No. 4 UNC baseball walks off No. 24 Coastal Carolina, 5-4, in extra innings

The No. 4 UNC baseball team (13-0) survived No. 24 Coastal Carolina (10-3), 5-4, on Tuesday evening at Boshamer Stadium. In extra innings, North Carolina notched its first ranked win of the season. 

"At the end of the day, we need games like that to make you better," head coach Scott Forbes said. "We haven't had a walkoff, so that's always fun."

In the bottom of the first and with two outs already logged, sophomore third baseman Gavin Gallaher singled straight up the middle, beating the Chanticleers first baseman to the bag when the ball bounced out of his glove. After an intentional walk of graduate first baseman Hunter Stokely, Gallaher was sent home with a line-drive double from graduate right-fielder Tyson Bass . UNC led, 1-0. 

In the top of the fourth, no outs on the board, Coastal's Blake Barthol on a full count homered to left field. On the next at-bat, sophomore left-handed pitcher Folger Boaz gave up another home run — this time, to right field. After piecing together two outs, the Chanticleers blasted another long ball out of right field on a full count. 

North Carolina lagged behind entering the bottom of the fourth, 3-1. 

UNC quickly got into scoring position to stop the bleeding. After Stokely walked and advanced to second from a groundout, graduate shortstop Alex Madera  logged his first hit of the day, singling to left field. First-year left-fielder Perry Hargett snared a triple barely inside the left-field line, sending home both Madera and Stokely to even the score, 3-3. 

Top of the sixth, first-year right-handed pitcher Walker McDuffie — who relieved Boaz in the inning prior after 57 pitches — scrambled to collect a grounded ball right to the mound, as Coastal runners sprinted toward home plate and first. The first-year slung it just in time to get the third out to end the inning, allowing the Diamond Heels to escape still tied. 

In two straight outings, North Carolina stranded runners on base, struggling to connect in scoring position. 

Another first-year took the mound for UNC in the top of the seventh: righty Ryan Lynch. He took care of business, securing three outs on a trio of strikeouts.

"I just tried to be as aggressive as possible, " Lynch said. 

For the first time since the opening inning, the Tar Heels took the lead. Madera singled up the middle to get on base. A base-hit by second baseman Jackson Van De Brake pushed two runners into scoring position, as both he and Madera advanced to second and third. Then,  junior pinch hitter Rom Kellis — who was pinch hitting for graduate designated hitter Sam Angelo — hit a sacrifice fly to run in Madera and make it 4-3. 

Not for long. After Lynch walked the first Chanticleer at bat, North Carolina called for junior Matthew Matthijs from the bullpen. A sacrificial bunt advanced Coastal Carolina to second base. Then, a base hit sent Coastal to home plate to tie it back up, 4-4. 

UNC had no answer in the bottom of the ninth, pushing Tuesday's game into extra innings. 

Junior Cameron Padgett walked to the mound to open the tenth. With two outs and a runner in scoring position, the UNC defense got an out at first to stay tied and strand two. In the next inning, Bass lost his footing while running after a deep hit, recovered, launched it to Van De Brake, who slung it to sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson to get out the runner at home and send UNC to the bottom of the 11th. 

Coastal Carolina loaded the bases in the bottom of the 11th, then Gallaher hit a sacrifice fly to the outfield, allowing Van De Brake to score the winning run. 

"I wanted it," Gallaher said. "That's the type situation I love to be in."

The Tar Heels return to action in Chapel Hill on Friday at 4 p.m. for the ACC opener versus Stanford. 

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