Trio of pitchers help UNC baseball squeak by ECU in first game of series

Walker McDuffie doesn’t have a heartbeat. 

Or at least that’s what head coach Scott Forbes suspects because of how calm his first-year pitcher stays. 

And in the bottom of the seventh inning with UNC up by two, McDuffie's heartbeat didn't race at all when he stepped on the mound. With the bases loaded and two outs, the right-hander pulled the string on his slider and struck out ECU's Colby Wallace during the game's biggest at-bat.

It was one of the three times undefeated No. 6 North Carolina pitched its way out of a jam, before shutting East Carolina out in a 2-0 victory at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon. A trio of pitchers —Jason DeCaro, Matthew Matthijs and McDuffie — were the arms that helped the Diamond Heels close out innings and squeak by the Pirates. 

“You got to give their three arms the credit,” Forbes said. “They threw the ball extremely well.”

The first time the Pirates loaded the bases, UNC’s starting pitcher DeCaro was still on the mound. He only allowed one hit through the first four innings, but a pair of singles — one of which was an infield hit on a sacrifice bunt — and a walk put DeCaro in a hard spot. 

And after falling behind in the count 3-1, DeCaro had no choice but to attack the zone.

“I was just trying to go after him there,” DeCaro said. “I’m not scared to fall behind to that guy, but just keep going after him and even the count.” 

He eventually got ECU's Jack Herring to pop up to left field. UNC survived the inning with no damage. 

In the following frame, the Pirates had runners on the corners and North Carolina went to its bullpen. The Tar Heels brought in junior relief pitcher Matthijs.

The veteran took the mound and struck out a Pirate hitter in four pitches before waltzing back to the dugout. 

“We talk all the time: the first guy after something negative happens, a big hit, a walk, hit by pitch — get that guy out, and your chances of preventing the big inning are pretty good,” Forbes said. “And that's what they did.”

The final chance for a Pirate rally came in the bottom of the seventh. Matthijs loaded the bases with a single, walk and hit-by-pitch. 

So, in came 18-year-old McDuffie. With the poise Forbes likened to former UNC aces Alex White and Adam Warren, McDuffie struck out the first batter he faced and stranded all three Pirates to end the inning. 

It was his sweeping slider that fooled the ECU hitter twice and took him down swinging on the last pitch.

“The old boomerang slider,” Forbes said. “It's one of those that just takes off on you.” 

With prior success pitching in high-stress environments, DeCaro gave some advice to McDuffie and other first-year pitchers about how to manage those game situations. 

“The biggest thing I say is just try and slow your heartbeat down and slow yourself down,” DeCaro said. “You can get caught up in it if you go along with the game and the crowd, but if you slow yourself down, you’ll be alright.” 

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