Riding comebacks in the first and seventh innings, the No. 6 Diamond Heels (4-0) bested Kansas State (1-4), 12-9, on Tuesday evening at Boshamer Stadium.
UNC scored four runs in the first and five in the seventh to bookend a gritty defeat of the Wildcats. Sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson tallied three RBIs and his first stolen base of the season to maintain North Carolina’s unblemished record.
“We've managed to go 4-0 without a ton of home runs, not a ton of doubles, some doubles, but we've got some big hits in big situations,” head coach Scott Forbes said.
Sophomore pitcher Folger Boaz started the afternoon with an immediate strikeout. After the Wildcats recorded two hits, Kansas State left fielder Keegan O’Connor walked walked with bases loaded to put the Wildcats up 1-0. Maximus Martin avoided a third strike by rocketing a left-field single for a second straight run.
Down 2-0, the Tar Heels rallied for four runs thanks to Kansas State errors in the bottom of the first.
With two bases loaded, junior outfielder Rom Kellis fired off a strike to right field to give graduate outfielder Tyson Bass the first UNC run of the day.
Sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson knotted the score after an error off a hit by designated hitter Sam Angelo, and graduate infielder Alex Madera found contact to left field after just two plays to give Kellis the score. A sac fly by sophomore infielder Gavin Gallaher off the cuff gave UNC a 4-2 lead.
“We're just all trying to put good swings on balls, and every time that there's a runner in a scoring position, we're doing everything we can to score them,” Stevenson said.
Boaz recorded two strikeouts on three hitters to kick off the second, going three up, three down. Angelo launched a deep hit into the outfield, but Martin secured the catch to force an exchange of possession with two runners on for the Tar Heels.
