Tech drops series finale, 4-2, at No. 6 UNC

Saturday, February 15

Chapel Hill, N.C.

12:00 p.m. (ET)/11 a.m. (CT)

Texas Tech Athletics

0-3

No. 6 North Carolina

3-0

Texas Tech

North Carolina

Tech drops series finale, 4-2, at No. 6 UNC

February 15, 2025 | Baseball

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Sophomore Lukas Pirko and JT Drake combined for over seven, one-run innings Saturday

By: Andrew Stern

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Despite five-and-one-third dominant innings and seven strikeouts from Lukas Pirko as well as a ninth inning rally, Texas Tech Baseball fell 4-2 to No. 6 UNC Saturday afternoon at a cold and rainy Boshamer Field.

After a strong top of the first was highlighted by a Damian Bravo 2-out single that gave Texas Tech (0-3) an early 1-0 lead, the sixth-ranked Tar Heels (3-0) loaded the bases in their half of the first on a lead-off single and a pair of walks.

With the bases and loaded and no outs, the Tar Heels used a two-RBI single off Red Raider freshman Jackson Burns to take a 2-1 lead.

Looking to limit the damage, Burns rebounded to coax a sac-fly from Sam Angelo to retire the innings first out.

Burns struck out the next Tar Heel he faced, but a two-out walk capped by a pitch-clock violation re-loaded the bases.

The walk proved the end of the line for Burns, as Tech turned to Pirko, who won a 3-2 battle to get through the frame.

After a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, Pirko worked around a pair of base runners in the second, using his patented changeup to strike out a pair of Tar Heels.

The final two outs of the second proved to be emblematic of the day it would be for the former Freshman All-American as he shined in his Texas Tech debut limiting the potent UNC lineup to just three hits over his 5.1 innings of work.

Leading off the top of the third inning, Texas Tech freshman Kendyl Johnson looked to get the Red Raiders jumpstarted when he ripped a low sinking line drive that looked to be destined for the right-center field gap, but UNCs right fielder Tyson Bass, made a sliding acrobatic catch to rob the speedy Johnson of at least three bases.

The catch proved to be a momentum shift in the contest, as Tech proceeded to chase UNCs Ollin Johnson just two batters later when an Antonelli Savaterre single and a Kyeler Thompson walk put the tying runs on base with one out.

Looking to extinguish the threat, UNC turned to freshman Cameron Seagraves who got Logan Hughes to fly out to center for the innings second out. After a walk to Bravo loaded the bases, Tech DH Davis Rivers struck out on a 2-2 breaking ball to end the frame.

The game remained 3-1 UNC until the home-half of the fourth when UNC used a lead-off double and a pair of grounders to take a 4-1 lead.

The RBI groundout was the only run that Pirko would allow on the afternoon, as the Cal Baptist transfer retired nine of the final 11 batters he faced.

Armed with a 4-1 lead, UNC turned to its most impressive pitcher on the afternoon, freshman Ryan Lynch to start the fifth.

What started as an early offensive explosion, quickly turned to a pitchers-duel as Pirko and Lynch continued to trade zeros deep into the afternoon.

With the rain starting to fall, the Red Raiders got something going in the top of the seventh when Savaterre reached on an error and got to second with two outs on a Thompson single.

Representing the tying run at the plate, the Red Raiders next batter, Hughes, lined out to left to end the frame.

In the bottom of the seventh, Tech turned to JUCO transfer JT Drake for both the seventh and eighth innings. Drake retired all six batters he faced in two perfect innings of work.

Looking to close out the game, Lynch returned for the ninth and allowed a lead-off single to Tracer Lopez before being lifted for First Team All-American closer Matthew Matthijs.

After nailing down the final three outs in Friday's series opener, Matthijs ran into some trouble in the ninth, allowing a TJ Pompey single to bring the tying run to the plate with nobody out.

Needing just one swing to tie the game, Tech turned to Robin Villeneuve off the bench.
After falling behind in the count 1-2, Villeneuve took a close pitch to even the count at two balls and two strikes.

With the count 2-2, the 2023 JUCO HR King launched a 101 MPH flyout that found the glove of Bass in right field for the innings first out. On the play, Lopez advanced from second to third.

The next Red Raider batter, Savattere, brought Tech to within 4-2 on an infield single, but a pair of lineouts ended both the Red Raider comeback effort and the ballgame.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders return home to the friendly confines of Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park next weekend when nationally-ranked UC Irvine comes to town for a weekend showdown. The series gets underway on Friday at 6:30 p.m.