After a close loss to Iowa, North Carolina faces an uphill battle in regionals.
Game two was against Horizon League Champions, Wright State. A tough 4-seed that nearly upset host, Indiana State, in the first game of the regional. The Heels start the top of the first inning with Max Carlson on the mound.
1st Inning
- Top- Carlson starts off hot, forcing a pop-up, strikeout and groundout.
- Bottom- Casey Cook works a walk to start things out for the Heels. After a Mac Horvath strikeout, Jackson Van De Brake walked as well. Tomas Frick would ground into a double play, leaving a runner in scoring position.
0-0
2nd Inning
- Top- A hard hit ball to left is caught by Patrick Alvarez to begin the inning. Carlson struck out the second batter with a nasty changeup. The third man up hit a ball to center that was caught for out number three.
- Bottom- Hunter Stokely chopped a ball to second, and was thrown out. Patrick Alvarez then walked after being hit by a pitch. Afterward, Johnny Castagnozzi walked, putting runners on first and second. Alberto Osuna hit a ball to the shortstop, where Wright State turned a double play to end the inning.
0-0
3rd Inning
- Top- Carlson got his third strikeout on the tenth pitch of the at-bat. Then, a grounder to second baseman Jackson Van De Brake forced out two. A pop-out got the third out for the Heels. ‘
- Bottom- Colby Wilkerson got North Carolinas first hit, followed by a Casey Cook single that advanced Wilkerson to third. Afterward, Mac Horvath hit into a double play, but Wilkerson was able to score. Van De Brake was walked afterward. Tomas Frick grounded out to end the inning.
1-0, Heels
4th Inning
- Top- A deep shot to right began the inning, but was caught by Casey Cook. Carlson walked the next batter up. A grounder afterward helped the Tar Heels turn a double play for outs two and three.
- Bottom- Stokely got a big first hit, doubling with a deep ball that just barely stayed fair. Alvarez and Castagnozzi both grounded out. Osuna was hit by a ball up high that got him on the hand. Wilkerson struck out, stranding two on base and continuing a trend of leaving runners in scoring position.
1-0, Heels
5th Inning
- Top- Carlson gave up his first hit of the game. Then, on a ball that was crushed, Casey Cook makes a highlight play to rob the home run, saving the Heels lead. Carlson struck out the next batter, followed with a groundout to first.
- Bottom- To start the inning, Casey Cook had a hard hit ball to center that was caught. Mac Horvath followed up, doing the exact same thing. A Van De Brake groundout ended the inning.
1-0, Heels
6th Inning
- Top- Another strikeout for Carlson starts the sixth. Another groundout to second granted the Heels their second out. Carlson walked the third batter. Although the runner stole second, a check swing made contact with the next ball for a grounder to third that retired the batter.
- Bottom- Another big swing from Frick got caught deep in foul territory. Stokely followed with a strikeout. Afterward, Alvarez grounded out giving Wright State a 1-2-3 inning.
1-0, Heels
7th Inning
- Top- Another pop-up to center by Wright State to start the inning. Afterward, a short groundout to Carlson got out number two. The third batter hit a liner to Cook in right field, however, he misjudged it and an error ensued. Furthermore, the Heels decided to change pitchers. Dalton Pence came in after a fantastic start by Carlson. Pence forced a groundout to end the inning.
- Bottom- After a weird hit, Castagnozzi reached first. On the eighth pitch of the next at-bat, Osuna struck out. Wilkerson grounded out to second, but advanced Castagnozzi to second. With Cook at bat, he hit a pitch back at the pitcher, who had no play. Subsequently, with runners on the corners, Mac Horvath hit a bomb over the left field wall. That hit gave Carolina some breathing room with the lead now at 4-0. Van De Brake struck out, but the Heels now have some space.
4-0, Heels
8th Inning
- Top- After a long at-bat, Wright States first batter flew out to right field. Another deep shot by the Raiders was caught in left field by Alvarez. Ending the inning was a groundout.
- Bottom- Tomas Frick hit a hard shot just foul. Afterward, he found a gap for a single. Stokely followed by bunting Frick over to second. Alvarez grounded out, but not before advancing Frick to third with two outs. Castagnozzi drove a hit by the first baseman, scoring Frick. Next, Osuna struck out to send the game to the last inning.
5-0, Heels
9th Inning
- Top- Finally, in the ninth, North Carolina got a pop-up, followed by a strikeout and another pop-up to end the game.
Final
5-0, North Carolina wins.
Recap
Firstly, how about the pitching from Max Carlson and Dalton Pence? Allowing one hit and no runs, the duo was able to keep Wright State at bay. North Carolina continues to struggle with runners in scoring position, however, Mac Horvaths homer in the seventh gave the Heels some hope. This is exactly what North Carolina needed, before their next game.
Next: North Carolina faces the loser of Indiana State/Iowa, Sunday at Noon.
