The North Carolina Tar Heels began Atlantic Coast Conference play on the diamond this weekend, hosting a series against Pitt. While UNC has had its moments in non-conference play, beginning conference play on the right foot is important.
And they did just that.
The Tar Heels swept the Panthers to open up play and at 3-0. Let’s take a look at the recap for the big series.
Game 1: UNC 2, Pitt 1
The first game of the series was a pitcher’s duel as North Carolina was able to strike first. They scored a run in the bottom of the second inning on a Parks Harber home run. While Pitt responded with a run in the fifth, the Tar Heels turned to the bullpen.
Dalton Pence limited the damage in the fifth inning, entering the game with the bases loaded and two outs before getting te final out. Pence, Matthew Matthijs, and Matt Poston combined for 4.1 innings of work in the bullpen, allowing 0 hits and recording six strikeouts.
Alberto Osuna recorded the game-winning sac fly in the bottom of the eighth.
Game 2: UNC 7, Pitt 4
Game two began as a pitcher’s duel as well with neither team able to score a run until the fifth. The Tar Heels struck first with two runs in the bottom of the fifth before Pitt tied it with two in the top of the seventh.
But in the bottom half of the inning, UNC responded with five runs of their own to grab the 7-2 lead and hold on for a 7-4 win.
Casey Cook drove in five runs while hitting his first home run of the season.
Game 3: UNC 6, Pitt 5 (10 innings)
Looking for the sweep, North Carolina struck first with a run in the second inning. As Pitt answered back in the third, UNC grabbed the lead again in the bottom half of that inning.
A three-run sixth put UNC up 5-1 but Pitt stormed back with one in the seventh and three in the eighth to tie it. But it didn’t take long for UNC to win it in extras.
Anthony Donofrio hit a single in the bottom of the tenth to score Cook and give the Tar Heels a big sweep in their first ACC series of the year.
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