UNC sluggers struggle against FAU

Senior Chaz Frank of the North Carolina baseball team got four hits in his first four at-bats Sunday night against Florida Atlantic.

He was doing his job at the plate, but the batters behind him couldn’t drive him home, and the Tar Heels lost 3-2 despite outhitting the Owls 12-3.

“I don’t focus on the hits column,” coach Mike Fox said when asked about his feelings toward the night’s numbers. “They got the big hit.”

Hit after hit, UNC had no problems getting runners on base. Led by their leadoff man Frank, the Tar Heels were getting on, but they were getting stranded.

With 15 runners left on base, the middle of UNC’s order wasn’t coming up with the RBIs that the Tar Heels have become accustomed to.

“As a leadoff hitter, and as a senior, it’s my job to get on base,” Frank said. “I really can’t think about what the guys are doing behind me.”

But it’s the lackluster batting by those middle-of-the-order sluggers behind Frank that left him stranded three times against the Owls.

And while pedestrian 1-for-4 performances by freshman Skye Bolt and junior Colin Moran may be a surprise to most Tar Heels fans, the two Tar Heel sluggers have been having trouble at the plate for awhile now.

Despite having season batting averages that are hovering around .350, Moran and Bolt have been mediocre as of late.

Since returning from a broken foot, Bolt has had trouble finding his swing for the most part, and in the ACC tournament last week, the freshman hit just .261 in four games.

For Moran, making contact hasn’t been an issue, but getting hits has been — as was evident by his .238 average in the ACC tournament. In the last few weeks, the projected top-ten pick in the MLB draft has made a habit of hitting balls straight to left fielders and swinging at first pitches.

“It’s unlike Colin,” Fox said. “I haven’t seen Colin swing at first pitches five times, maybe 10, all year long.

“That tells you, just watching, (Colin’s) a little anxious (and is) trying a little too much.”

At no time was that more evident than when Moran stepped up to the plate in the sixth inning with the bases loaded.

The Tar Heels had a 2-0 lead at the time and no outs in the inning giving Moran free reign to swing at will — something he had no problem doing early on in the year.

But all he could muster up was a grounder to FAU pitcher Kyle Miller, who promptly turned the double play, leading to a scoreless inning for the Tar Heels and a stranded Frank.

“That’s not like us,” Frank said. “We have two of the top RBI guys in the nation.

“But it happened.”