Ga.Tech sweeps UNC at home

After dropping to last place in the ACC Coastal Division with two straight losses to Georgia Tech, North Carolina needed a spark.

On Sunday, it thought it had gotten just that in the form of three multi-run innings, highlighted by a sixth-inning moonshot by Jesse Wierzbicki.

And then the relief pitching struck.

Between Michael Morin, Greg Holt and Garrett Davis, the bullpen managed to give up 10 runs in collecting 10 outs. Five of those runs were scored when the Yellow Jackets were down to their final out.

Ga. Tech ultimately pushed across three runs in the 10th inning to complete the sweep, 11-8.

“It’s tough,” Wierzbicki said. “We had an 8-3 lead in the top of the ninth and — we should win that game. It’s frustrating. There’s not really many words to describe it. It hurts.”

A routine flyout in the 10th inning Sunday turned into a double as Brian Goodwin misjudged the ball, breaking inwards only to watch the ball fly over his head.

Between UNC’s first two losses, there were few similarities in the style of play. One was a classic pitchers’ duel, and the other was a slugfest.

Friday’s game featured both teams’ aces, as reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year Deck McGuire toed the rubber for Georgia Tech, countered by Matt Harvey for the Tar Heels. They both pitched well, with neither team able to do much of anything against the two hurlers.

Their stat lines were virtually identical — one earned run, struck out double-digit batters and allowed nine base runners. The only significant difference was Harvey’s unearned run in the fifth inning. It was the lone difference between the two squads as Georgia Tech took a 2-1 win.

“I block out all the other distractions and just try to stay within my game,” Harvey said on Friday. “The last thing I needed to do was worry about what he was doing out there, because he’s a tremendous pitcher.”

Harvey was on fire in the first two innings, striking out five of the first six Yellow Jackets he faced.

“I was having some good movement on my two-seam fastball, and I was locating it very well,” Harvey said. “Early my changeup was working pretty good, and then I was even able to throw some curveballs for strikes.”

Colin Bates had no such luck to start Saturday’s game — he gave up back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning. Ga. Tech’s bats stayed hot for the rest of the game as it cruised to a 13-5 win.

Sunday’s game was not the first relief pitching meltdown. Saturday’s game yielded a similar five-run outburst. Nate Striz’s performance went into the box score as no innings pitched, three earned runs, three hits and two walks.

Even though coach Mike Fox refused to talk to the media, he did talk to Adam Lucas of the Tar Heel Sports Network.

“We are in search of that guy in the bullpen who can close the door,” Fox said to Lucas. “Whether we move some things around or start trusting a freshman, we need to shore up our bullpen.”

The Tar Heels also had problems in the field, as they notched at least two errors in every game, ultimately costing them two of the three games.

The sweep is the first the Tar Heels have suffered at Boshamer Stadium since 2001.

“I am concerned about our defense,” Fox said. “We have seemed to fall apart this series defensively, and that is a little uncharacteristic of our team.”


Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.