Holberton excels in starting role

Until recently, a spot in North Carolina’s starting lineup wasn’t so kind to Brian Holberton. In his first five starts of the season, the sophomore utility player went a combined 1-for-18 from the plate.

But despite his sluggish start to the Tar Heels’ 2012 campaign, coach Mike Fox decided to give Holberton another shot.

And in UNC’s weekend series against Georgia Tech, that confidence paid dividends.

In his ninth, 10th and 11th starts of the season, Holberton combined for seven hits and scored two runs on the weekend while playing left field on Friday and designated hitter on Saturday. In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, he recorded a career-high four RBI.

Though his team dropped the series, Fox didn’t walk away from Boshamer Stadium empty handed. Instead, the coach took with him a 12-6 thrashing of the Yellow Jackets in game two of the series, and maybe more importantly, increased confidence in his hopeful hitter.

“He sits on the bench for a while and all of a sudden we throw him in there and he’s been swinging it good,” Fox said. “He kind of got caught in a position where we were winning some games, and he just wasn’t getting the at-bats that he wanted.”

Holberton started for UNC in the season-opening series against Xavier, but combined for only one hit in 10 at-bats. In his next two starts — games against Clemson and Miami — he didn’t fare much better.

But in UNC’s sweep of Virginia last weekend, its first in Charlottesville since 1994, things began to look up for Holberton. In game three against the Cavaliers, he again started at designated hitter and had one hit, one run and a pair of RBI. The next game, starting in left field against High Point, he went 2-for-4 with one RBI.

His Tar Heel teammates began to take notice.

“He struggled early in the season,” catcher Jacob Stallings said. “But he always stays ready, and he’s seeing the benefits right now.”

With UNC trailing 4-0 in the fifth inning Friday against the Yellow Jackets, Holberton got things going for the Tar Heels when he singled up the middle for their second hit of the night. Moments later, Parks Jordan doubled to left field to bring him home. Holberton recorded two more singles in the game, but UNC still fell 11-4.

In Saturday’s first game, though, Holberton’s heavy hitting finally paid off. The designated hitter started off strong in the first inning with a three-RBI double, before hitting a solo homer in the fourth over the right center field wall.

Holberton tries to keep the pressure to perform at bay. But when trying to state his case for a permanent spot in the starting lineup, Holberton said it’s hard to keep the extra weight off of his shoulders.

“It kind of creeps in your mind,” he said. “You don’t want that to be there, you just want to play and have fun. But it’s always back there.”

With more weekends like the last, though, it might not be there for long.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.