Tyler Baum shows 'it factor' in No. 8 UNC baseball's 11-0 win over Winthrop

The moment Tyler Baum touched his feet to the rubber Tuesday afternoon, he made himself at home.

Baum was about to begin the first start of his college career for the No. 8 North Carolina baseball team (8-0), but he came out throwing strikes like a seasoned veteran in UNC’s 11-0 win over Winthrop (4-3).

“Going through the first inning after the first-pitch strike to start off the game, I got more comfortable and settled in,” Baum said. “I had command of my pitches today and went and attacked the hitters.”

Baum mowed through the first three batters with ease. He moved to the second inning with some momentum, but it seemed like his sharp command might falter after he gave up a hit to start the inning. He found himself in a 3-2 count in the next at-bat.

But Baum came through with a strikeout before forcing a pop-up on the next at-bat and ending the inning with a fly out. The hit in the second would be one of just two he gave up in the outing.

“He’s got that ‘it’ factor; he didn’t look nervous at all,” Head Coach Mike Fox said. “He was very aggressive. The first pitch out of his hand was a fastball down with some velocity on it, and he never looked back.”

Baum continued the momentum, plowing through three 1-2-3 innings. While Baum pitched a gem on the mound, his teammates struggled to score early on, leaving Baum without a cushion.

Baum’s teammates had only accounted for three hits in the first four innings, and despite being handed several walks, they missed out on key opportunities and left runners stranded on base. Baum kept the faith.

“I knew eventually they were going to come through and get a clutch base hit and break the tie,” Baum said.

And they did. To Baum’s relief, the Tar Heels produced five runs in the fifth inning, wearing through three Winthrop pitchers.

Logan Warmoth ignited the burst of runs by scoring on a balk. Warmoth went on to pick up four RBIs, a home run, a double and a walk.

“We were telling everyone in there, ‘Let’s get a run for Baum,’” Warmoth said. “‘Let’s get one or two.’”

“And that’s all we needed because he was lights out today.”

Baum retired from the mound in the top of the sixth after giving up a walk and a hit, but that didn’t keep his team from continuing to score for him. He finished allowing zero runs and just one walk — and he tallied six strikeouts.

The team hammered across six more runs and kept Winthrop scoreless for the rest of the game, thanks to a committee of pitchers: Austin Bergner, Taylor Sugg and Bo Weiss. Following their efforts, Baum was awarded his first career college win — an 11-0 shutout.

“It meant the world to come out here and start for the Tar Heels today,” Baum said, “and get a win for the team.”

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