Starting pitcher Benton Moss was taken out of the North Carolina baseball team’s 14-inning affair with Clemson in the ACC tournament after five innings of work Friday night.
UNC“(We tried) cups on the ears, backwards hats, stacking hats,” Moss said. “We find what works.”
Moss told the media that there were three keys to his success in the dugout when the game got to extra innings.
Following as much superstition as possible, the Tar Heel dugout came up big when the inning 14 came around. With cups being used as goggles and hearing aids, and hats being worn and stacked in every way imaginable, the UNC bench inspired a rally that the Tigers failed to match.
UNC won 12-7 in a game that didn’t end until Friday had turned to Saturday.
“We found a spot that worked,” Moss said about the players’ positioning in the dugout. “And then in the 14th inning, it worked pretty well.”
Though this game didn’t have any ramifications on the Tar Heels’ chances at an ACC championship, the UNC dugout didn’t take any chances and used the game against Clemson as a warm up for the team’s game against N.C. State Saturday.
“There’s no such thing as a meaningless game,” coach Mike Fox said. “It is just a formality, but when the game starts, it’s no less competitive.”
And the Tar Heel bench treated the game appropriately so.
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