Tar Heels baseball's 14-game win streak snapped by UNCW

With eight runs and only three Tar Heels having registered strikeouts, North Carolina baseball coach Mike Fox said the statistics line would have suggested a win for his squad Tuesday night.

But when Parks Jordan’s fly ball landed in the glove of UNC-Wilmington’s center fielder Steven Linkous with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the scoreboard read otherwise.

The Seahawks snapped No. 1 UNC’s 14-game winning streak taking a 9-8 victory with them back to the coast.

UNC-W’s offensive dominance in the fourth inning led them to the come-from-behind win.

“We just didn’t get it done on the mound. Walks and errors — they’ll get you. They got us tonight,” Fox said.

“You can go back and say we lost the game in the fourth inning.”

The Tar Heels (39-3) squandered a 6-0 lead and allowed UNC-W to tie the game at 6-6 in a fourth inning that featured three different UNC pitchers.

In the bottom of the fourth, UNC retook the lead and shut out feelings of frustration stemming from the top half of the inning.

Colin Moran followed up a Landon Lassiter triple with a home run, scoring two runs and giving UNC a two-run lead.

“It was huge when Landon led off with that triple,” Moran said.

“It makes my job a lot easier to get him in from third. and I was just trying to look for a ball up and luckily he left one up.”

But the pitching woes continued for the Tar Heels as three of UNC’s four pitchers turned in uncharacteristically poor performances. And with that, the Seahawks regained the lead in the top of the eighth inning.

Fox said he was pleased with relief pitcher Chris McCue’s efforts, but McCue said ultimately his team needed to throw strikes and did not.

“A couple of the guys went in there and didn’t necessarily have their stuff tonight, but it’s a process, obviously,” McCue said. “It’s a long season. They’ve thrown well in the past so we’ll be fine. Our pitching staff honestly is very good.”

Fox said the loss was a result of the fact that his pitchers weren’t connecting on the mound — something they will put behind them.

“It’s just one of those things —I’ve said it before — they’re not robots. They’re not trying to throw balls, it’s just part of the game,” he said.

“It’s not nerves, it’s just the plate is 17 inches wide. You’ve got to be locked in and we just weren’t.”

Fox praised UNC-W’s play and gave them credit for their ability to rally from a six-run deficit and eventually take the game.

McCue said UNC will want redemption heading into today’s game against UNC- Charlotte.

“Sometimes you just have those nights,” McCue said. “Charlotte just better be ready.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.