USC baseball struggled profoundly through the first five innings of Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional against North Carolina. The Trojans didn’t get on base much. They weren’t elevating the ball, beating it into the ground instead. They didn’t play clean defense. They didn’t establish good location on pitches. North Carolina hitters saw the ball well and lashed it often for hits. After five innings, Carolina led 5-1, and the Trojans’ hopes of Omaha were dwindling. Then everything changed in the next half inning. Tar Heels Wire has more:
“For five innings, it looked like the North Carolina Tar Heels were going to cruise to a victory in game one of the Chapel Hill Regional. But the sixth inning proved to be the deciding one in their 9-5 loss to the USC Trojans on Friday afternoon.
“Starter Jake Lynch got into some trouble in the sixth inning, leading 5-1 as he allowed three-straight singles to begin the frame. After getting a groundout and then a strikeout, Scott Forbes turned to sophomore Walker McDuffie to get UNC out of the jam. However, a close 3-2 pitch went in favor of the Trojans, and the next batter, Dean Carpentier, sent a ball over the fence for a grand slam and a 6-5 Trojans lead.
“From there, it was all USC. The Trojans tacked on three runs in the top of the seventh to seal it as UNC struggled to get anything going the rest of the way. The Tar Heels were held to just two hits the rest of the game, both coming in the ninth inning.”
USC scored eight of its nine runs in a two-inning span. The Trojans put up a ton of crooked numbers in their College Station Regional last weekend. Being able to score several runs at a time has instantly changed games for the Men of Troy. They know they can blitz opponents and can bust open close games. That has to continue to be USC’s ally heading into Game 2 against North Carolina on Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC must maintain the ability to uncork big innings vs North Carolina
Reporting by Matt Zemek, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Matt Zemek, Trojans Wire | USA TODAY Network
