North Carolina continues to get outstanding production out of its Friday night starter, senior Patrick Johnson.

Although he often needs more pitches than a lot of kids to have the numbers he has, Johnson has emerged as the undisputed ace of the Tar Heel pitching staff heading into the final weeks of the season.

Johnson was outstanding again Friday night in a win over Maryland, as he went seven innings, allowing no runs and just four hits to improve to 8-1 on the season.

"He (Johnson) was just lights-out tonight. Coaches can sit back and watch what he's doing when he's pitching like that," said UNC pitching assistant coach Robert Woodard.

"He's done it all season. He's probably the best pitcher we've got at just being consistent. He's our most consistent pitcher. He always gives us length," added outfielder Colin Moran of Johnson.

Although he got into a couple of jams over the course of the game and had four walks, Johnson set a new career high with 12 strikeouts---his third game this season with 10 or more whiffs.

"P.J. had great stuff tonight. He got a lot of swings and misses. His location was good," said Johnson's catcher, Jacob Stallings. "He was outstanding. 12 strikeouts---that shows you how good his stuff was. He was just outstanding tonight and carried us."

In a sign of his enhanced maturity, Johnson seemed to get stronger and stronger as the game carried on.

After falling into a couple of early holes, he hit his stride midway through the game and strung together multiple hitless innings before bowing out after the seventh.

"If he (Coach Fox) had told me to go back out there (in the eighth inning) I would have probably gone back out there, but it was probably the right time (to take me out)," said Johnson.

Although his pitch count eventually crept up and over the 100-pitch plateau, he continuously kept Maryland's lineup off-balance with his collection of offspeed pitches and hard fastballs located all over the strike zone and beyond.

"I don't know---sometimes you just get into a groove. I definitely felt that as the game went on," said Johnson. "I was able to command my fastball well as the game went on, and I think that was the biggest key for me."

"If you can locate a good fastball in and out, it kind of keeps them (opposing hitters) off-balance," Johnson added.

The senior hurler noticed the Terrapin hitters adjusting to his style of pitching by the second time through the order, so he made his own series of adjustments.

"The second time around they kind of started cheating for the fastball on the first pitch, so me and (UNC pitching) coach (Scott) Forbes, we started mixing it up with breaking balls on the first pitch," Johnson said.

UNC head coach Mike Fox admits that Johnson can be a little annoying at times because of the way he works all over the place and often gets himself behind in the count and finds himself pitching in two-ball and three-ball situations.

"I told P.J. afterwards I'd like to know this year how many 3-2 and 2-0 strikes that he's thrown because he has had to," said Fox. "He's a little frustrating honestly. He's frustrating, and it's because he has such good stuff, but on the other hand if he pounded the strike zone too much he'd probably get hit more."

Despite the fact that he often falls behind and racks up the pitches, the fact that Johnson can move his pitches around so effectively does make him dangerous---especially late in the count.

"Just the fact that he pitches up here (high) some, I think he keeps the hitter a little uncomfortable," said Fox. "He'll throw one up here (near the batter's armpits) and then he'll throw one right there (on the corner of the plate). So in a way he's a little effectively wild."

The Tar Heel coaching staff has worked diligently on Johnson's mechanics and trying to help him keep his pitch count down a little bit, but it often doesn't work.

"As far as Patrick goes, Patrick is one of the hardest guys on our pitching staff, so we talked a little about just right before every pitch just sort of tightening his abs and keeping his head still," said Coach Woodard.

"Whether you're hitting or pitching or anything, when you're trying to make a good pitch or put a good swing on the ball, you need to have your eyes as still as possible. It's just a little thing we'd like him to focus on," Woodard added.

Johnson admitted he had a little trouble at times on Friday night seeing the signs being delivered from catcher Jacob Stallings, so Stallings put some white paint on his throwing hand to make his calls easier to see.

"Somehow the shadow or something, I couldn't really see the signs he (Stallings) was putting down. He put paint on his hand and it helped out later, but I don't know what it was. It was something weird tonight where I couldn't see him," Johnson said.

Given that he seemingly had so many things going against him Friday night---such as the inability to read Stallings' signs early on and the fact he was falling behind to batters---Johnson pitched remarkably well against the Terrapins.

He consistently fought from behind and challenged the Maryland batters, and by holding the Terrapins scoreless he clearly got the better of them.

"For him to go out there and just like he does every single time he gets the ball---he just goes out there and competes his tail off and gives us a chance to win," said Coach Woodard.

"He (Johnson) pitched well," said Coach Fox.

"He's never going to throw a complete game here, because just he gets too many three-ball and two-ball counts and his pitch count gets up. He's at 110, 115 (pitches), we're going to get him out after seven innings."

"Tonight, that's typical Patrick Johnson. He didn't have a one-two-three inning until the fourth or fifth inning. So there's always somebody on base. He's pitching out of the set."

"He picks a guy off (in the first inning), makes a big pitch and gets an out," Fox added. "That's typical him."

"He threw 129 pitches. There were a lot of balls thrown in this game tonight. He threw 46 balls. (But) I don't really care how many pitches it takes. He just does enough to keep the hitter off-balance," Fox continued.

The fact that Johnson had a tumultuous offseason filled with a lot of arm rehabilitation has made his stellar senior season all the more fulfilling.

"It feels good to know that I can go out there and do that (pitch so well) after all the arm care and rehab I had to put in (during the offseason), and the time I spent here (in the trainer's room)," Johnson said.

"It is gratifying, but the best thing is just getting a win," he added.