the bases loaded, one out and down by one.

“What we did really well there was just passing the torch,” Donofrio said. “Every guy had faith in the next and that's what we do.”

He called game, walking it off with a grand slam off the scoreboard. 

“I blacked out for a while,” Gallaher said. “It was all kind of sinking in at the same time.”

UNC advances to take on No. 2-seed LSU in the winner’s bracket on Saturday at 5 p.m.

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