Wierzbicki continues strong showing

For once on Friday night, it appeared Jesse Wierzbicki might not add to his RBI tally.

In two earlier chances, the junior designated hitter had boomed doubles into the confines of left field. But with North Carolina in the process of breaking open a four-run affair in the bottom of the seventh, Wierzbicki approached a bases-loaded opportunity and promptly sky-rocketed a pitch into shallow right field.

Yet even when things seemingly weren’t going right for Wierzbicki, they still did. N.C. State second baseman Dallas Poulk promptly dropped the fly-out, which allowed both Wierzbicki to reach safely and for another Tar Heel to cross home plate.

“He’s just got that toughness about him that you’re not going to get him out,” outfielder Ben Bunting said of Wierzbicki.

With the departure of sweet-stroking slugger Dustin Ackley to Major League Baseball, UNC coach Mike Fox has spent this season trying to replace the All-American’s production. Granted, that’s a nearly impossible task, but Wierzbicki has certainly carried his own weight.

Entering the weekend, he led the Tar Heel starting lineup in batting average and did nothing to diminish his stats with a 5-for-13 series.

On Friday, that was quite apparent from the get-go. In the bottom of the first inning, he slammed a liner past the outstretched arms of NCSU third baseman Andrew Ciencin for a two-bagger, easily scoring teammate Brian Goodwin. And although his next two plate appearances were hardly memorable, the sixth inning surely was.

It was at that juncture with two outs and UNC up two that Wierzbicki calmly leveled a pitch deep into the gap between left-center. The ball reached the wall, and Wierzbicki reached second as both Mike Cavasinni and Jacob Stallings scored.

“He’s been a big key for us,” Fox said. “He’s one of the guys on our team to hit some doubles. He takes a lot of pride, and he’s been a big key for us all year.”

Saturday was no different. Again in the first inning, Wierzbicki reached second — though via a single on his behalf followed by a failed pickoff attempt by N.C. State pitcher Cory Mazzoni. And in the fourth, despite his team being down eight runs, he provided some solace with a double down the right-field line, which scored one.

But was Wierzbicki done yet? Not quite.

After getting the nod at first base on Sunday, the junior promptly started with his worst offensive showing of the series, going 0-for-3 in his first at-bats. Yet things just wouldn’t stay bad for Wierzbicki.

He turned a tied ball game into a two-run North Carolina advantage in the seventh. His hit of choice? Another double that scored two.

“We needed a big hit, and I was just fortunate enough to get a pitch I could pull,” Wierzbicki said. “It was nice to come through.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.