Wolfpack baseball comeback falls short against UNC-Chapel Hill in inconsequential game

CHARLOTTE — In a game that did not affect the NC State baseball team’s involvement in Saturday’s ACC Championship semifinals, the No. 16 Wolfpack fell to UNC-Chapel Hill 9-6.

In front of a big crowd in uptown Charlotte, NC State quickly found itself down 8-0 after two innings. The Wolfpack gave it a good effort, but the comeback attempt fell short after nine innings. 

“I told the guys that I think everybody has respect for this team as one of the best offensive teams in the country,” said NC State head coach Elliott Avent. “You can’t take this as a win, but you can take this as a huge confidence builder on who we are, who can be, and how we are never out of any game.”

Junior first baseman Austin Murr (3-5, 2 RBI) and sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough (3-4, 2 RBI) each had three hits and two RBIs to lead the Wolfpack offensively. As a team, NC State outhit UNC-Chapel Hill 13-10. 

With sophomore right-handed pitcher Andrew Tillery (0.0 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 HP) making his first start of the season, the Tar Heels jumped on him early for six runs in the first inning.  Danny Seretti singled to right field to open the scoring, then the next batter, Mac Horvath, crushed a grand slam. 

With freshman right-handed pitcher Garrett Payne (3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) now in the game, the Tar Heels added another run when Mikey Madej scored on a wild pitch. Payne inherited this runner so the run was given to Tillery’s stat line. 

UNC-Chapel Hill kept the offense rolling in the second inning with an RBI single from Horvath and an RBI double from Tomas Frick to extend the lead to 8-0

NC State did not back down as it scored three runs in the third inning. Murr scored sophomore third baseman Vojtech Mensik (2-5) on an RBI fielder’s choice for the Pack’s first run of the day. Later in the frame, junior designated hitter Terrell Tatum (0-3, RBI, 2 BB) worked a bases-loaded walk. Freshman shortstop Jose Torres (2-5, RBI, 3 K) then ripped an RBI single to center field that scored McDonough.  

“It’s a group with a bunch of grit,” Murr said. “We fell just short against a good team.”

The Tar Heels countered NC State’s big inning with a run of their own in the fourth inning on an RBI sacrifice fly to right field from Horvath. The Wolfpack also pushed a run across in the fourth on an RBI single up the middle from McDonough that scored Murr. 

Keeping NC State in the game out of the bullpen was freshman right-handed pitcher Coby Ingle (4 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K), who retired the first nine batters he faced. After him, freshman left-handed pitcher John Miralia (2 IP, 1 H, 1 K) worked two scoreless innings in just his third appearance of the year. 

“What Garrett Payne, John Miralia, and Coby Ingle did tonight allowed us to have a chance to come back and win this game,” Avent said. “It was kind of a fun game to be in, didn’t start well, but kind of got fun there in the middle innings,”

NC State continued to battle in the eighth inning. Murr scored Brown on an RBI single to left field. McDonough then hit a RBI double off the right field wall to get the Wolfpack within three runs. 

After being down eight runs, NC State had the tying run at the plate. Tar Heels left-handed pitcher Caden O’Brien came in out of the bullpen and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to limit the damage. He came back out for the ninth and struck out two more batters that helped him close the game. 

The Wolfpack will be back in action on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the semifinals against Georgia Tech. The game will be televised on the ACC Network. Follow @TechSports on Twitter for live updates from Truist Field in Charlotte.