Sam Angelo, UNC baseball silence 'little birdie,' showcase power in NCAA win vs Oklahoma
But the top-ranked Tar Heels had the trump card, using a booming start to secure an 11-5 victory against pitcher Kyson Witherspoon and the second-seeded Sooners on May 31 at Boshamer Stadium.
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'A little birdie, apparently, was saying that we couldn't hit 95 (mph),' UNC coach Scott Forbes said after his team clinched a spot in the 6 p.m. regional final on June 1.
'I think the guys took that personally."
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Witherspoon, No. 8 on MLB's list of draft prospects, consistently hits the upper 90s with his fastball. The junior right-hander entered the matchup against UNC with 120 strikeouts and just 20 walks across 91 innings.
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The Tar Heels welcomed Witherspoon to Chapel Hill with a six-run first inning — UNC's best start of the season — that included five two-out hits, capped with a three-run home run by designated hitter Sam Angelo in the No. 8 spot.
When asked about the 'little birdie' in question, Forbes smiled before shifting his attention to Angelo's performance at the plate.
'I can't give you my sources. But I can tell you that I'm really proud of this guy to my left,' Forbes said as he looked at Angelo during the postgame press conference.
'Here's a guy that has been one of the best hitters in Division III baseball, had an unbelievable fall (season) for us, unbelievable preseason, started the year in the middle of the order. And it hasn't gone exactly as planned. But I tell you what, he has bought into what UNC is about — being about the team first. There's no doubt in my mind that's why he was rewarded in a big situation like that.'
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Among the nine hitters in UNC's starting lineup vs. Oklahoma, Angelo had the lowest batting average (.225) and two home runs through 37 games. He had two booming blasts against the Sooners' top arm, hitting the three-run shot in the opening inning before a 403-foot homer to center field in the fifth.
'That's just a challenge. Like everyone's saying, that really fired us up and we wanted to prove that we can beat an arm like that,' Angelo said.
Before he joined UNC ahead of the 2025 season, Angelo was an All-American as a Division III player at Montclair State, where he logged a .416 batting average, 181 hits, 45 doubles, 35 home runs, 151 RBIs, 100 walks and a .789 slugging percentage.
As he prepared to face Witherspoon, Angelo said he wanted to 'be on time for the fastball.' The graduate student took a deep breath and stepped into the batter's box for a moment that would set the tone for the Tar Heels (44-12).
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'I didn't miss that fastball,' Angelo said with a smile.
Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Sam Angelo, UNC baseball beat Oklahoma with booming start vs Sooners
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