Saturday, April 21
Chapel Hill
4 p.m.
North Carolina
26-13, 0
9
vs
8
Georgia Tech
22-18, 0
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8
9
10
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Georgia Tech
0
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8
12
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North Carolina
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4
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9
13
1
Tar Heels Win Extra Inning Thriller Over Georgia Tech To Clinch Series
April 21, 2018 | Baseball
Chapel Hill – No. 8 North Carolina (26-13, 14-6) won an extra inning thriller over Georgia Tech (22-18, 9-11) on Saturday to clinch the series with a 9-8 victory in 10 innings at Boshamer Stadium. Jackson Hesterlee and Ben Casparius both were pinch hit, game-tying heroes on the evening as Hesterlee tied the game with a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth while Casparius tied the game with a triple in the bottom of the 10th before the winning run was driven in on a sacrifice fly to right from Dallas Tessar.
The scoring got started in the bottom of the first, courtesy of an RBI single off the bat of the red-hot Ike Freeman. After two errors that put leadoff man Dallas Tessar on third, Freeman scorched a ball into left field that put the Heels up 1-0.
After Carolina extended the lead to 2-0 on a Tessar sacrifice fly, one swing of the bat helped Georgia Tech make it a brand-new ballgame. In the top of the fourth after an error by Ashton McGee, Chase Murray hit a ball to right field against starter Austin Bergner that had just enough to clear the wall over Tessar's leaping effort. After four, the game was knotted at two.
In the top of the fifth, the Georgia Tech offense sprinted out of the gate and broke the tie with six batters reaching base. After an run scored on a ground-ball double play, GT's Tristin English lined a single to left field, allowing two more Yellow Jackets to score and give the visitors a 5-2 lead.
Georgia Tech tacked on another run in the top of the seventh and appeared to be on its way to a game two win in Chapel Hill, but the Heels offense, namely Jackson Hesterlee, had other plans.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Jackson Hesterlee entered to pinch-hit for Zack Gahagan. On an 0-2 pitch after fouling off the first two pitches he saw, Hesterlee turned on a ball and crushed it into the trees in right field. His first Carolina home run was a big one, tying the game at six and making it and giving the Tar Heels new life at Boshamer.
Josh Hiatt was next out of the bullpen and kept Georgia Tech scoreless in the top of the ninth, but the Yellow Jackets offense was able to load the bases for catcher Joey Bart, who did his part to put the visitors right back on top. With two outs, he took the first pitch he saw the other way into right field for a two-RBI single, good enough for an 8-6 lead.
But on this night, the Heels wouldn't be overcome. Dylan Enwiller led off the tenth inning with a double and would be quickly driven in on Brandon Martorano's fourth hit of the night, an RBI double. In the next at-bat, Ben Casparius entered as a pinch-hitter and came through in the clutch. He punched a triple in to right field that rolled all the way to the wall, scoring Martorano and knotting the game up at eight.
Tessar, who came to the dish next, would ultimately be the hero. He hit a fly ball into right that flew just deep enough, scoring pinch-runner Brendan Illies to give the Heels a 9-8 on a wild day at Boshamer Stadium.
The Heels are now 4-1 in extra-inning games and complete a series win over Georgia Tech at home for the first time since 2008, while also overcoming its largest deficit of the season.
The Heels are back at Boshamer Stadium tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. to take on the Yellow Jackets in the final game of this three-game weekend set.
The scoring got started in the bottom of the first, courtesy of an RBI single off the bat of the red-hot Ike Freeman. After two errors that put leadoff man Dallas Tessar on third, Freeman scorched a ball into left field that put the Heels up 1-0.
After Carolina extended the lead to 2-0 on a Tessar sacrifice fly, one swing of the bat helped Georgia Tech make it a brand-new ballgame. In the top of the fourth after an error by Ashton McGee, Chase Murray hit a ball to right field against starter Austin Bergner that had just enough to clear the wall over Tessar's leaping effort. After four, the game was knotted at two.
In the top of the fifth, the Georgia Tech offense sprinted out of the gate and broke the tie with six batters reaching base. After an run scored on a ground-ball double play, GT's Tristin English lined a single to left field, allowing two more Yellow Jackets to score and give the visitors a 5-2 lead.
Georgia Tech tacked on another run in the top of the seventh and appeared to be on its way to a game two win in Chapel Hill, but the Heels offense, namely Jackson Hesterlee, had other plans.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Jackson Hesterlee entered to pinch-hit for Zack Gahagan. On an 0-2 pitch after fouling off the first two pitches he saw, Hesterlee turned on a ball and crushed it into the trees in right field. His first Carolina home run was a big one, tying the game at six and making it and giving the Tar Heels new life at Boshamer.
Josh Hiatt was next out of the bullpen and kept Georgia Tech scoreless in the top of the ninth, but the Yellow Jackets offense was able to load the bases for catcher Joey Bart, who did his part to put the visitors right back on top. With two outs, he took the first pitch he saw the other way into right field for a two-RBI single, good enough for an 8-6 lead.
But on this night, the Heels wouldn't be overcome. Dylan Enwiller led off the tenth inning with a double and would be quickly driven in on Brandon Martorano's fourth hit of the night, an RBI double. In the next at-bat, Ben Casparius entered as a pinch-hitter and came through in the clutch. He punched a triple in to right field that rolled all the way to the wall, scoring Martorano and knotting the game up at eight.
Tessar, who came to the dish next, would ultimately be the hero. He hit a fly ball into right that flew just deep enough, scoring pinch-runner Brendan Illies to give the Heels a 9-8 on a wild day at Boshamer Stadium.
The Heels are now 4-1 in extra-inning games and complete a series win over Georgia Tech at home for the first time since 2008, while also overcoming its largest deficit of the season.
The Heels are back at Boshamer Stadium tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. to take on the Yellow Jackets in the final game of this three-game weekend set.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hiatt, Josh (2-1)
L: Jonathan Hughes (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Luke Waddell 1 ; Michael Guldberg 1
HR: Kyle McCann 1 ; Chase Murray 1
RBI: Joey Bart 2 ; Kyle McCann 1 ; Chase Murray 2 ; Tristin English 1 ; Michael Guldberg 1
SH: Austin Wilhite 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kyle McCann 3 ; Chase Murray 1 ; Luke Waddell 1 ; Baron Radcliff 1 ; Michael Guldberg 1 ; Nick Wilhite 1
HBP: Wade Bailey 1 ; Joey Bart 1
Batting:
2B: Tessar, Dallas 1 ; Martorano, Brandon 2 ; Enwiller, Dylan 1
3B: Casparius, Ben 1
HR: Hesterlee, Jackson 1
RBI: Tessar, Dallas 2 ; Freeman, Ike 1 ; Martorano, Brandon 1 ; Hesterlee, Jackson 4 ; Casparius, Ben 1
SF: Tessar, Dallas 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Tessar, Dallas 1 ; Freeman, Ike 1 ; Inclan, Clemente 1 ; Roberts, Cody 1 ; Martorano, Brandon 2 ; Hesterlee, Jackson 1 ; Enwiller, Dylan 1 ; Illies, Brendan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
4
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
rf/lf
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
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INF/RHP
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OF/2B
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SS/2B
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1B/3B/2B
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OF
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RHP
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C
/ BaseballC/OF
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OF/2B/3B
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