Recap: Blue beats Navy in 2018 UNC baseball Fall World Series

While the Major League Baseball postseason is coming to an end, the North Carolina baseball team is preparing for its 2018-19 campaign.  

Over the weekend, the Tar Heels played in their annual Fall World Series, which comprised of a three-game intrasquad series at Boshamer Stadium.  

On Friday night, the Blue team won, 13-4, then lost to the Navy team 6-2 on Saturday to set up the important third game. After splitting the first two games of the series, the Blue team won the rubber match on Sunday afternoon, 6-2. 

Over the weekend, team Blue scored a total of 21 runs, while the Navy team scored 12 runs.

Game One: Blue 13, Navy 4

The Blue team started its offensive dominance on Friday night. Junior transfer Dylan Harris led the team by hitting two home runs. His first came in the bottom of the first inning with an inside the park homer. His next home run cleared the right field wall. On the day, Harris went 4-4, scoring four runs and knocking in five RBIs. 

For the game, Blue team had 12 hits and scored five runs in both the fourth and sixth innings before the game ended midway through the sixth. 

Along with the offensive performance by the Blue team, its pitching was also stellar. After allowing the Navy team to score two runs in both the second and third innings, redshirt first-year Austin Love battled back and went six strong innings allowing just two walks and striking out eight batters. 

Game Two: Navy 6, Blue 2

After losing game one by nine runs on Friday night, the Navy team bounced back Saturday to even the series.  

Just like the Blue team on Friday night, the Navy team’s offense started fast. In the top of the first inning, first-year Aaron Sabato hit a grand slam to give his team an early lead.  

The Navy team's early lead gave its pitchers some cushion. The team's ace Gianluca Dalatri started and Andrew Grogan threw in relief.  

Team Navy never looked back after its fast start in the first inning, winning 6-2 to set up the rubber match on Sunday afternoon.  

Game Three: Blue 6, Navy 2

In the Fall World Series finale, two first-years, Connor Ollio and Nik Pry, took to the moundin hopes of propelling their team to victory.  

After Pry pitched a scoreless first inning, the Blue team looked to score early. In the bottom of the first with two outs and the bases loaded for the Blue team, sophomore Earl Semper hit a grounder to shortstop Ike Freeman, who dove and couldn't come up with the play, allowing Harris to score the first run of the game. 

One more run scored in that inning gave the Blue team the lead, 2-0 — a lead they would not give up. The Blue team scored four more runs, two in the second and two more in the third.

Along with early offensive dominance, Pry pitched two shutout innings for the Blue team. With two outs in the top of the third, Navy team's Ashton McGee hit a line-drive single to center field. The next hitter, Sabato, hit a two-run home run over the wall in left center. 

After Pry gave up that home run, both Hansen Butler and Kyle Blendinger took over on the mound and pitched a combined 4.1 innings. To secure the victory for their team, the pitchers earned eight strikeouts and did not allow Team Navy to get a hit. 

Weekend recap

With the last game on Sunday, it marked 116 days since the Tar Heels were eliminated by Oregon State in the College World Series. Since then, 10 Tar Heels, who were chosen in the MLB draft in early June have left Chapel Hill and embarked on a new journey. In the wake of their departure, head coach Mike Fox has added 14 first-years to his roster. 

The question now becomes; what is next for UNC? 

Over the weekend, the Tar Heels scored a combined 33 runs over the course of 19 innings. Along with offensive power and clutch pitching from both veterans and newcomers, the team hopes the 2018 Fall World Series serves as foreshadowing for what will happen this season. 

Now that the Fall World Series is over, the Tar Heels will not play another game at Boshamer Stadium until opening day. 

In the meantime, get those baseball mitts ready. This season may be a doozy. 

@TorreNetkovick

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com