North Carolina
25-8
Elon
11-21
Diamond Heels Win Slugfest At Elon
April 8, 2025 | Baseball
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The Tar Heels (25-8, 8-7 ACC) had to battle back from separate two-run and four-run deficits against the fighting Phoenix but powered their way to victory behind four home runs and 11 hits. Clutch hitting was the story of the night as UNC scored nine of their runs with two outs.
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Bass and Gallaher were the engine behind the offense, becoming the first Carolina teammates this season to have multiple home runs in the same game. The team last did that against Pitt in the ACC tournament last season through Casey Cook and Anthony Donofrio.
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Each of the four long balls came at a crucial time for Carolina. Gallaher's first, a three-run shot in the sixth, gave UNC its first lead of the game. Elon would answer right back with seven in the bottom half to go up four.
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Up steps Bass in the top of the seventh, who only came to the plate because Elon chose to intentionally walk Luke Stevenson to the bases loaded right before him. Then on a 2-1 breaking ball, the North Carolina Wesleyan career home run record holder hit his first career grand slam at any level to tie the game for the Tar Heels.
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It was the first grand slam of the season for UNC and the first since Gallaher's walk-off against LIU in last year's regional. Speaking of, two at-bats later the Apex, N.C., native smashed a no-doubter into the pond beyond left field that would prove to be the winning runs on the night.
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Bass would lead off the top of the ninth with a solo shot to the batter's eye in center field, adding some insurance for the Carolina bullpen. He has been one of the team's best hitters recently. Across his last 10 games, he leads the team in batting average (.410), hits (16), runs (12), and RBIs (14).
Just three days removed from the 14 inning marathon win over Duke, North Carolina head coach Scott Forbes deployed a full bullpen day to handle the Elon attack.
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One week after helping the program claim its first no-hitter since 1999, Folger Boaz got the win in this one while Olin Johnson threw 2.0 innings of one-hit work with four strikeouts. True freshman Ryan Lynch spent the most time on the bump for the Heels, going 3.1 with six strikeouts. Tom Chmielewski sat the final three Phoenix down in order in the ninth to pick up his first save in Carolina blue.
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The Tar Heels will not have to wait long to get back on the field, as they will return to Boshamer Stadium to take on Wake Forest on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network. A limited number of tickets are still available.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boaz, Folger (3-0)
L: Wehner, Carson (0-2)
S: Chmielewski, Tom (1)
Batting:
2B: Stevenson, Luke 2
HR: Bass, Tyson 2 ; Gallaher, Gavin 2
RBI: Bass, Tyson 5 ; Stokely, Hunter 2 ; Gallaher, Gavin 5
Base Running:
RUNS: Kepley, Kane 2 ; Van De Brake, Jackson 1 ; Stevenson, Luke 2 ; Bass, Tyson 2 ; Stokely, Hunter 2 ; Gallaher, Gavin 2 ; Hargett, Perry 1
SB: Kepley, Kane 4
CS: Kepley, Kane 1 ; Hargett, Perry 1
Batting:
2B: Granatell, Charlie 1 ; Duffey, Alex 1 ; Mallory Jr., Kenny 1 ; Szestowicki, Justin 1
HR: Sprock, Ryan 1
RBI: Granatell, Charlie 1 ; Sprock, Ryan 1 ; Duffey, Alex 2 ; Mallory Jr., Kenny 1 ; Vergantino, Will 1 ; Szestowicki, Justin 2
SF: Vergantino, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alford, Jackson 1 ; Granatell, Charlie 1 ; Sprock, Ryan 2 ; Duffey, Alex 1 ; Fattore, Vince 2 ; Mallory Jr., Kenny 1 ; Vergantino, Will 1 ; Szestowicki, Justin 1
HBP: Fattore, Vince 1
