VCU baseball lost to No. 4 North Carolina, 8-0, in the opening game of the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional on May 29 at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Rams will now face No. 23 Tennessee on Saturday in the elimination bracket.
North Carolina entered the contest as the national five-seed and VCU’s highest-ranked opponent this season. The Tar Heels scored three two-out runs in the first inning and extended their lead with a home run from Cooper Nicholson in the third frame, making it 4-0. VCU stranded a pair of runners in scoring position during the first five innings but was unable to score.
Pitchers Patrick Steitz and Dawson Newman combined for four consecutive scoreless frames during the middle stretch of the game. Steitz went four innings and allowed four runs, while Newman threw three scoreless innings before giving up three runs in his final frame. In total, VCU reached 521 team strikeouts for just the second time in program history.
Offensively, Nate Kirkpatrick recorded VCU’s first hit of its NCAA postseason campaign. Jacob Lee extended his on-base streak to 23 games and hitting streak to eight games with a single—both career highs—while Michael Petite drew two walks to reach base safely for a thirty-first consecutive game.
The Rams were shut out for the first time this season as North Carolina added four more runs on four hits in the eighth inning to reach an 8-0 final score. VCU turned two double plays defensively, both involving Dante DeFranco.
VCU is scheduled to play Tennessee at noon on Saturday, May 30, with coverage available via ESPN+. Additional information about the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional can be found at its Regional Central page.
