CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Road to Omaha came to a screeching halt in Chapel Hill on Saturday for the Stetson Hatters.
Jack Perkins was touched for six runs, including four in the first inning, and the Hatters could never recover as they fell to North Carolina, 7-5, in a Super Regional elimination game at UNC’s Boshamer Stadium.
The loss officially closed the book on Stetson’s storybook season, which saw the Hatters (48-13) host an NCAA regional for the first time in school history, and also advance to their first ever Super Regional.
Stetson’s usually dominant pitching staff came unglued over the past two days, as Perkins followed up Logan Gilbert’s shaky outing with his worst of the season.
The Tar Heels wasted no time getting to the junior, scattering six hits and four doubles in an explosive first inning that saw nine men come to the plate. Cody Roberts, who blasted a 3-run shot on Friday, got the scoring started with a one-out double to left, and Brandon Riley followed suit with a two-base hit of his own to make it 2-0.
Zack Gahagan added another run with an RBI single, and Ashton McGee capped the scoring with the fourth double of the frame.
Perkins lasted just 2 1/3 innings — his shortest outing of the year — and gave up nine hits while striking out just two.
Offensively, the Hatters refused to quietly.
Jon Meola belted his first home run of the year in the second to cut the lead to 4-1, and senior Brooks Wilson made it a 6-3 game with a 2-RBI single in the third. Andrew MacNeil’s solo shot in the seventh made it a 7-4 game.
Stetson threatened in the ninth, scoring a run on Mike Spooner's two-out RBI single. Jacob Koos followed with his own base hit through the right side, but the Hatters wouldn’t get any closer as Brooks Wilson flied out to deep center to end it.
Sophomore Mitchell Senger came on in relief of Perkins in the top of the third, and gave up just one earned run over the next four innings.
This story will be updated.