University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Winthrop
Big Inning Lifts No. 6 Carolina Past Winthrop
March 2, 2016 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL --- No. 6 North Carolina sent 12 men to the plate in an 8-run seventh to rally past Winthrop 11-6 Wednesday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium. Zack Gahagan had four hits and Eli Sutherland hit his first home run as a Tar Heel to lead Carolina to its fifth straight win. Hansen Butler, one of seven pitchers for UNC on the day, picked up his second victory of the season.
Carolina (6-1) scored single runs in the first two innings against Winthrop starter Riley Arnone. Tyler Ramirez plated the first run of the game with a line drive sac fly to left before Brian Miller singled home Brandon Riley in the second.
But the Eagles (5-4) got to UNC starter J.T. Rogoszewski for three runs in the third to take a 3-2 lead. Rogoszewski, who was making his collegiate debut, allowed the first three batters to reach and was lifted for Spencer Trayner. Mitch Spires doubled home a pair to tie the game before Roger Gonzalez' RBI groundout gave Winthrop its first lead of the day.
Carolina tied it at 3 with an unearned run in the bottom of the third that scored on a Tyler Lynn bloop single. That's where it would stay until the Eagles pushed across two more in the seventh to take a 5-3 lead. But Tyler Ramirez threw a runner out at the plate and Cody Roberts got another stealing second to keep it 5-3 ahead of the UNC offensive avalanche.
Sutherland led off the bottom of the seventh with a homer to left, his first in two seasons at Carolina. Gahagan's third hit of the day followed, and the Tar Heels tied it when Ramirez was hit by a Freddie Sultan pitch with the bases loaded. Winthrop nearly escaped when Lynn bounced back to the mound, but Gonzalez threw wide of first trying to complete a double play and two more runs scored. Run-scoring hits by Roberts, Ryder Ryan and Gahagan rounded out the scoring in Carolina's highest-scoring inning of the season.
A.J. Bogucki, the seventh Carolina pitcher of the day, got the final six outs to wrap up the Tar Heels' fifth consecutive win.
UNC returns to the field Friday for the first of a three-game series with Fairfield. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and tickets are available at the Boshamer box office or at GoHeels.com/tickets.
