We got back on the right track this past week as we went 3-1 against Niagara and a tough ACC opponent, North Carolina.

Losing the ACC series to Wake Forest the previous weekend did not sit well with our team, and we eagerly looked forward to getting back on the field. We exploded offensively against Niagara on Tuesday as we tied the school record for runs scored in a game at 29. Brandon Guyer had a stellar 4-for-6 performance, racking up 9 RBI.  Andrew Carraway collected the win on his first start of the year.

With our confidence high, we traveled to North Carolina to play another road ACC series.

Friday’s game was postponed to Sunday due to 2-3 inches of rain. We had a quick workout at UNC’s indoor track facility, and then we went back to the hotel to catch up with all the March Madness action. That night, we took a two-hour trip to the mall to allow us to get out of the hotel room and move around.

On Saturday afternoon, Jacob Thompson toed the mound and pitched a strong seven innings. North Carolina would not go away, tying the game at 2 in the eighth inning. The game went into extra innings and the story of the game came in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Tar Heels had the bases loaded with two outs. Jake Rule went 3-0 to the batter and then threw two huge strikes and got a groundout for the third out. We scored five in the top of the 11th and notched a huge win on the road.

On Sunday, we picked up right where we left off Saturday night. We clinched the series in the first game of the doubleheader behind the offensive production of Sean Doolittle, who went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI. Andrew Carraway was strong out of the bullpen to get the win.

In the second game, we did not play well enough to sweep the series, but it’s always great to win a series on the road, especially in our league.

This week we’ll close out our road trip at Richmond on Tuesday, and then we will host Miami this weekend.

Go Hoos!

Greg Miclat

(photo courtesy of Virginia Media Relations Office)