Tar Heels down USF, 12-5

Saturday, February 17

Tampa, Fla.

6:30 p.m.

North Carolina

1-1

South Florida

1-1

North Carolina

Bulls

February 17, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

By: T.J. Scholl

Tampa, Fla. – No. 6 North Carolina bounced back from its season opening loss in a big way with a 12 to 5 win over USF at USF Baseball Field on Saturday night. Tyler Baum led the way on the mound for the Tar Heels as he went 5.1 innings and set a career high with 10 strikeouts.

After going 3 for 25 with runners on base and 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position on Friday, the Tar Heel bats came alive Saturday night as they drove in 12 runs on 14 hits and went 11 for 27 with runners on base and eight for 16 with runners in scoring positing.

The Tar Heels blew the game open in the first inning as they went 4 for 5 with runners on base and plated six runs, which was capped off with a three-run home run by Brandon Martorano. Brandon Riley got things started with a lead-off walk followed by an infield single from Kyle Datres before Michael Busch singled up the middle to bring home Riley and put runners on the corners. Zack Gahagan followed with an infield single of his own before Angel Zarate was hit by a pitch to put two on for Martorano who put one over the left-field fence to give the Tar Heels the early 6-0 lead.

That's all the insurance that Baum would need over the next five innings as he only gave up four hits and two runs, and at one point retired 11 straight Bulls to go along with his career-high 10 strikeouts. The Tar Heel bullpen picked up where Baum left off as Trevor Gay struck out the only two batters he faced to take Carolina to the seventh inning. Caden O'Brien made his Tar Heel debut in the seventh inning where he retired his first three collegiate batters, two of them by strikeouts. Taylor Sugg and Joey Lancellotti closed out the last two innings for the Tar Heels to secure the win.

The top of the lineup led the way for the Tar Heels offensively as Riley, Datres, Busch and Gahagan combined for 10 hits, four walks, seven RBIs and eight runs scored. Cody Roberts also had a big day at the plate for Carolina with two hits and two RBIs.

Carolina will finish its three-game series with USF on Sunday at USF Baseball Field at 12 p.m. ET.

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Next Event

South Florida

W, 9-8

Feb 18 (Sun)

12 p.m.

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Baum, Tyler (1-0)

L: STRZELECKI, Peter (0-1)

North Carolina

Batting:

HR: Martorano, Brandon 1

RBI: Riley, Brandon 1 ; Busch, Michael 3 ; Gahagan, Zack 3 ; Roberts, Cody 2 ; Martorano, Brandon 3

SF: Busch, Michael 1 ; Gahagan, Zack 1 ; Roberts, Cody 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Riley, Brandon 3 ; Datres, Kyle 3 ; Busch, Michael 1 ; Gahagan, Zack 1 ; Zarate, Angel 1 ; Enwiller, Dylan 1 ; Martorano, Brandon 1 ; Freeman, Ike 1