No. 4 UNC baseball survives, stuns upset-minded LIU in wild ninth-inning comeback win

The scoreboard in Boshamer Stadium might as well have been a target. When the ball left the barrel of Gavin Gallaher’s bat, it sailed toward that glowing rectangular screen in left-centerfield.

As it bounced off and settled onto the warning track, the freshman from Apex was rounding second base, and Gallaher’s North Carolina teammates were pouring out of the dugout, screaming, cheering and beating their chests. The Tar Heels had just stared down defeat — and won.

Gallaher’s walk-off grand slam gave the fourth-seeded Tar Heels an 11-8 victory over the Long Island University Sharks in the opening game of the regional stage in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

“That’s one hell of a game,” UNC outfielder Anthony Donofrio said. “Obviously, Gallaher’s got ice water in his veins, going out there and delivering that jack to set us ahead.”

The victory marked the 43rd of the season for the Tar Heels, which is their most ever in a single year under fourth-year head coach Scott Forbes.

“With this team, nothing surprises me. They’re going to play until there’s 27 outs,” Forbes said. “I thought our guys, that last inning, had some really locked-in at-bats.”

In the ninth inning against LIU, the Tar Heels faced the lowest of lows before experiencing the highest of highs.

Leading 5-4 with two outs in the top of the inning, UNC pitcher Matt Polston delivered an 0-2 pitch down the middle of the plate that LIU’s JC Navarro slapped into deep left field, scoring Benjamin Fierenzi. After the next LIU batter walked, Jacob Pipercic then took Polston deep, driving a 2-1 offering over the left field wall. Suddenly, after seven pitches and two swings, UNC went from leading by one run to trailing by three.

Then, the switch flipped for the Tar Heels. Vance Honeycutt was hit by a pitch, Casey Cook singled, and then Donofrio singled. With one out, the bases were loaded in the bottom of the ninth for UNC. Alberto Osuna drove in one run with a single, then Lance Stevenson drawing a walk pushed in another. And then Gallaher, after looking at a strike, rocketed an 0-1 pitch over the heads and gloves of all the Sharks for the win.

Gallaher finished the game going 3-of-4 at the plate with a double, two homers, a walk and six RBIs. He said it’s the first walk-off home run he’s hit since he was in Little League.

“I was just happy to get the job done for the team,” Gallaher said. “I think the biggest thing is slowing the game down. I feel like I did a good job of that tonight. I feel like I saw all these pitches well.”

Gallaher’s first dinger of the day gave UNC a run back in the bottom of the fourth — trimming the early deficit to one run – but scores were still difficult to come by for the Tar Heels against LIU right-handed pitcher Garrett Yawn, who struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth. The Tar Heels got to Yawn in the sixth inning though – right around the time he crossed the 100-pitch milestone – as Gallaher and Alex Madera combined to drive in three runs.

The Tar Heels will now face the reigning national champions, LSU, on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Tigers, seeded second in the Chapel Hill regional, scored all of their runs in the final three innings Friday afternoon to beat Wofford, 4-3. Former N.C. State third baseman Tommy White went hitless in four at-bats for LSU against the Terriers.

Saturday’s matchup will be the first time North Carolina and LSU have faced off on the diamond since the 2013 College World Series, where the Tar Heels beat the Tigers 4-2 in an elimination game. Before UNC and LSU face off, LIU will play Wofford in an elimination game at noon.