Rom Kellis singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning to help the Diamond Heels win a marathon battle against Campbell at Boshamer Stadium Tuesday. The game lasted nearly five hours and ended after midnight Wednesday morning.
UNC trailed for much of the game, falling behind 4-2 after Campbell scored three runs in the second and another in the fourth. Carolina scored one run apiece in the first and second innings but would not score again until the bottom of the seventh, when Macon Winslow drove home Jake Schaffner from third base on a groundout. In the eighth, Carolina used a single, a sacrifice bunt and a Cooper Nicholson double to manufacture the tying run. With Nicholson on second base and only one out, UNC had a chance to take the lead in the same inning, but two consecutive strikeouts stranded the go-ahead run.
That set the stage for a tense rock fight which stretched from March into April, as neither team scored in the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th or 13th innings. UNC got clutch relief from freshman lefty Jackson Rose, who tossed six innings out of the bullpen while allowing just two hits and striking out five Camels. No other Carolina pitcher lasted longer than two innings. Rose stranded runners on first and second base in the 10th inning before finally yielding to Tom Chmielewski in the top of the 14th.
UNC’s biggest threat came in the 12th, when the Diamond Heels loaded the bases with two outs after a hit batsman, a single and a walk. With Nicholson batting, Owen Hull attempted to steal home and score the winning run, but was tagged out to end the inning.
Finally, in the 14th inning, Carolina made good on another chance to score. Two walks and a single loaded the bases with nobody out, and after pinch-hitter Lee Sowers struck out, Kellis strode to the plate. He laced the second pitch he saw into center field, giving UNC the walk-off win. It came four hours and 46 minutes after the game’s first pitch.
Carolina is now 3-0 in extra-inning games this season, all of which have come at Boshamer Stadium. The Diamond Heels are 25-4-1 overall – which is their fifth-best start through 30 games in program history – and have won six consecutive games. They will be back in action Thursday when they host Boston College in the first of a three-game series in Chapel Hill. First pitch of Thursday’s opener is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
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