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The Daily Tar Heel

North Carolina baseball team drops Duke

Over spring break, the UNC baseball team went 3-3 with a 2-1 series win against Duke, a 2-1 series loss to Pitt and went 1-1 in midweek games.

Right-handed pitcher J.B. Bukauskas throws a pitch against Duke as a part of UNC’s 2-1 series over the Blue Devils during the ACC home opener.

Right-handed pitcher J.B. Bukauskas throws a pitch against Duke as a part of UNC’s 2-1 series over the Blue Devils during the ACC home opener.

The injuries have continued to pile up for the No. 11 North Carolina baseball team after its first two contrasting weekends of ACC play.

During their ACC opener against Duke, the Tar Heels were forced to play the entire weekend without their most experienced weekend starter — senior right-hander Benton Moss, who’s dealing with a strained right forearm.

In his place, though, sophomore Zac Gallen stepped up admirably and recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts to lead UNC to the Friday victory and set the tone for a 2-1 series victory against the Blue Devils.

"(He had) a little chip on his shoulder, and then for one reason or another we’re having to pitch him in our first ACC game,” said Coach Mike Fox after Gallen’s outing. “I’m hoping all the other pitchers just take a look at that. Just be prepared, and he was prepared. And he pitched great.”

Preparation would continue to be important for UNC after picking up its first ACC series win. In a 13-2 midweek loss to Coastal Carolina — a game where Fox said the team, “didn’t do much of anything right” — sophomore shortstop Wood Myers broke his left fibula.

That led to more shuffling on Fox’s part. He had to replace a crucial defensive position and one of the team’s most consistent hitters. So, Fox slid freshman Logan Warmoth from third to short, moved Alex Raburn to third base and plugged junior transfer Elijah Sutherland into the starting lineup at second base.

And Sutherland responded to the challenge, reaching base three times in three chances during Sunday’s 3-2 extra-inning loss to Pittsburgh. While that loss gave Pitt the 2-1 series victory and dropped UNC to 3-3 in ACC play, the team was encouraged by the resiliency it showed in spite of the many challenges.

“I think we played really hard this past week,” said J.B. Bukauskas, who leads healthy UNC starters with a 2.70 ERA. ”(We’ve) got a couple of injuries that have been nagging our team, so that kind of makes it tough for us to play up to our full ability.

“But I think we’ve done a really good job fighting through that and got a couple big Ws out of a tough situation.”

Fox told his team that after the Pitt series that he likes where they are at during this point in the season but admitted that it has come with a few learning moments.

“We’re learning some tough lessons, our young guys are,” he said. “You make mistakes and walk people in this league, and teams come back and punish you for it. We had a chance today but didn’t get the big hit. But we kept battling.”

Senior Trevor Kelley, who owns the team’s lowest ERA and has been UNC’s most reliable relief pitcher after an injury to Reilly Hovis, echoed those thoughts.

“We’re not going to quit. We’re always going to battle,” he said. “And that’s a great sign for our team moving forward, so I’m really excited to get deeper into ACC, and we’re really going to be a team to reckon with.”

sports@dailytarheel.com

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