UNC relief pitcher Matt Poston deserves his flowers for North Carolina’s come-from-behind, 8-6 victory over West Virginia Friday night in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.
After Ben Peterson hit both Mountaineer batters to open the seventh inning, Poston came on in relief. West Virginia carried a 6-4 lead and was threatening to break the game open. Kyle West was already enjoying a career night for the Mountaineers, which included two of his team’s three home runs, so there wasn’t a lot of optimism in Chapel Hill.
What Poston did next was simply amazing.
Exactly a week after struggling in relief against Long Island University during the Chapel Hill Regional, Poston pitched three perfect innings and struck out four Mountaineers, nabbing his fifth win of the year.
Not only did Poston save a rough inning from Peterson, but a rough start from Diamond Heels pitchers in general.
Game 1 starter Shea Sprague appeared to be cruising through the West Virginia lineup, striking out six batters, but he gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings.
UNC wins leader Matthew Matthijs relieved Sprague and lasted an inning, but he gave up a home run to West.
In watching Poston’s postgame interview, you can tell he was relieved to have a bounce-back outing Friday.
3 IP | 4 K | 0 H – ☝️𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐍
Matt locked down the Mountainers for three hitless innings enroute to his fifth win of the season! #GoHeels | @Mrposton8 pic.twitter.com/pTy1g1bek7
— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) June 8, 2024
Poston’s fifth victory tied him with freshman ace Jason DeCaro for second-most amongst North Carolina hurlers.
I imagine Poston does not pitch much tonight in Game 2, but if head coach Scott Forbes needs Poston, I’m sure he’ll be ready to go.
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