Alba Picks Up First Win, Tar Heels Rout NC A&T 8-0

Tuesday, February 25

Chapel Hill, N.C.

3 p.m.

North Carolina

7-2

North Carolina A&T

2-6

North Carolina A&T

North Carolina

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 25, 2020 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Aury St. Germain

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL- Max Alba picked up the win in his first career start for North Carolina as the Tar Heels rolled North Carolina A&T 8-0 on Tuesday at Boshamer Stadium.

Max Alba threw the first five innings for Carolina, and was effective, striking out six Aggies while dealing just one walk. Chris Joyner, Nick James and Davis Palermo closed out the game for the Tar Heels and combined for three strikeouts and a pair of hits.

At the plate, Dylan Harris, Angel Zarate and Danny Serretti led North Carolina with two hits apiece. Harris recorded the first Tar Heel triple of the season, while Zarate collected his second double of the 2020 campaign.

Key Moments

After a Dylan Harris leadoff single in the first inning, Angel Zarate lined a double to left-center field to bring home Harris to give North Carolina a 1-0 lead.
The Tar Heels loaded in the bases in the second inning but left all three stranded.
Carolina left three more on base in the fourth inning after Semper and Alvarez singled and Harris drew a walk.
In just his third at-bat of the season, Tyler Kehoe drove in Danny Serretti in a pinch hit at-bat in the fifth inning to put Carolina up 2-0.
North Carolina took advantage of two Aggie errors in the sixth inning, scoring three runs.
Serretti singled up the middle of the sixth inning to bring home Dylan Harris for his fifth RBI of the season.
Harris tripled in the bottom of the seventh inning to bring home Madej and extend the Tar Heel lead to 7-0.
Tyler Causey belted a home run in the eighth inning to punctuate the win and put the Tar Heels on top, 8-0.

Notes

Harris recorded the first triple of the 2020 season for the Tar Heels in the seventh inning.
Max Alba earned a win in his first career game on the mound.
Zarate collected his third multi-hit game, which ties for a team-high.
Serretti also collected his third multi-hit game, which ties for a team-high.
Causey's first hit as a Tar Heel was a home run to right field.
Nick James saw his first action as a Tar Heel on the mound.
Davis Palermo made his second relief appearance of 2020.

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Mike Fox
On the performance of his pitching staff so far
"We had a couple first outings today and I think we've got a chance to be pretty good on the mound. We are able to mix and match guys and bring a few different looks in. We pride ourselves on running guys out there that throw strikes, and throwing strikes is good, but we have to play defense behind those guys."

Max Alba, Redshirt-Freshman, RHP
On his Tar Heel debut
"It's been a day I've been looking forward to for years now. To be able to go out there and do what I do: compete with every single pitch. I've been working for this day for years, so it was really just going out there, being confident, and trusting the process. Heels got the win, too, so it was a good day."

On the emotions that came with his first career start
"I was fired up. My whole freshman year here last year I was just watching from the dugout, so to finally be able to go out on the mound at the Bosh [Boshamer Stadium], and to be able to see the field from a different perspective with fans in the stadium was everything it was made up to be."

Dylan Harris, Senior, Center Fielder
On moving on from the weekend
"We had to move on from those losses this past weekend and today was going to be a big test. We were able to come out hot and early, even though the runs didn't show, it was big for us and showed what we were made of."