One of the youngest teams Mike Fox has ever had to begin the season is off to a strong start to the 2020 season. The Diamond Heels opened the season with a three game sweep of the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders in Boshamer Stadium. Let’s give you a quick look at the week that was for the Tar Heels baseball team.
Friday: North Carolina 15 Middle Tennessee 3
The Tar Heels opened the season with a dominant performance on Friday afternoon. True freshman catcher got his career off to a phenomenal start, going 2-5 at the plate and bringing in a team leading four runs. Pitcher Joey Lancelloti had a strong outing, throwing 5.1 innings of two hit baseball in his final season opening day start, while also going 2-3 at the plate to provide some help for himself. Aaron Sabato went 0-3 at the plate, but did score two runs while drawing two walks. Danny Serretti (2-5, 2 RBI) and Angel Zarate (2-5, 2 RBI) also had nice days for a Tar Heel team that finished with 15 runs on 10 hits in a dominant performance.
Saturday: North Carolina 2 Middle Tennessee 1
Joey Lancelloti was the hero again in Game 2 of the series. His lone hit of the day as the team’s DH was a walk-off home run to give the Tar Heels the win in the bottom of the 9th. That followed a solo shot in the eighth by Dylan Harris, the only Tar Heels who had multiple hits at the plate on Saturday. The game was dominated by pitching, as Will Sandy put together a good seven inning outing where he allowed just one run on three hits. Austin Love would pick up the win, though, coming in throwing two scoreless innings a going three-up-three-down in both the 8th and 9th innings.
Sunday: North Carolina 5 Middle Tennessee 4
The Tar Heels held off a charge late in the game from the Blue Raiders to complete the series sweep. Aaron Sabato had his best game of the series, going 1-3 at the plate with a two-run double in the 2nd inning. Dylan Harris hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot in the 4th that would ultimately be the difference in the end. Connor Ollio got the start and had a solid outing going 5.1 innings before getting pulled while struggling to get through the 6th. Chris Joyner and Austin Love would close the game down, though, throwing 3.2 innings scoreless innings, as Love picked up his first save of the season.