CHAPEL HILL – No. 2 North Carolina manufactured its eighth straight ACC series win with a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh at Boshamer Stadium over the weekend.
The Tar Heels (40-9-1, 20-7) doused a deadly Panthers (28-21, 10-17) offense with stout pitching, adding some timely hits on the other side.
It started with Jason DeCaro setting the tone Friday, tossing five innings of scoreless work to help the Heels achieve a 4-1 victory.
On Saturday, Ryan Lynch started choppy, but quickly found a rhythm to fight for six innings, handing it off to Walker McDuffie for the final two frames. The offense exploded in the latter innings to guarantee a 12-2 eight-inning run-rule win.
Sunday's starter, Folger Boaz, racked up a season-high eight strikeouts in a 7-3 victory.
Below are some of the major takeaways from the series sweep:
WALKS
For as powerful an offense as Pitt has, it was their patience that posed the greatest threat to UNC heading into the weekend. With 337 walks, the Panthers top the entire country.
UNC had stretches throughout the season where walks were a major issue for the pitching staff. Despite being much cleaner in recent games, there was still rightful concern about the ability to limit free passes.
After three games against Pitt, UNC only added 15 bases on balls to its season total.
"[Pitt] works deep counts," Forbes said. "We just have to win that 3-2 count, and we just have to win that 3-1 count, which our guys did."
The starting trio was paramount in controlling the strike zone and keeping the walk total to a minimum. Between the three of them, there were five walks in 15.1 innings.
Sunday's game was the real outlier, as Pitt reached via a walk eight times. Five of those came from Caden Glauber, who was a little loose with the strike zone after having controlled it so well for 3.2 innings on Friday.
Still, considering Pitt has accumulated double-digit walks in 12 games this season, eight is a welcome compromise.
Minues a tough inning from Walker McDuffie on Friday and a couple of lost pitches from Glauber, the entire Tar Heel pitching staff controlled the zone the best they have all season. And it came at a much-needed time against a really patient and opportunistic offense.
PITCHING STEPPING UP TO THE CHALLENGE
In the ACC, Pitt ranks behind only Georgia Tech in slugging percentage, home runs, and on-base percentage. Considering the Yellow Jackets are one of the top offenses in the entire NCAA, this is good company to be in.
Georgia Tech visited Chapel Hill in April and left scoring only 11 runs on the weekend. Coming into the series, it averaged over 10 runs a game.
Pitt left Boashamer Stadium with six runs scored this weekend. They average over eight per game.
The common thread in both visits: Tar Heel pitching rising to the occasion.
"[It's] just going out there, competing, and handing the ball off to the next guy knowing they're going to pick you up," Boaz said.
Pitt couldn't string together much offense, in part due to the 27 strikeouts tossed against them. The pitch mixing was next-level, and hitters were kept off-balance, causing 10 of those strikeouts to come looking.
This pitching staff carries an intangible resolve and demeanor, allowing them to stand up to the toughest challenges. When the Tar Heels are playing loose and confident from the bump, they are one of the top forces in the country.
POWER AND POISE
Offensively, the story of the weekend was the long ball. UNC is a team that produces runs more often through singles and doubles, as they rank next to last in the ACC in homers.
In game one, though, the home runs were the difference. Cooper Nicholson, Gavin Gallaher, and Macon Winslow each launched a solo shot on Friday.
"We haven't been a team that has lived off the home run, but that was good to see," Forbes said. "We drove some balls, and those balls were pretty much no-doubters."
On Saturday, Nicholson and Tyler Howe added two more. These were both two-run dingers.
The offense was well-rounded, sprinkling in some steal signs and sacrifice bunts to put runners in good positions. UNC manufactured plenty of runs through its usual means in this way.
If they can continue clobbering baseballs over the wall, too, this offense should be humming at peak performance come the postseason.
HOW SWEEP IT IS
Despite picking up a pair of ACC sweeps on the road against Notre Dame and Cal earlier this season, the Tar Heels were not able to recreate that production in front of the fans at Boshamer Stadium for a while.
In their final regular-season home series, they finally captured that elusive third win.
"It always feels good to get a sweep, but we're not necessarily too focused on that," catcher Colin Hynek said. "We're focused on winning the day."
Although baseball at the Bosh is all but guaranteed to continue in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament, it was still a big statement to produce a sweep in the penultimate regular-season series.
The Heels still sit a couple of games behind Georgia Tech for the regular season conference title, but they remain within feasible striking distance because of their efforts last weekend.
DEFENSE BOUNCES BACK
The Tar Heels have remained a statistically excellent defense, still atop the ACC in fielding percentage, but they have produced some costly errors in recent weeks.
Against Duke in game two of that series, two errors in one play produced the Blue Devils' winning runs. Then, some misplays against Coastal Carolina a few days later allowed a big inning.
Going into this series against a tough offense, it was clear UNC had to play its usual brand of clean baseball. It did that and then some.
"That's who we are. We have defended pretty well all year," Forbes said.
They added some flash with it, including a sliding grab from first baseman Erik Paulsen in foul territory and six total double plays.
This is the efficient and clean defense the Heels have exhibited for most of the season, and it seems they are ready to keep it rolling into the postseason.
The Tar Heels travel to Wilmington to face UNCW on Tuesday before wrapping up the season against NC State in Raleigh, starting Thursday night.
(Photo: Carolina Baseball / X)