Tag: Shea Sprague

UNC announces Game 1 starting pitcher for Chapel Hill Super Regional

North Carolina will rely on a transfer pitcher to win Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.

While the Diamond Heels bats clutched up in Monday’s 4-3 Chapel Hill Regional Final win over defending College World Series champion LSU, one could argue UNC’s pitching kept them in position to win throughout.

After allowing three runs in the first three innings, North Carolina went to its talented bullpen. 12-game winner Matthew Matthijs relieved starter Jason DeCaro with 4 1/3 innings of 1-run, 2- hit ball, then star UNC closer Dalton Pence tossed his best outing of the season, striking out four over 3 2/3 innings while allowing just one hit and two walks.

DeCaro suffered through unusual struggles in the Chapel Hill Regional, but I attribute that to short rest. He started the Friday opener against Long Island University, then was asked to pitch three days later.

For college baseball teams, there’s usually a weekend rotation and a few, midweek starters.

Aidan Haugh didn’t pitch well in Sunday night’s 8-4 loss to LSU, but Elon transfer Shea Sprague shined in Saturday’s 6-2 win over LSU, tossing 4 1/3 shutout innings with three strikeouts, just two walks and four hits allowed.

It’s no surprise that, as a result of Saturday’s strong outing, Sprague gets the ball Friday night for Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.

Sprague’s Saturday victory was his best outing since April 27, when he hurled a season-high 6 2/3 innings against Virginia Tech, striking out six Hokies while allowing just one run on four hits. Sprague leads Diamond Heel starters in earned run average (3.76), plus his 58 strikeouts tie him with Haugh for third-most amongst UNC pitchers.

Can Sprague shut down the JJ Wetherholt-led West Virginia lineup?

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LSU baseball falls to North Carolina in winners’ bracket, will face elimination on Sunday

LSU will play Wofford on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT in an elimination game.

[autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] took the mound for the winner’s bracket game against North Carolina. The winner of this game advanced to the Regional final matchup and would be one win away from Omaha. North Carolina won 6-2 and sent LSU to an elimination game.

There were no early runs in this one as Holman and [autotag]Shea Sprague[/autotag] were both locked in until the bottom of the fifth inning. With two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth, [autotag]Vance Honeycutt[/autotag] hit a three-run bomb to give the Tar Heels a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the seventh inning, [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] started it off with a single, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] followed that with a single, and [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit a single to load the bases for [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag]. Jones then was walked on a 3-2 count to bring in the first run of the game for the Tigers. [autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag] then entered as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded against the new Carolina pitcher. Frey drew a walk on a 3-2 count to score another run for LSU. [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] then grounded into a double play to send us to the bottom of the seventh inning with the score 3-2 North Carolina.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Honeycutt hit another homer off of Holman, this time a solo shot, to extend the lead to 4-2 North Carolina. That homer chased Holman from the mound and [autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag] entered the game. Holman’s final line was 6.2 innings pitched and he allowed four runs on seven hits, 11 strikeouts, and one walk.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, North Carolina added some insurance as they tacked on two more runs to increase their lead to 6-2 as we headed to the ninth. LSU was unable to come up with any magic in the top of the ninth and the Tigers lost 6-2.

LSU will play Wofford on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT in an elimination game.

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