Bukauskas unveils slider in series loss

With a scouting report that advises batters to be wary of the fastball, J.B. Bukauskas turned to a different pitch to out No. 25 Georgia Tech’s batters — his slider.

And the adjustment paid off.

While No. 7 North Carolina (19-4, 6-3 ACC) dropped two games to the Yellow Jackets (18-5, 5-4 ACC) for its first series loss of the season, the Tar Heels shined behind Bukauskas on Friday. The sophomore pitcher went eight innings, tying his career high of 11 strikeouts and retiring 17 consecutive batters at one point to lead UNC to an 8-0 victory.

“That’s the best he’s thrown his slider (for extended innings),” Coach Mike Fox said.

Bukauskas was the only starting pitcher who found success against the Yellow Jackets this weekend.

Both junior Zac Gallen and sophomore Jason Morgan were credited with a loss as they struggled to contain Georgia Tech on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

“They just battle out there,” Gallen said. “There’s no easy outs. I had trouble putting guys away.”

Save a three-run fifth inning, Gallen held the Yellow Jackets scoreless in Thursday’s 3-2 loss. But he was unable to come up with 1-2-3 innings early on, driving up his pitch count and keeping him from going deeper into the game.

“They were patient,” said Gallen, who ended his outing after five innings. “They got what they were looking for. Put good swings on the bat and hits just kind of fell in.”

All three pitchers noted that Georgia Tech thrives on the fastball. Morgan struggled to combat the Yellow Jackets in this regard in a 6-0 loss on Saturday, as one of his fastballs resulted in a home run.

“They’re a first-pitch swinging team ...” Morgan said. “They were hunting fastballs.”

When Bukauskas noticed how Georgia Tech took a liking to the fastball in early innings, he decided to switch to the slider. He found success with the change right away.

Bukauskas told teammates he’d been working on his slider over the summer. And sophomore shortstop Logan Warmoth noticed an improvement, saying that the slider is so successful because Bukauskas can disguise it.

“When you see it come out of his hand, you don’t know it’s a slider,” Warmoth said. “That’s exactly what those kids were saying to me when I was at second.

“They were like, ‘I didn’t know if it was a fastball or a slider unless I swung it and it was in the dirt.’”

Bukauskas’ performance culminated with a final strikeout in the eighth inning. Pitching longer than he had all season, he still had more to give.

When he realized he was one good pitch away from shutting down another batter, he decided to have some fun with the fastball.

“When I got two strikes I was like, ‘Alright, I’m letting this one eat,’” he said.

And with a 96-mph pitch to put the final batter away, that’s exactly what he did.

@BlakeR_95

sports@dailytarheel.com