UNC hits five home runs and crushes Liberty to advance to the regional championship game
There are times when good teams have off days, and upsets occur. Campbell upset N.C. State on Friday. Creighton upset defending national champion Oregon State on Saturday.
UNC-Wilmington gave North Carolina a run for its money on Friday too.
That’s just baseball.
But that was far from the case when North Carolina faced Liberty on Saturday. The Tar Heels hit a season-high five home runs, and with the help of their bullpen, pieced together nine innings of one-run baseball to rout the Flames 16-1 in an NCAA tournament regional game at Boshamer Stadium.
“It’s a frustrating lineup,” Liberty coach Scott Jackson said. “They knew what they were looking for, and they made us throw it over the plate, and doggone when we did, they made us pay.”
The Tar Heels’ bullpen pitched the final 6 2/3 innings, giving up only one run. In UNC’s last six games, its bullpen has thrown 35 1/3 innings and has given up only nine runs.
UNC freshman Aaron Sabato hit his 16th home run of the season, and second in two games to set a UNC freshman record for most home runs in a season. Sabato’s home run on Friday helped tie the game in the ninth inning and helped set up a walk-off win.
With Saturday’s win, UNC (44-17) has now won six consecutive games dating back to the first game of the ACC Baseball Championship. There, UNC won its seventh title in program history.
The Tar Heels, the No. 1 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional, will advance to the championship game and are now one win away from advancing the the Super Regional round. They will face the winner of Liberty (42-20) and Tennessee (39-20) at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Second-seeded Tennessee beat fourth-seeded UNC-Wilmington 10-3 Saturday afternoon, eliminating the Seahawks from the tournament.
This run is beginning to look like last year’s, when the Tar Heels caught fire late in the season and swept the regional and super regional rounds to get to the College World Series.
On Saturday, the Tar Heels showcased their power.
Dylan Harris hit a solo home run over the right field wall in the second inning to get things started. He added another RBI in the fourth inning to give UNC a 2-0 lead.
In the sixth inning, second baseman Ashton McGee hit a two-run homer over the right field wall.
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels’ bullpen was dealing.
Senior Hansen Butler got out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning with a strikeout. And redshirt freshman Austin Love pitched the next three innings without giving up a hit.
The Tar Heels went off in the top of the seventh, adding six runs. They went yard three times, including back-to-back home runs by Sabato and junior Michael Busch.
Busch finished the game 2 for 5 with two RBI’s and the home run. McGee was 2 for 5 with four RBI’s, and Harris was 3 for 5 with three RBI’s.
“We knew that four (runs) certainly wasn’t going to be enough, regardless of who is on the mound for us,” said UNC catcher Brandon Martorano, who also had a home run in the seventh. “We knew that we had to keep the foot on the gas pedal and keep going, because -- especially in these regional games, this being our third time now -- we know nothing is guaranteed.”
The Tar Heels added six more runs in the final two innings.
“This one just got away from Liberty,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “If we don’t play good defense and we don’t get the strikeout with Hansen Butler there, that whole game probably changes.”
Butler (5-0, 1.80 ERA) was credited with the win.
This story was originally published June 1, 2019 at 8:36 PM.
