Di Tar Heels don kick off di NCAA Tournament Chapel Hill Regional with sweet 8-0 victory over VCU for Boshamer Stadium. Coach Scott Forbes make move wey some pipo call gamble—e save di Friday starter, ace Jason DeCaro, for Saturday game, and instead give sophomore righty Ryan Lynch di ball for opener. Di decision be one wey Forbes neva try for three years, since 2023 when e save Dalton Pence for Game 2 and di season end with loss to Iowa. But dis time around, e work well well.
Lynch throw career-high 108 pitches, seven innings, allow only two hits and four walks, plus five strikeouts. VCU neva get runner reach third base. Di Rams catcher Jacob Lee yarn say, “I mean, it’s a 96 to 98 mile-per-hour fastball from a pretty weird angle, a low slot release. That’s about what we got with that. It’s a tough look.”
Di Tar Heels start hot for bottom of di first inning. Erik Paulsen hit line-drive double to right center field wey drive in Gavin Gallaher and Macon Winslow. Den Cooper Nicholson single bring Paulsen home, make score 3-0. Nicholson add solo home run for di third inning—355-foot, 110-mile-per-hour shot, im 16th homer for di season. Jake Schaffner bat in fifth run for di eighth inning, and Owen Hull triple bring am home. Gallaher and Paulsen add RBI singles, make final score 8-0.
Lynch be di same guy wey make big breakout for postseason last year as freshman, earning Freshman Second Team All-American honors from D1Baseball and Baseball America. But dis season no go as smooth—e get 4-4 record and ERA wey no too sweet, and e lament say im slider “definitely haven’t been where I wanted them to be.” For ACC Tournament, e allow three runs on nine hits for four innings against Pitt. But e work hard for di week, adjust im delivery and slider, and Forbes see di same intensity wey e show for last year postseason. “I saw that same look in his face as I did late in the season last year,” Forbes yarn.
Forbes also point out say Lynch get fresh buzzcut, and e joke wit reporters. But di real story na di work wey e put for di mound. Lynch mix up pitches, lean on improved slider and changeup for later innings, keep VCU batters off balance. “I just tried to do whatever I could this week to make sure that wasn’t the case anymore,” Lynch say about im past inefficient outings. “I worked on delivery a little bit more, just seeing what I could do to feel better and give my team a better shot.”
UNC and VCU meet earlier dis season for February, and Tar Heels win 13-3 for run-rule. Paulsen star for dat game wit hits for all four at-bats, including two home runs. For Friday, e finish 2-for-4 wit three RBIs. Nicholson go 3-for-5, Gallaher 2-for-3 wit two walks and RBI, Schaffner 2-for-4 wit RBI. Walker McDuffie and Matthew Matthijs close di game wit scoreless innings, no hit allow.
Now, North Carolina go face No. 4 seed ECU for Saturday. DeCaro go be ready, and e don pitch well against ECU for February—eight innings, seven strikeouts, no runs on 101 pitches. “Once you step on the field, the adrenaline is going to kick in,” DeCaro yarn Thursday. “I feel like I’m in a really good spot. I feel really strong going into this weekend.” Paulsen add say di tie series against ECU for February “kind of stunk,” and e want show dem say Tar Heels be di better team.
