Sabato Stays Hot in 14-8 Loss To Notre Dame

Sunday, March 8

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1 p.m.

North Carolina

10-7, 0

Notre Dame

10-2, 0

Notre Dame

North Carolina

March 8, 2020 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Aury St. Germain

CHAPEL HILL – For the second time in as many days, North Carolina erased a six-run Notre Dame advantage, but once again fell short 14-8 to close out the first weekend of ACC play.

The Fighting Irish jumped out of the gates quickly and took a 5-1 lead after two innings. After Notre Dame posted a pair of runs in the top of the third inning to push its lead to 7-1, North Carolina responded with one run in the third and five runs in the fourth frame to tie the game at seven.

Notre Dame answered with a trio of runs in the fifth inning to retake the lead. North Carolina added one in the sixth before Notre Dame tacked on one run in the seventh and three more in the eighth to win 14-8.

Key Moments

Notre Dame scored in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead after an RBI single with the bases loaded.
The Fighting Irish put up three more runs in the second inning after taking advantage of an error, a single and a sacrifice fly.
Eric Grintz ripped a double down the left field line in the second inning and touched home after a sacrifice fly from Dallas Tessar.
Notre Dame added another run in the third inning with a solo home run to push the lead to 6-1 before extending the lead to 7-2 after two-and-a-half innings.
Aaron Sabato belted his third home run of the weekend in the third inning to cut the lead to 7-2.
After allowing two runners on with no outs in the fourth inning, Caden O'Brien forced a double play before punching out an Irish batter to end the inning.
The Tar Heels put together a five-run fourth inning to tie the game after four frames.
After Grintz ledoff the inning with a hit-by-pitch, Tessar singled. Madej followed with an RBI double to right field before Will Stewart lined a pinch-hit single through the right side to score Tessar.
Following Sabato drawing a bases-loaded walk, an RBI groundout from Zarate and a sacrifice fly from Serretti, North Carolina tied the game at seven runs.
Notre Dame pushed the lead in to 10-7 in the fifth inning after a sacrifice fly and a two-run home run to left field.
After Inclan drew a leadoff walk to begin the sixth and advanced to third after a groundout and a wild pitch, Zarate plated him with a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 10-8.
Notre Dame stole home with the bases loaded with two outs to take a 11-8 lead in the seventh.
The Irish tacked on three runs in the eighth inning to push its lead to 14-8, where the score would end.

Notes

Angel Zarate extended his hitting streak to nine games and his reached base streak to 17 games after recording a single in the third inning.
Aaron Sabato hit his third home run of the weekend and fifth of the season.
14 runs were the most given up by North Carolina all season.
14 hits were the most hits given up this season.
North Carolina has hit a home run in five of its last six games.
The Tar Heels have recorded multiple errors in four-straight games, after collecting more than one once in the five games previous.
North Carolina took advantage of runners on base, with just six stranded this afternoon. It was the lowest total since Feb. 28 at Minnesota.
The Tar Heels' offense has collected at least seven hits in seven-straight contests.

Postgame Quote
Head Coach Mike Fox
On the series
"We got beat three times this weekend by a team that is playing at a really high level. They were hitting everything that we threw at them. It was an incredibly disappointing weekend but that is baseball. It happens to everyone and we cannot let it define us. We will get back to work tomorrow to get ready for our midweek games and we will respond the right way."

Up Next
North Carolina looks to stop its three-game skid against Gardner Webb on Tuesday (March 10) at 4 p.m. inside Boshamer Stadium.