University of North Carolina Athletics
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No. 22 Carolina Edges NC State 3-2 In Ten
April 12, 2015 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL --- Zack Gahagan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th to force in the deciding run as No. 22 North Carolina secure a series win with a 3-2 victory over NC State Saturday night at Boshamer Stadium. Tommy DeJuneas walked the bases loaded before hitting Gahagan with an 0-1 fastball to score Skye Bolt from third, giving the Tar Heels their fifth straight win. Trevor Kelley needed just 41 pitches to record the final 11 outs in relief of J.B. Bukauskas to pick up his third win of the year.
Logan Ratledge gave NC State (19-14, 7-9 ACC) a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a solo homer off Bukauskas. It was the first hit of the game for either team, as Bukauskas and Wolfpack starter Brian Brown were in command early.
Carolina (22-13, 9-8 ACC) immediately responded with a run in the bottom half, as Gahagan reached on a bad-hop single and later scored on a Joe Dudek RBI hit. The game followed the same script in the fifth when Shane Shepard homered in the top half before Bolt singled home Dunbar to make it 2-2.
That would be all the scoring until the 10th as Kelley and NCSU right-hander Curt Britt dueled back and forth in the later innings. Britt entered the game in the sixth and allowed just one hit over three scoreless frames while Kelley worked 3.2 hitless innings after coming on with one out in the seventh.
The Tar Heels threatened in the ninth when Dudek and Elijah Sutherland reached on back-to-back walks, but DeJuneas (1-2) struck out Korey Dunbar and Logan Warmoth before Brian Miller's flyout to center sent the game to extra innings.
DeJuneas couldn't work out of the jam in the 10th, however, as Bolt, Lassiter and Ramirez all drew tough walks before Gahagan was hit in the left arm.
Bukauskas, despite not having his best stuff, pitched into the seventh for the third straight game, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking two.
Benton Moss will try to get UNC its first conference sweep of the year when he starts opposite Johnny Piedmonte in Sunday's series finale. The game, which is set for a 2 p.m. start, is sold out.
