“Just came up a little short" - LIU baseball coach Don Pirillo shares insight after UNC wins with a walk-off grand slam

LIU baseball almost pulled off the seemingly impossible against the UNC Tar Heels. In the opening round of the Chapel Hill regional, LIU almost knocked the hosts off.

At the start of the bottom of the ninth, the Tar Heels required a miracle as they were down three runs (8-5). Their batting lineup came through, scoring six runs in the closing moments of the game.

Nonetheless, LIU head coach Don Pirillo has much to be proud of. He told the media in the aftermath of the game:

"That's our team makeup. That's what we've done all year, try to keep it close for as long as we can, we feel good about ourselves in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning. We showed it again today that we'll fight. It doesn't matter the opponent."

He pointed out that his pitching staff did the best job it could under the circumstances, especially praising starting flame thrower Garrett Yawn:

"My hat's off to Gary Yawn for pitching as good as he can pitch against a really, really good club. UNC's got a balanced lineup, they're tough to pitch too. And what Yawn did was very, very impressive. I expected him to give us his all, and he did, he left it all out there. Jack VanDoran came in and did really really well. Got to get all 27."

Gavin Gallaher lights it up for UNC vs. LIU

The hero of the UNC Tar Heels was third baseman Gavin Gallaher, who in four at-bats had three hits for three runs. His three hits brought in six RBIs that were key for North Carolina's eventual win. He did strike out once.

The winning pitcher was Matt Poston (4-2), who threw one inning that wasn't nearly as good as his win would suggest. He allowed two hits for three runs, with three errors. Starting pitcher Jason DeCaro threw four innings, giving up three runs and four walks. It wasn't a good day for the throwers.