Lynch Dazzles But Heels Fall Short In Game Two Against Duke, 3-1

Friday, April 24

Durham, N.C.

6 PM

North Carolina

35-8-1, 16-7

Duke

23-22, 9-14

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
North Carolina	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	6	2
Duke	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	3	7	1

Lynch Dazzles But Heels Fall Short In Game Two Against Duke, 3-1

April 24, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score

By: William Soulé

DURHAM, N.C. – Carolina baseball got a great outing from its starting pitcher for the second straight game against Duke but could not produce the runs to get win as they dropped game two of the series, 3-1, on Friday night in Jack Coombs Stadium.

The No. 2 Tar Heels (35-8-1, 16-7 ACC) lost the game despite not having yet given up an earned run in the series. The offense never got going for Carolina, who finished the game 0-10 with runners in scoring position. Of the Heels' six hits on the day, four of them lead off the inning and no two of them came in the same inning.

The highlight of the day was the performance of starter Ryan Lynch. The sophomore flamethrower racked up a career-high nine strikeouts in his second longest outing of the season. Unfortunate to be saddled with the loss, he finished with three runs (all unearned), seven hits, and one walk in his 7.0 innings.

Duke's only runs in the game all came on the same play in the first inning. With two out and two on, the Blue Devils' five-hole hitter Michael DiMartini looped a high fly ball to right that was misplayed by Carolina's Carter French for an error. On the relay in from right, Gavin Gallaher's throw went wide of third and wound up in the Duke dugout.

The result was two runs on the error from French with one more on the error from Gallaher. On a day when the offense couldn't string their attack together, it was enough for the Blue Devils to even the series and set up a Saturday afternoon rubber match.

Carolina's most dangerous frame was the top of the eighth, where they scored their lone run. Two straight walks followed up by two HBPs gave Tyler Howe an RBI plunked off his thigh and Macon Winslow scored at his old home field.

The Tar Heels will return to Jack Coombs Field tomorrow for one more game to decide the series. First pitch has been moved up one hour to 2 p.m. ET due to expected weather in the area.