UNC baseball finds bats in the 9th to claim season-opening series against Xavier

North Carolina had been waiting for it.

A big hit, a clutch single, a lucky bounce — anything to alleviate some pressure. Baseball coach Mike Fox said Saturday that such a moment could give his scuffling young offense the chance to exhale.

And he was right.

On Sunday, freshman Adam Pate was practically panting as he exited the Boshamer Stadium locker room. The first hit of his UNC career was just a little dribbler to short, but it came with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, game tied 2-2 against Xavier, sending Michael Russell sprinting home.

The Tar Heels won 3-2, won their first home series 2-1, and Pate soon found himself swallowed in a sea of blue jerseys along the first-base line.

“We just had a dance-off in the locker room,” an ecstatic Pate said after the game, naming Russell, a junior shortstop, the dance-off winner.

“It was a lot of fun. I can’t even describe it.”

Fun has been hard to come by for the Tar Heels (3-3) early on this season. Snow moved last-weekend’s scheduled home-opening series against the College of Charleston to Charleston, where UNC dropped two of three games.

Then, on Friday, tough-luck losing pitcher Benton Moss and the Tar Heels fell to the Musketeers 2-1 in game one, falling to 1-3 to start a season for the first time since 2002.

A year ago, UNC won its first 16 games and didn’t lose its third until April 23. But this isn’t the same Tar Heel team that reached last season’s College World Series. With the starting lineup missing MLB draftees Chaz Frank, Colin Moran, Brian Holberton and Cody Stubbs, run support has been limited. Take away a 12-run outpouring in the second game of the season, and UNC has averaged 2.2 runs per game.

On Saturday, a steal of home by sophomore Zach Daly served as the differential in the 2-1 UNC win. And on Sunday, the Tar Heels didn’t reach base until the fifth, scoring all three runs in the decisive ninth.

“We’re a great team — we just haven’t showed it yet as far as the bats,” Pate said. “But we’re going to come alive soon and stop hitting balls right at people. We’re going to feed off of this win, I really think.”

UNC entered the ninth inning trailing just 2-0, having received a strong 6.2 innings from freshman starter Zac Gallen. Freshman Wood Myers and sophomore Landon Lassiter reached on a single and hit by pitch, respectively, advancing on a Skye Bolt bunt. Myers scored on a passed ball two batters later. Then, after an intentional walk of Parks Jordan, Alex Raburn ripped a single to left to tie the game, setting the stage for Pate’s walk-off single.

Fox had said after Friday’s loss that he thought anxiousness and inexperience had contributed to UNC’s early offensive woes. Sunday’s ninth-inning burst could serve as some reassurance.

“It couldn’t have gone any better as far as emotions for the freshmen getting them engaged and everything,” said Jordan, a senior outfielder. “And the fact that it was in walk-off fashion was unreal. I think that’s going to be big for our team.”

The win, in some respects, harked back to the extra-inning wins that the UNC team of last year became known for throughout the postseason — something most of this year’s squad didn’t participate in.

”They watched the regionals,” Fox said. “Adam Pate was here for the super regionals up in the stands, and you hear him say, ‘Boy, that would be fun.’ Well, now he gets to experience it first hand.”

He got to put on his dancing shoes, too.

sports@dailytarheel.com