Gabe Hiatt

Sports

Baseball: UNC bullpen struggles in relief at Jacksonville

By Gabe Hiatt | May 29

Throughout the season the bullpen was an asset for a North Carolina baseball team ranked No. 1 nationally by Baseball America. At the 2008 ACC Championship tournament, the pitching staff sporting Division I's lowest ERA (2.63) showed glimpses of vulnerability. "I think down the stretch if people had a knock on us, it was that we didn't have a good enough starting pitching to win in (an NCAA) regional; we just gotta count on our bullpen," coach Mike Fox said. "I think we almost did the opposite here."

Sports

Baseball: Tar Heels fall in ACC Tournament

By Gabe Hiatt | May 29

Buster Posey brought the thunder. With storm clouds that would eventually delay the game rolling into the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, the ACC Player of the Year from Florida State pinch hit a single for 2 RBI to tie the score 5-5 against North Carolina. The hit ignited a six-run ninth inning rally for the Seminoles, leading to a 9-6 FSU victory at the ACC Baseball Championship tournament. "I knew he'd be coming up at some point," UNC coach Mike Fox said of Posey, who missed his first collegiate start in his career to rest.

Sports

Tar Heels push past Deacs in second ACC matchup

By Gabe Hiatt | May 22

Thanks to the ACC baseball tournament's round-robin format, North Carolina's Diamond Heels knew they lost their shot at a chance to play in the tournament's championship game following Virginia's defeat of Florida State on Friday afternoon. But UNC didn't let the circumstance affect its effort in Friday night's contest against Wake Forest. The Tar Heels were able to put together enough offense in the pitching duel to win 2-0.

Sports

Tar Heels fall to Florida State in final ACC game

By Gabe Hiatt | May 22

Buster Posey brought the thunder. With storm clouds that would eventually delay the game rolling into the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville during the final inning, the ACC player of the year from Florida State pinch hit a single for 2 RBIs to tie the score 5-5 against North Carolina. The hit ignited a six-run ninth inning rally for the Seminoles, leading to a 9-6 victory for FSU at the ACC Baseball Championship tournament. "I knew he'd be coming up at some point," UNC coach Mike Fox said of Posey, who missed his first collegiate start to rest.

Sports

Tar Heels fall in first round of ACCs

By Gabe Hiatt | May 22

The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville sit downwind of a coffee-roasting plant, and with java fumes heavy in the air, No. 3 seeded North Carolina and No. 6 seeded Virginia were too wired to leave the ballpark early. Despite two comeback attempts from UNC, UVa won the marathon contest in 11 innings and 3 hours and 40 minutes. Following an RBI single from right-fielder Tim Fedroff in the bottom of the 11th, Chad Flack hit a blooper to right field. UVa's John Barr made a diving save, cementing the win for the Cavaliers after scoring the winning run on a pass ball in the same inning.

Sports

Freshmen prove strength against N.C. State

By Gabe Hiatt | February 11

RALEIGH - N.C. State's wrestling team entered Reynolds Coliseum to the sounds of Phil Collins, but it was North Carolina wrestling - and particularly the freshman members of the squad - who could feel it in the air Friday night. Newcomers Kyle Kiss and Nick Tenpenny scored consecutive major decisions, accounting for eight of UNC's 24 team points. Both wrestlers physically dominated the opposition, proving the worth of the Tar Heels' youngest competitors.

Sports

UNC wallops Duke, evens ACC record

By Gabe Hiatt | January 18

The venue changed, but the result stayed the same for the North Carolina wrestling team against Duke on Thursday night. Hosting the Blue Devils in Fetzer Gym because of the women's basketball game, UNC (5-3, 1-1 ACC) easily recorded a 32-6 victory, their 33rd win in the last 34 meetings between the rival schools. Such dominance against Duke brought raucous cheers from the home crowd, which overflowed the bleachers to watch, forcing latecomers to stand around the mat in order to catch a glimpse of the action.

Sports

Crucial mistakes costly

By Gabe Hiatt | October 29

WINSTON-SALEM - During Saturday's game at Wake Forest, North Carolina football looked like track star Carl Lewis' ill-fated attempt at the national anthem. Mistake after mistake hindered the team, preventing the Tar Heels from finding any sort of rhythm and producing lapses in all three phases of the game. The first play from scrimmage set the tone when quarterback T.J. Yates stared down his intended receiver and threw an interception on a play-action pass. "It's kind of hard to get on track after that," Yates said.

Sports

North Carolina learning how to win

By Gabe Hiatt | September 10

Before hosting this weekend's Carolina Classic at Carmichael Auditorium, the UNC women's volleyball team went an uninspiring 2-4, appearing to be heading down the same road as the squad that went 11-20 last season. But after gutsy wins in two five-game home matches against Villanova on Friday night and American University on Saturday night, the culture seems to be evolving for a more aggressively oriented team. Sophomore outside hitter Christine Vaughen led the charge by accounting for 43 of the Tar Heels' 194 kills in the tournament.

Sports

Tar Heels extend win streak to 25

By Gabe Hiatt | March 26

In a weekend engulfed by March Madness, the North Carolina softball team proved that the basketball players aren't the only ones with a flair for the dramatic. With two comeback wins, the Tar Heels swept the three-game series against Boston College at Anderson Stadium to extend their school-record winning streak to 25 games. The series began with a doubleheader Saturday afternoon that looked like trouble for UNC.