Tyler Mudd slapped his leg in frustration. His full-count pitch had just been called a ball, and his second walk of the game put two runners on base for No. 6 North Carolina.
The thing about beating a top-10 team in the country is that you must play a near-perfect game—or the other team must shoot itself in the foot. Neither was the case on Friday afternoon, as UNC (25–5–1, 9–4 Atlantic Coast) knocked off No. 22 Boston College baseball (22–9, 9–4) to force a rubber match on Saturday afternoon.
“Overall, I thought we competed really well,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato said. “I thought we hung on. You know, they made it 3–0 pretty quick, we were able to get it back, and they had a few chances to really open it up, and we were able to get off the field two outs a few times to keep it close.”
Freshman pitcher Caden Glauber was the difference maker for the Tar Heels. He entered the game in the third inning and held the Eagles to one run over 5.1 innings. With the Eagles down 5–2 in the top of the eighth, he gave up a walk and a single.
In a game-defining moment, Glauber stayed confident, and a flyout from Carter Hendrickson ended the frame.
UNC built its lead early on, scoring three runs in the first two innings as Gavin Gallaher hit his seventh homer of the season in UNC’s second at-bat, giving his team a 1–0 lead. A two-RBI triple from Jake Schaffner in the bottom of the second scored runners from first and second, stretching that lead to three.
Jason DeCaro—one of the most effective pitchers in the ACC—shut the Eagles down for the first two innings. But he faltered in the third inning, letting BC back into the game thanks to back-to-back wild pitches and three walks. Colin Larson scored on a wild pitch, cutting UNC’s lead to 3–1.
“I think as long as we keep it within striking distance, we can just continue to play our style of baseball, which is why it’s so important to keep it where it’s at,” Interdonato said.
But that’s when Glauber went in. He threw a few strong pitches, and Nick Wang struck out swinging as the Tar Heels maintained a two-run lead heading into the bottom of the third.
BC did not register a hit until the seventh inning, as Glauber retired batters in order in the fifth and sixth innings.
“I thought our at-bats were way better than our results, and like I said, we hit the balls hard, we hit it into two pretty crucial double plays,” Interdonato said. “I mean, sometimes just kind of that’s the way it goes.”
The Eagles could not generate much offensive momentum—a far different pattern from the success they found in Thursday’s series-opening win over the Tar Heels.
An RBI single from Gunnar Johnson in the top of the seventh scored Hendrickson from third after he walked in BC’s first at-bat of the frame, and a sac bunt from Luke Gallo pushed him to third. But BC’s limited success on the plate was not enough to keep the Eagles in the game.
UNC scored one run in the fifth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Macon Winslow, then another in the seventh courtesy of an RBI double off the bat of Colin Hynek that came after freshman Chase Hartsell came in to pitch. John Kwiatkowski came in after Hynek’s hit and retired three Tar Heels in order in the eighth, setting BC up for a consequential ninth frame.
The Eagles were ultimately unable to make anything of the opportunity, though, as Walker McDuffie came into the game and pitched two strikeouts, including a game-ending one from Larson.
“I think we’re in a really good position to win this series,” Interdonato said. “I know I’m really confident, and I think our guys are really confident they can come out here tomorrow and get it done.”
