The North Carolina baseball team completed a two-game season-opening sweep of Seton Hall on Sunday, beating the Pirates 17-2.
After Saturday’s game was canceled due to snow, No. 2 UNC came out ready to play on Sunday. The Tar Heels scored twice in the first inning, six times in the second and six times in the fifth to blow the game wide open.
The easy win kept UNC’s bullpen uncertainty off the table for another day. The Tar Heels still don’t know who will be able to consistently close out close games.
“That’s still the unanswered question,” coach Mike Fox said.
Benton Moss went the minimum five innings to get the win, allowing one run on two hits and
striking out seven before UNC started putting in its backups.
The Tar Heels got offensive contributions up and down the lineup, but especially from the middle of the order. UNC’s third, fourth, fifth and sixth batters each drove in multiple runs.
Sophomore Grayson Atwood, in his first at-bat of the season, hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the Tar Heels’ six-run fifth inning.
And freshmen Skye Bolt and Landon Lassiter each had good days at the plate — Lassiter was 4-4 with two runs batted in, and Bolt was 4-5 with three RBI. Bolt is now 6-8 in his first two games.
“Right now I’m seeing the ball real well, picking it up out of the pitcher’s hand really well,” Bolt said. “The swing feels nice and short — I’ve found myself in a lot of two-strike situations and I’ve been able to cut down on the swing and put it where they’re not. So I feel real confident, obviously.”
But North Carolina really put the game out of reach in the second, when they scored six runs with two outs to go up 8-1.
The rally started after a strange pitching decision by the Pirates. With two outs, Seton Hall elected to intentionally walk Colin Moran to load the bases. An intentional walk so early in a game, especially one with two outs and one that loads the bases, is unusual.
It backfired.
Seton Hall starting pitcher Brian Gilbert proceeded to quickly walk in a run and was pulled for reliever Josh Prevost, who threw a wild pitch that scored another. The Tar Heels ended up scoring five times with Prevost in the game.
By the time Prevost recorded his only out of the game to stop the bleeding, the damage was done. UNC scored six times in the frame, with every run coming after the intentional walk. The inning helped put the game out of reach early, and the Tar Heels cruised the rest of the way.
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