Heels Fall To Miami In Game One, 6-4

Friday, March 15

Chapel Hill

6 p.m.

North Carolina

Miami

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 15, 2019 | Baseball

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By: T.J. Scholl

Chapel Hill – No. 8 North Carolina couldn't overcome Miami's four-run sixth inning as the Tar Heels dropped Friday night's series opener against the Hurricanes, 6-4, at Boshamer Stadium.

Aaron Sabato went 2-4 with a home run for Carolina, while Ben Casparius and Caden O'Brien worked a combined 3.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Starter Gianluca Dalatri threw five innings, surrendering three earned runs and striking out six.

Key Moments

Miami got the scoring started in the top of the fourth inning against Tar Heel starter Gianluca Dalatri. With runners on first and second, Raymond Gil hit a ball off the top of the left field wall to drive in the first run of the game. After a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat, it was 2-0 Hurricanes.
Aaron Sabato cut the Miami lead in half in the bottom of the inning. He hit a long fly ball to left-center over the fence, a 415-foot solo shot. His third home run of his freshman campaign made it 2-1 Miami.
Brandon Martorano reached on a throwing error by the Miami shortstop to start the bottom of the fifth, then moved to second on a wild pitch. After Dylan Harris advanced him on a grounder to the right side, Michael Busch poked a soft liner into left that got just under the glove of the diving left fielder, tying the game at two.
Miami tacked on a four-spot in the top of the sixth inning against freshman Will Sandy and Ben Casparius. The Hurricanes pushed across runs on a passed ball, walk, fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly. Casparius ultimately worked out of a jam and limited the damage.
Carolina got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning after loading the bases. Both Danny Serretti and Jackson Hesterlee picked up RBIs on groundouts, cutting the Miami lead to 6-4.
UNC had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but Martorano and Dylan Harris both struck out to end the inning.

Notables

Dylan Harris extended his reached-base streak to 15 games, a team high.
Sabato's third home run of the season went 415 feet, the longest of the season. It was 105 miles per hour off the bat.
Dalatri's final line: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K.

Pitcher Records
Win: Miami, Evan McKendry (4-0)
Loss: Gianluca Dalatri (1-1)

UP NEXT

Game two of the series against Miami is set for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.

Social Media
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