Tar Heels Enhance Postseason Resume With Series Win Over Wake Forest
Scott Forbes discussed the series, the state of UNC's pitching staff and more
Coming off a critical series win at N.C. State, North Carolina took another significant step toward solidifying its NCAA Tournament standing this weekend at Boshamer Stadium, taking two of three games — 3-2, 12-3 and 2-11 — against Wake Forest.
Boshamer Bulletin couldn’t attend this weekend’s series due to personal reasons, but Scott Forbes took the time Sunday evening to speak over the phone. Here’s what the head coach had to say following his team’s second straight series win.
Boshamer Bulletin: What's the biggest takeaway for you coming out of a big series win in the penultimate regular-season series?
Scott Forbes: Obviously, we wanted the sweep — we wanted that win (Sunday). It didn't happen, but I thought Wake, watching them while preparing for this weekend and also coming off five games and the crazy series against N.C. State, I thought we had a battle on our hands, especially stopping their offense, and I didn't think it was gonna be easy. So to get two out of three against one of the better offenses in the league, I thought, was a big credit to our guys.
BB: We've talked a lot this year about the current state of the ACC and how offense-heavy it is. … Now that we're at this point in the year, how do you think going through that (difficult stretch in April where UNC faced three of the nation’s best offenses in Virginia Tech, Louisville and Georgia Tech in consecutive weeks) makes it seem normal (facing such teams) at this point in the season?
SF: Yeah, you know, it's an offensive league, but I think also, I'll go back to good pitching always beats good hitting. And that's why we won those first two games. I mean, obviously we had the big (10-run fifth) inning (Saturday), but I thought our pitching did an unbelievable job the first two games. (Sunday), we didn't pitch it as well, and we had one big play that we didn't make that would've been a double play. Those things add up, but still, it's offensive and we're offensive. If you're making mistakes and you don't have a good off-speed pitch, it can be a long night for you in our league this year.
BB: Staying on the pitching angle, with Max (Carlson), you saw the walks creep back up a little bit again on Friday, but he was able to work around them a little bit more than he has when he's kind of had those issues so far this year. How did he set the tone overall for you guys on Friday?
SF: Yeah, no doubt about it. He made some really big pitches in big situations, which is the mark of a really good pitcher. You know, he didn't have the command that he had had last couple weeks, but when he got in trouble, he was able to get himself out of trouble by making those big pitches and pitching deeper into the game and kept us in it. And that allowed Vance (Honeycutt) to hit that big home run (that gave the Tar Heels a 3-2 lead in the sixth).
BB: Going to Saturday, Brandon (Schaeffer) gave you the longest outing you've had by any pitcher all year, going 7 1/3 (innings). What impressed you most about his ability to work deep into that game?
SF: I thought he threw the ball extremely well. He did make some mistakes, but he was aggressive and he had life on his fastball. He made one big mistake to (Pierce) Bennett with the changeup. But I thought his fastball had great life, and when it has that type of life and he has some deception, you can get some weak fly balls — right-handed hitters are going to fly out to right and left-handed hitters are going to fly out to left, and they did quite a bit of that. I thought he had his slider a little bit better, so that equalized them. And then when they made those couple big plays defensively, he went out and he had a quick inning and then did the same thing after our big 10-run inning — he got us back in quick. That's what you've gotta have.
BB: For about a month and a half or so, we were talking about how good those two guys are but that they were both kind of finding their way a little bit in some different roles. After going through all that, how encouraged are you about where the rotation is at right now heading into this final week of the regular season?
SF: I think a lot of teams in the league right now are TBAing on Sunday. I do feel like Carlson and Schaeffer can match up and give you a chance to win. And with the offensive lineups we're facing, that's a good feeling, because at the end of the day, you're trying to win that series. If you're happy, if you're fortunate, and you make it to the super regional and you're trying to win two out of three, we do have to figure out who can give us a better start. We tried (Connor) Bovair (Sunday); I still think he's better suited for the 'pen. But right now we're just focusing on Carlson and Schaeffer and we'll go from there, because both those guys have been throwing well.
BB: Speaking of another guy who has been throwing it well, Will Sandy gave you 2 1/3 shutout innings (Sunday). Do you think there's an opportunity for him to emerge as one of those guys who you throw out there on a Sunday?
SF: Yeah, you know, that's as good as he's looked, his last two outings. We're going to have to use him. He is gonna have to help us in some role. That's what it takes down the stretch. So he's definitely in the mix to start on Saturday against Florida State, for sure.
BB: It seems like since you got back from exams, we've seen Gage (Gillian) look a lot more like 2021 Gage pretty consistently. Would you agree with that? How do you feel like he's come along here recently?
SF: Yeah, I agree with that 100%. I just told the coaches that he looks a lot like he did last year. He looks as good as he's looked, and I think that's gonna be big for us.
BB: Is there anything in particular that you think has allowed him to settle back in?
SF: He's been working on his delivery and making sure he's not too quick, because he's so fast to the plate. I think with the exam break, he kind of refreshed himself a little bit and I think he feels good.
BB: Colby (Wilkerson) got the start at second (base) across three games. What did you think he brought to the lineup, both offensively and defensively, over the course of the weekend?
SF: Well, the biggest thing is defense. We just cannot give extra outs, and we've been giving some extra outs. With our pitching staff, it's not powerful enough — we don't have enough strikeout ability — to give any of those extra outs. Colby is one of our best defenders, and he played really good defense for us.
BB: You go to that big inning there on Saturday, and (Mac Horvath and Danny Serretti) kind of got it started, but Mikey (Madej's bases-loaded) triple really opened things up. How impressed do you continue to be by him and all the little things that he's able to do?
SF: Yeah, I think it's awesome. He's being rewarded for his work ethic and being a great teammate and making the most of his opportunity. He's given us some really good at-bats — and tough at-bats. I think he's been a huge part of us getting back in the mix, for sure.
BB: As you were entering this week, it kind of felt a little similar to last year, with the same sort of circumstances and where you get the home series to wrap things up over the last two weeks. As you've watched this team over the past few weeks, how do you think the players have been able to kind of lean on that experience from last year?
SF: Yeah, for sure. No doubt about it. We knew, too, that we were gonna finish at home, which never hurts things. When you have adversity, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna keep going or are you gonna stop? And I never doubted these guys would keep going. You just keep playing. The league's hard, and this year more than ever, the line is so fine. But you can't look back; you have to look forward. And the great thing with us is, even last year, we had Louisville and we swept them at home, but then we only won one game at Georgia Tech. Well, this year we're at home the final two weekends. When you control your own destiny and you don't have to count on other teams to do things, that's a good thing. You don't wanna be in the position where you have to win and then others have to lose or whatever. You know that, “OK, it's how you play.” And we put ourselves in that position. It's just how we do and how we finish, so we can control it.
State champs?
The Tar Heels (31-19, 12-15 ACC) have won series against Duke, East Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest this year, becoming the first of the five schools to win a three-game weekend series against each of the other four in a single season. This marks the first time UNC has won series against the Blue Devils, Demon Deacons and Wolfpack in a single season since 2012.
The Tar Heels also boast midweek wins over Appalachian State, Campbell, Charlotte, Elon, Gardner-Webb and UNCW.
What’s next?
UNC hits the road for the final time this regular season when it travels to UNCW for a 6 p.m. tilt Tuesday. Picked to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association’s preseason coaches poll, the Seahawks (29-21) are coming off a three-game sweep at Northeastern. The Tar Heels beat UNCW, 6-4, on March 29 at Boshamer Stadium.