DURHAM– The game turned around quickly.
Despite trailing 3-0 through five innings Friday night in the series opener against No. 13 Duke, No. 4 North Carolina had the Blue Devils on the ropes in the top of the seventh, so it seemed.
After rallying to pull even with a three-run sixth, the Tar Heels had runners on first and second in the seventh with no outs and its best power hitter, sophomore first baseman Michael Busch, up at the plate.
That opportunity to take a lead was wasted, however, and an implosion of the UNC bullpen soon thereafter resulted in Duke retaking an advantage, one it would not give up in a 7-3 win over the Tar Heels at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Baseball series between the Tar Heels (33-15, 18-7 ACC) and the Blue Devils (38-11, 17-8 ACC) are rarely this consequential.
But in a season where everyone on Tobacco Road is dominant on the diamond, UNC entered its weekend trip to Durham needing two wins out of three to clinch the ACC’s Coastal Division title. The chance to do that is still on the table, but after Friday night, the Tar Heels will now need at least one victory Saturday or Sunday to feel good about its lead in the division with one more ACC series remaining next week.
Even if they were held scoreless through the opening five frames, Friday night’s game felt a bit like one that got away from the Tar Heels, who saw their fortunes turn in the seventh.
“The whole game kind of flipped there in the seventh,” UNC head coach Mike Fox said. “We got first and second nobody out with the middle of our order up, and we don’t get it done. I thought we really had momentum on our side right there. If we had punched one across or two across, I think it obviously changes the game.
“We don’t get that done, and then they come back in the bottom of the seventh and push a couple across. That was the game.”