Tar Heels Cruise Past Charlotte, 14-2

Tuesday, March 27

Charlotte, N.C. (BB&T Ballpark)

7 p.m.

North Carolina

15-10

Charlotte

14-10

North Carolina

Charlotte

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 27, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- North Carolina raced out to a 7-0 lead early and never looked back in a 14-2 win over Charlotte Tuesday night at BB&T Ballpark. Rodney Hutchison Jr. struck out seven and allowed two runs over 6.0 solid innings for his third straight win as the Tar Heels improved to 15-10 on the season and scored in double figures for the 10th time in 2018.

Each player in the Carolina starting lineup either drove in a run or scored one on a chilly night in uptown Charlotte. Brandon Martorano hit his seventh home run of the year, Brandon Riley had three RBIs and Kyle Datres had a two-run triple among his game-high three hits.

UNC sent 10 men to the plate in back-to-back innings, with Martorano's three-run bomb the big blow in the fourth. Michael Busch upped his NCAA-leading RBI total to 38 with a run-scoring single in a five-run fifth that saw the Tar Heels open up a 12-2 lead.

Kip Brandenburg's towering two-run homer in the ninth capped the scoring and was the freshman outfielder's first career round tripper.

The victory was Carolina's third in as many visits to the home of the AAA Charlotte Knights, and the Tar Heels have outscored their opponents 49-7 in those contests. UNC has won 11 of its last 12 games in professional ballparks, including a 5-4 win over East Carolina earlier this season at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Carolina will return to BB&T Ballpark next Tuesday to take on South Carolina in the continuation of the annual border rivalry.

Hutchison (3-1) was in control throughout, with Dominick Cammarata's two-run homer in the fourth the only blemish for the junior right-hander. After a slow start to the season, Hutchison has now won three straight and has allowed just three runs over his last 22.0 innings over work.

Ben Casparius, Caden O'Brien, Bo Weiss and Kyle Blendinger combined for three shutout innings of relief to close out the victory.

Charlotte's Chase Gooding (2-1) allowed four earned on four hits in 3.1 innings to take the loss for the 49ers, who fell to 14-10 on the year.

The win was also the 1,400th career victory for head coach Mike Fox. Fox, who is in his 35th overall season and his 20th at Carolina, now has 861 wins as a Tar Heel to go with 539 in 15 seasons at North Carolina Wesleyan.

Carolina returns to ACC action this weekend when the Tar Heels host Wake Forest in the first of three Friday at 6 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.

Carter French (18) after his three-run triple.

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Hutchison Jr., Rodney (3-1)

L: Chase Gooding (2-1)

North Carolina

Batting:

2B: Roberts, Cody 1

3B: Datres, Kyle 1

HR: Brandenburg, Kip 1 ; Martorano, Brandon 1

RBI: Roberts, Cody 1 ; Busch, Michael 1 ; Datres, Kyle 2 ; Riley, Brandon 3 ; Gahagan, Zack 1 ; Brandenburg, Kip 2 ; Hesterlee, Jackson 1 ; Martorano, Brandon 3

SH: Freeman, Ike 1

SF: Riley, Brandon 1 ; Hesterlee, Jackson 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Roberts, Cody 2 ; Busch, Michael 2 ; Datres, Kyle 2 ; Inclan, Clemente 1 ; Riley, Brandon 1 ; Brandenburg, Kip 1 ; Hesterlee, Jackson 1 ; Freeman, Ike 1 ; McGee, Ashton 1 ; Martorano, Brandon 2