RE: UNCW Baseball - 2018 Thread
UNC opened their 2018 slate by taking 2/3 from USF on the road. After losing game one 4-3, their offense got rolling in 12-5 and 9-8 victories in games 2 and 3.
The Tarheels have a home game with Big East favorite St. John's (3-0) the day after they face us, so it will be interesting to see if they use their best midweek option against us or save it for the Red Storm.
UNC was picked to finish 4th (out of 7) in the ACC Atlantic Division, behind Florida State, Louisville, and Clemson. They did, however, get 3 votes to win the entire league, behind only FSU (10 votes). So if the coaches' opinions are to be taken as gospel, there seems to be a wide range of outcomes for how UNC will perform this season.
Sophomore RHP Gianluca Dalatri is on the Golden Spikes Award watch list this season, though he started '18 on a rough footing. In Friday's season opener, he only lasted 3.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and taking the loss.
While UNC's midweek options are anyone's guess, they do figure to have a strong bullpen, led by redshirt sophomore righty Josh Hiatt. Serving as the closer in 2017, Hiatt was 4-2 with 1.90 ERA, allowing opponents to hit just .168, and recorded 13 saves. He also struck out 64 batters and walked just 20 in 52.0 innings. He's picked up right where he left off, making 2 appearances over the weekend, allowing no runs on 1 hit, striking out 7 and walking just 1 in 4.0 innings.
Offensively, senior second baseman Zach Gahagan leads the charge coming off a 2017 campaign where he drove in 42 runs and scored 45. Over the weekend, he went 6-13 (.462) with 3 RBI and 3 Runs. Sophomore 1B Michael Busch, batting in the middle of the Tarheel lineup, is also off to a hot start, hitting 5-13 (.385) with 1 HR and 7 RBI. Off to a slower start, but also expected to be a top performer, is junior outfielder Brandon Riley, who in '17 slashed .317/.406/.496 and led the team with 52 RBI. He went 2-12 over the weekend, but did walk 5 times and scored 3 runs.
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