The No. 17 North Carolina baseball team (17-6, 3-5 ACC) fell to Boston College (10-10, 3-5 ACC), 3-2, on Saturday afternoon at Harrington Athletics Village.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jason DeCaro toed the rubber for the visiting Tar Heels, switching places in the pitching order with graduate pitcher Jake Knapp ahead of the weekend. Knapp and UNC downed the Eagles on Friday night, setting up a vital game three on Sunday.
In the top of the first, both squads threatened but were unable to capitalize. Sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson laced a double into left center field, but North Carolina failed to bring the run in. DeCaro and Boston College starting pitcher Tyler Mudd stayed sharp in the second inning, keeping both offenses scoreless.
The Tar Heels loaded the bases on two walks and a hit by pitch in the third, and sophomore third baseman Gavin Gallaher brought in the first run of the contest with a sacrifice fly to left field. North Carolina was unable to add any more in the frame. DeCaro responded to the lead posting a three up, three down half inning, maintaining the 1-0 score.
In the fourth, the pitchers duel continued. Both offenses produced leadoff baserunners, but both starting arms stifled the scoring opportunities. Even while leading, UNC only tallied one hit through four frames.
Mudd walked two of the first three batters in the top of the fifth, which ended his day after four and one-thirds innings of work. Facing trouble, the Eagles inserted Kyle Kipp, who needed just seven pitches to roll Gallaher into a double play to silence the opportunity.
In response, Boston College used two singles and a towering home run to left field from Patrick Roche to capture a 3-1 lead and break its scoreless day. DeCaro struck out the next two batters to end the fifth.
After another quiet offensive inning from the Tar Heels, DeCaro bounced back with a scoreless frame of his own. 111 pitches thrown after the sixth would end his outing, surrendering seven hits and notching four strikeouts. North Carolina turned to sophomore pitcher Olin Johnson in relief.
Both teams went hitless and scoreless in the seventh inning.
