University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Notre Dame
Gallen, Butler Blank Irish, 3-0
May 14, 2016 | Baseball
Carolina (32-18, 11-14 ACC) scored all the runs it would need in the third against ND starter Brandon Bielak. The Tar Heels sent eight men to the plate in the frame and scored twice on a bases-loaded walk by Tyler Ramirez and a Logan Warmoth sacrifice fly. Warmoth padded the lead to 3-0 in the eighth with his third home run of the year, a solo shot to left.
But the story of the night was Gallen (5-5), who was perfect through 4.2 and was only really threatened twice all night. The first time came in the fifth, when Lane Richards broke up the perfect game with a double to right center one batter after a leaping grab by Ramirez robbed Matt Vierling of extra bases. Zack Gahagan snuffed that rally with a diving stop of a hot grounder from Ryan Lidge to end the inning.
The Irish (26-23, 10-13 ACC) got its only man in scoring position in the sixth when Cavan Biggio walked and moved to third on a single and a throwing error. With runners on the corners and two gone in the inning, Gallen froze pinch hitter Ricky Sanchez for his seventh strikeout of the night to strand a pair.
Gallen retired the last seven men he faced, including back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth, before giving way to Butler in the ninth. The sophomore right-hander had perhaps his sharpest outing of the year, striking out two to end it for his second save.
Warmoth had two of Carolina's four hits on the night as Bielak (3-2) kept the Irish in the game with seven strong innings of his own.
The series resumes Saturday night at 6 p.m. with J.B. Bukauskas on the hill for the Tar Heels. Prior to the game, Carolina will honor its three seniors - Chris McCue, Eli Sutherland and Randy McNeill.
