No. 8 Tar Heels Fall to No. 2 NC State 8-3 at DBAP

Tuesday, April 17

Durham, N.C. (DBAP)

6:30 p.m.

North Carolina

24-13

NC State

29-7

NC State

North Carolina

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

April 17, 2018 | Baseball

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By: T.J. Scholl

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 8 North Carolina dropped their midweek game to No. 2 N.C. State on Tuesday, a 8-3 loss at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Tar Heel starter Rodney Hutchison picked up his first loss since February 25th as the Wolfpack out-hit the Heels, 12-6.

NC State started the scoring in the top of the second inning. With a runner on, freshman Patrick Bailey sent a ball into the seats in right field for his fourth home run of the season to give the Wolfpack an early 2-0 lead.

Clemente Inclan helped the Heels cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning courtesy of a RBI groundout to score Ashton McGee from third. After two, it was 2-1 NC State.

Things were quiet in the third, but NC State added another pair of runs in the top of the fourth on an error by Zack Gahagan at second. After a pair of walks, two runners scored on a tough hop up the middle, advancing the Wolfpack lead to 4-1.

After State tacked on another run in the top of the fifth, the game settled down quite a bit and the relievers took control. For the Heels, it was Joey Lancellotti taking the hill and taking command of the game, tossing 3.2 innings of scoreless ball. He allowed just one hit over his outing, striking out five for a new career high.

The Heels cut the lead in half again in the bottom of the eighth when McGee roped a single into left field with two outs and the bases loaded. Those accounted for RBIs 13 and 14 on his season, shortening the Wolfpack lead to 5-3.

Just an inning later however, the Wolfpack added three runs on a big swing from Evan Edwards. He hit a three-run home run to right field against Brett Daniels, moving the lead to 8-3. That would stick, giving NC State the non-conference win at the DBAP.

Of note for the Heels, Kyle Datres singled in the bottom of the eighth to advance his hitting streak to 17 games and his on-base streak to 20. On the year, Datres is hitting .365.

The Heels will be back in action this weekend at home at Boshamer Stadium. Georgia Tech will roll into town for a three-game series at Chapel Hill. Friday's first pitch is set for 6:00 p.m., with a 4:00 p.m. Saturday start capped off by a 1:00 p.m. start on Sunday.