Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
Lucas: Holy Cross Rapid Reactions
May 30, 2025 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from the NCAA baseball regional opener.
By Adam Lucas
1. Carolina got what it needed with a 4-0 opening game shutout of Holy Cross. The Tar Heels got terrific pitching, very good defense and enough offense to move into the winner's bracket, which is all that matters in this type of game.
2. Another outstanding outing from Carolina starter Jake Knapp. The ACC Pitcher of the Year threw 8.1 tremendous innings before a hit in the ninth cost him a complete game bid. Knapp allowed only four hits and walked three while striking out seven in a career-high 119 pitches (83 strikes). Having a workhorse like the Greensboro native at the front of the rotation is a huge luxury in the regional format, because Carolina only had to use reliever Walker McDuffie to get two outs. McDuffie threw just ten pitches and will be available later this weekend out of the bullpen.
3. If you want to learn more about Knapp, he stopped by the Carolina Insider studio last week for a great interview, which is available on YouTube and really shows off his personality and the perseverance he's demonstrated to get to this point. Knapp joins Patrick Johnson, Alex White and Andrew Miller as the only Tar Heel pitchers to win 13 games in the last 25 years.
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4. To win in the postseason, you have to get production throughout the order. The 7-8-9 spots in the UNC order went 3-for-10 and drove in two of the day's four runs, with an RBI apiece for Tyson Bass and Sam Angelo.
5. You doubtless know about the Tar Heel pitching and offense, but the defense has quietly been steady this year. Carolina got two double plays in the first four innings to keep the game close until the offense started rolling with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The second of those double plays was a textbook smooth Jackson Van De Brake-to-Alex Madera-to-Hunter Stokely 4-6-3 to end the top of the fourth. The Heels added another double play, this one 6-4-3, in the seventh. Carolina leads the nation in defensive runs saved (by a healthy margin over second place Georgia Tech) according to 643 Charts.Â
6. More solid defense in the sixth, which turned into the key Holy Cross inning of the game. The Crusaders loaded the bases with one out after an epic 12-pitch at bat for John LaFleur. But Chris Baillargeon lifted a fly ball to shallow center that Kane Kepley played perfectly before firing a strike to hold the runner at third, and then Knapp did it himself by blowing a 97-mph fastball--his hardest pitch of the outing so far--past Gianni Royer to get a strikeout and end the threat. Don't forget that Luke Stevenson also stopped a potential run-scoring would-be wild pitch in that sequence.
7. Great crowd for a Friday noon game at Boshamer Stadium. There's no question about the quantity of fan support for Carolina baseball. Postseason games have become events in Chapel Hill, and the attendance shows it. The next step is for that crowd--which gave Knapp a great hand as he left the game in the ninth--to become a more involved, baseball-savvy group that creates a more raucous environment from first to ninth inning. The Tar Heels will need that type of energy on Saturday and Sunday.
8. Carolina now advances to face the winner of tonight's Oklahoma-Nebraska game. There are two pieces of intrigue with that matchup: the Sooners are holding their ace, Kyson Witherspoon, for a potential Saturday meeting with the Tar Heels. And the Chapel Hill weather is a little iffy, with some storms moving into the area and a tornado watch issued until 8 p.m. The winner's bracket game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, but keep an eye on social media and the GoHeels Regional Central for further updates. The uncertain weather highlights the wisdom of Scott Forbes' choice to play the first game of the regional rather than waiting for the possibly more high-profile night slot; Carolina will be safely in the clubhouse with a win while the other two teams potentially battle delays.
1. Carolina got what it needed with a 4-0 opening game shutout of Holy Cross. The Tar Heels got terrific pitching, very good defense and enough offense to move into the winner's bracket, which is all that matters in this type of game.
2. Another outstanding outing from Carolina starter Jake Knapp. The ACC Pitcher of the Year threw 8.1 tremendous innings before a hit in the ninth cost him a complete game bid. Knapp allowed only four hits and walked three while striking out seven in a career-high 119 pitches (83 strikes). Having a workhorse like the Greensboro native at the front of the rotation is a huge luxury in the regional format, because Carolina only had to use reliever Walker McDuffie to get two outs. McDuffie threw just ten pitches and will be available later this weekend out of the bullpen.
3. If you want to learn more about Knapp, he stopped by the Carolina Insider studio last week for a great interview, which is available on YouTube and really shows off his personality and the perseverance he's demonstrated to get to this point. Knapp joins Patrick Johnson, Alex White and Andrew Miller as the only Tar Heel pitchers to win 13 games in the last 25 years.
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3. This is a little surprising given the quality of pitching that has come through Chapel Hill in the last two decades: the last UNC complete game in a regional opener came way back in 2005, when Robert Woodard went all nine in a 5-1 win over Notre Dame in Gainesville. Woodard, now the head coach at Charlotte, was masterful against the Gators in his 110 pitches that day.
4. To win in the postseason, you have to get production throughout the order. The 7-8-9 spots in the UNC order went 3-for-10 and drove in two of the day's four runs, with an RBI apiece for Tyson Bass and Sam Angelo.
5. You doubtless know about the Tar Heel pitching and offense, but the defense has quietly been steady this year. Carolina got two double plays in the first four innings to keep the game close until the offense started rolling with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The second of those double plays was a textbook smooth Jackson Van De Brake-to-Alex Madera-to-Hunter Stokely 4-6-3 to end the top of the fourth. The Heels added another double play, this one 6-4-3, in the seventh. Carolina leads the nation in defensive runs saved (by a healthy margin over second place Georgia Tech) according to 643 Charts.Â
6. More solid defense in the sixth, which turned into the key Holy Cross inning of the game. The Crusaders loaded the bases with one out after an epic 12-pitch at bat for John LaFleur. But Chris Baillargeon lifted a fly ball to shallow center that Kane Kepley played perfectly before firing a strike to hold the runner at third, and then Knapp did it himself by blowing a 97-mph fastball--his hardest pitch of the outing so far--past Gianni Royer to get a strikeout and end the threat. Don't forget that Luke Stevenson also stopped a potential run-scoring would-be wild pitch in that sequence.
7. Great crowd for a Friday noon game at Boshamer Stadium. There's no question about the quantity of fan support for Carolina baseball. Postseason games have become events in Chapel Hill, and the attendance shows it. The next step is for that crowd--which gave Knapp a great hand as he left the game in the ninth--to become a more involved, baseball-savvy group that creates a more raucous environment from first to ninth inning. The Tar Heels will need that type of energy on Saturday and Sunday.
8. Carolina now advances to face the winner of tonight's Oklahoma-Nebraska game. There are two pieces of intrigue with that matchup: the Sooners are holding their ace, Kyson Witherspoon, for a potential Saturday meeting with the Tar Heels. And the Chapel Hill weather is a little iffy, with some storms moving into the area and a tornado watch issued until 8 p.m. The winner's bracket game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, but keep an eye on social media and the GoHeels Regional Central for further updates. The uncertain weather highlights the wisdom of Scott Forbes' choice to play the first game of the regional rather than waiting for the possibly more high-profile night slot; Carolina will be safely in the clubhouse with a win while the other two teams potentially battle delays.
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