Baseball Falls in Late Game Rally to No. 14 North Carolina, 8-2
CHAPEL HILL – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team was taken down by No. 14 North Carolina, 8–2, at Bryson Field in Boshamer Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. Eight Spartan pitchers saw action with Mayson Dear making his 2026 debut. Luke Jenkins paced the team with two RBIs in the contest.
North Carolina opened the scoring with two runs in the first on UNCG starter Tucker Holland, in his second start for the Spartans this season. In one and a third innings, Holland allowed two runs, three walks and one strikeout. Head Coach Cody Ellis turned to the freshman duo, Ayden West and Thomas Hester, to hold the Tar Heels’ bats at bay. With the damage minimized and the North Carolina bats laid low by the Spartans pitching, UNCG got the bats rolling in the top of the fourth. Jake Barbour led off with a double into right center field, then back-to-back walks by North Carolina set up Jenkins with the bases loaded. The senior delivered a clutch two RBI single that tied the game at 2-2 after four frames of action.
The Spartans continued to threaten as they loaded the bases again in the fifth inning with no outs, but the Tar Heels got out of the jam without allowing a run to keep the game tied. North Carolina retook the lead on anRBI single in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 3-2. The Tar Heels broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh, pushing across five runs in the frame to extend the lead to 8-2 after seven. The Spartans were unable to rally in the eighth and ninth frames, bringing the game to the final score of 8-2.
PITCHING RECORDS:
Boston Flannery: W, 1-0
John Horton: L, 0-1
NOTES:
North Carolina outhit UNCG, 9-5
The Spartans left eight runners on base compared to the Tar Heels’ 15.
UNCG’s leadoff batters went 4-9 in the game for a .444 batting average.
Jenkins and Ethan Brittain led the way with two hits apiece.
RECORDS:
UNCG: 10-12
UNC: 18-3-1
UP NEXT
The Spartans will begin The Southern Conference (SoCon) action on Friday at UNCG Baseball Stadium as they take on the ETSU Buccaneers in a three-game series stretching over the weekend. First pitch on Friday is slated for 6:00 p.m.
Courtesy of Grayson Chastain
Strategic Communications Coordinator
UNC Greensboro