CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Interstat) — North Carolina used a dominant pitching performance and a four-run eighth inning to shut out VCU 8-0 on Friday night at Boshamer Stadium, extending the Tar Heels’ winning streak and dealing the Rams a tough loss in the final week of the regular season.

The Tar Heels jumped ahead early, capitalizing on a wild pitch and two-out hitting in the first inning. With two outs, Gavin Gallaher singled up the middle, and Luke Winslow followed with a single to advance Gallaher to third. Winslow took second on a wild pitch, and first baseman Erik Paulsen cleared the bases with a double to right-center, scoring Gallaher and Winslow. Third baseman Cooper Nicholson then singled to left, driving in Paulsen for a 3-0 lead.

VCU’s offense struggled to mount any threat against North Carolina starter Ryan Lynch, who worked seven shutout innings. The Rams managed only two hits in the game — a single by Nolan Patrick in the second and a single by Brett Lee in the fourth — and never advanced a runner past second base. Lynch struck out four and walked three.

The Tar Heels added to their lead in the third inning when Nicholson launched his 16th home run of the season to left field, making it 4-0. The solo shot came after VCU starter Patrick Steitz had retired the first two batters of the frame. Steitz allowed four runs on five hits over four innings, striking out three and walking three.

Both teams traded scoreless frames from the fourth through the seventh, as relievers Dawson Newman and Cooper Weygandt kept North Carolina in check for a time. Newman entered in the fifth and worked 2 ⅔ innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. Weygandt recorded the final two outs of the eighth.

The decisive rally came in the bottom of the eighth. With the score still 4-0, North Carolina’s Parker Hynek was hit by a pitch to lead off. After a sacrifice bunt moved Hynek to second, shortstop James Schaffner singled to right-center, scoring Hynek and reaching second on a throwing error by VCU left fielder Chase Adelman. Center fielder Owen Hull then tripled down the right-field line to drive in Schaffner, pushing the lead to 6-0.

Weygandt replaced Newman and immediately allowed a single to Gallaher that scored Hull. Gallaher stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a single by Paulsen to center, capping the four-run outburst. North Carolina finished with 12 hits.

Relievers Walker McDuffie and Matthew Matthijs combined to close out the game. McDuffie pitched a scoreless eighth, and Matthijs struck out the side in the ninth, fanning Lee, Flores and Patrick to seal the shutout.

VCU fell to 37-24 overall, while North Carolina improved to 46-11-1. The Rams had won their previous five games, including a series sweep of Davidson and a win over Rhode Island, but could not solve the Tar Heels’ pitching. North Carolina entered the game having lost two of its last three, including a series defeat at Georgia Tech, but rebounded emphatically.

The most important sequence of the game came in the bottom of the eighth when North Carolina broke the game open. After a quiet middle innings, the Tar Heels’ patience at the plate and aggressive baserunning turned a 4-0 lead into a rout. Schaffner’s single and the subsequent error allowed the Rams’ defense to unravel, and Hull’s triple effectively ended any comeback hopes.

Defensively, VCU committed one error and left five runners on base. The Rams struck out 10 times, including six of the final nine batters. North Carolina played error-free defense and received standout performances from Nicholson, who homered and singled, and Paulsen, who drove in three runs. Gallaher reached base three times and scored twice.

In the first inning alone, the Tar Heels’ ability to capitalize on a two-out walk and a wild pitch set the tone. Paulsen’s two-run double and Nicholson’s RBI single put the Rams in a hole they could not escape.

The game was the second meeting of the season between the two in-state rivals. North Carolina had won the first matchup 13-3 in February.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of VCU 8, North Carolina 7. Interstat’s ELO system had projected North Carolina with a 86.50 percent probability to win. North Carolina had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 4.5.