Chapel Hill, N.C. – Coastal Carolina baseball held No. 15 North Carolina to just five base hits for the game but gave up two home runs and two unearned errors to fall to the Tar Heels 6-1 in non-conference action on Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The loss drops Coastal to 24-17-1 overall while with the win the Tar Heels improve to 31-11 on the season.
The Chants struck out eight UNC batters, but also walked eight hitters and committed two errors to aid in the Tar Heels scoring.
The offense struggled as well, as CCU tallied just five hits of its own and stranded six base runners in the road loss.
Senior Zach Biermann (1-for-4, HR, RBI, run) provided the lone score for the Chants with a solo home run in the eighth, while fellow seniors Kieton Rivers (1-for-4, 2B, SB) and Mike Koenig (1-for-2, 2B, HBP) each had a double in the loss.
UNC’s Ashton McGee (2-for-3, HR, BB, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) and Brandon Martorano (1-for-3, HR, BB, RBI, run) each had a home run on the night, while Ike Freeman (0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 runs, SB) scored a game-high two runs on two walks.
The loss fell to starter Nick Parker (0-1), as the freshman right-handed pitcher allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
The win went to Andrew Grogan (3-1), as the righty had a career night, giving up one run on five hits and three strikeouts over 7.2 innings.
The home-standing Tar Heels got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning on a McGee two-out RBI single through the left side which plated Freeman who reached base on a base-on-balls earlier in the frame.
Coastal’s offense got a single from Kyle Skeels in the second and a double off the bat of Koenig in the third, yet stranded both runners on base before going down in order in both the fourth and the fifth innings to trail the Heels 1-0 midway through the contest.
It would be McGee again that would add to the UNC lead in the bottom of the fifth, as he would lead off the inning with a solo home run to right center field. Martorano followed with a solo home run of his own on the very next pitch to push the Tar Heels’ lead out to 3-0.
North Carolina added another run in the fifth on a Dylan Enwiller single, a wild pitch, a stolen base and an errant throw on the stolen base attempt at third from the catcher to put the home team on top 4-0 after five innings of play.
The Chants put the lead-off batter on in the top of the sixth as Koenig was hit-by-pitch, yet saw a 4-6-3 double-play ball and a ground out to the third baseman end the inning.
After the Chants stranded a runner on third base in the top of the seventh, the Tar Heels added a run in the bottom half of the inning on three walks and a bases-loaded wild pitch to extend their lead to 5-0.
Biermann finally got the Chants on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, as he hit a towering solo home run to right center field to put Coastal down four at 5-1.
However, the Heels scored another unearned run on two walks and another Coastal error in the bottom of the eighth to put the final score at 6-1.
Coastal (24-17-1, 9-8 Sun Belt) will remain on the road for a three-game conference series at Georgia State (12-28, 3-15 Sun Belt) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 26-28, in Atlanta, Ga.