The UNC baseball program now finds themselves in a familiar spot here in the 2022 NCAA baseball tournament. After dropping Game 1 on Saturday to Arkansas 4-1, the Tar Heels will be playing for their lives on Sunday.
After pitchers Connor Noland and Max Carlson exchanged four clean frames each, the Razorbacks got on the board in the fifth inning plating three runs and grabbing a 3-0 lead.
Peyton Stovall got the scoring started with a solo shot to center and Arkansas found something on Carlson’s pitches as they added an RBI single and then a sac fly for that three-run lead. After that home run, Carlson labored before getting out of the jam but the damage was already done for the Razorbacks and it was enough to seal the game.
Arkansas added a run on a single in the seventh while UNC got their lone run on a Vance Honeycutt solo home run in the eighth.
For UNC, they blew a golden opportunity in the bottom of the first inning, loading the bases with just one out. But a strikeout and then groundout got Noland out of the inning and he was in a groove after that.
That was UNC’s chance to really get up on Arkansas and do some damage and after that, it felt like Noland was able to settle in and dominate.
The two teams are now set for game two Sunday with a noon first pitch. A UNC wins forces a game 3 while an Arkansas win ends the series.
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