UNC baseball sweeps Maryland, readies for season’s end

With just more than one week left in the regular season, the end is in sight for the North Carolina baseball team.

And so is — it hopes — the beginning of the road to the College World Series.

But first, the Tar Heels must get through two tough ACC series.

No. 11 UNC (37-10) will travel Friday to Atlanta to play No. 15 Georgia Tech (33-14) before hosting No. 2 Virginia (43-5) May 19-21.

The Tar Heels should have plenty of momentum going into the series against the Yellow Jackets, as North Carolina registered its fourth ACC sweep of the season last weekend with wins against Maryland.

The struggling Tar Heels didn’t qualify for the ACC baseball tournament for the first time in program history in 2010, but UNC has shown improvement this season in conference play.

For catcher Jacob Stallings, leadership and pitching have made all the difference.

“Our pitching depth is just really good this year,” Stallings said. “We can run a number of guys out there on the weekend and feel confident about them.”

In the first game against the Terrapins, senior pitcher Patrick Johnson struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven scoreless innings to lead the Tar Heels to a 5-0 win.

On Saturday, clutch hits from seniors Ben Bunting and Greg Holt helped UNC sneak by the Terrapins in the 10th inning.

Ditching his cap and gown for a North Carolina uniform to help his team sweep a conference competitor made the weekend especially memorable for Bunting.

“It’s surreal to finally get to graduate and get this sweep,” Bunting said. “That puts us one step closer to being able to host a regional like we want to do. It’s a blast.”

Freshman Colin Moran led UNC on Sunday with four hits in five at-bats. The third baseman also registered his 60th RBI of the season — an achievement only three other UNC freshmen have ever accomplished.

“There’s been a lot of great players that have come through here, so to compare my name with some of the others, to be in the same sentence as some of them is pretty cool,” Moran said.

As the Tar Heels prepare to face their final two regular season ACC opponents, Coach Mike Fox said making sure his players begin a healthy summer routine will be crucial.

The road ahead might prove to be tough for the Tar Heels, but as long as his team focuses on the task at hand, Fox said he thinks his team is ready for the challenge.

“We’ll have our hands full the last two series,” Fox said. “But we also have something to play for.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.