UNC Baseball: April 6-7 Weekend Recap

After getting shutout by South Carolina in a mid-week neutral site game, North Carolina baseball was up against it a bit, as they had to make a road trip to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. Atlanta hasn’t always been the happiest hunting ground for various UNC sports over the years. While Carolina are ranked and the Yellow Jackets have merely been okay so far this season, there was always for potential for things to be tough.

While they couldn’t quite finish off a sweep, UNC picked up a fourth consecutive ACC series win, as they took two out of three over Tech.

Thursday: North Carolina 8, Georgia Tech 1

A six-run fourth inning gave UNC the lead and allowed them to mostly cruise on their way to a series-opening win.

While Georgia Tech had taken a lead in the bottom of the third inning, Carolina immediately answered that with a big fourth, led by a three-run homer from Tomas Frick.

With plenty of breathing room, UNC starting pitcher Max Carlson then got going as he put in a very impressive outing. In seven innings, Carlson allowed just one run on five hits and two walks while striking out eight. He did get some help, including this gem of a catch from Vance Honeycutt.

Carolina would tack on two more runs as they cruised to a victory. Besides Frick, Casey Cook, Honeycutt, Johnny Castagnozzi, and Colby Wilkerson all chipped in with RBI in the win.

Friday, Game One: North Carolina 10, Georgia Tech 6

It was a bit of a similar story in game as, as the Yellow Jackets took an early lead, only for the Heels to immediately fight back in a big way. While Georgia Tech had scored a run in the bottom of the first, UNC immediately answered back with eight runs across the second, third, and fourth innings to open up a big lead.

After that, the game seemed to continue to follow a similar script, with Tar Heel starter Connor Bovair settling down. However, he came back out for the sixth, and things went a bit haywire. Bovair allowed the first four batters he faced to reach in the sixth inning, plating two runs and knocking him out of the game. After UNC went the bullpen, the Yellow Jackets added another two runs in the sixth, getting back within three runs.

With the game now back up in the air, Carolina battled back in the seventh. They got some much-needed breathing room when Alberto Osuna hit a two-run homer, which would be enough to get UNC across the line in the 10-6 win.

Osuna, who finished with two hits and three RBI, was one of four Tar Heels to have a multi-hit game. Leading the way on that front was Hunter Stokely, who went 4-for-5, driving home three runs.

Friday, Game Two: North Carolina 4, Georgia Tech 8

UNC had a chance at the series sweep, but they couldn’t quite finish it off in the second half of a Friday doubleheader. This time it was Carolina taking an early, scoring a run each in the first and second innings. On the other hand, this time it was Georgia Tech answering back, scoring five runs in the third and three in the fifth to break things open.

Cook, Mac Horvath, and Jackson Van De Brake all had two-hit days in a losing effort, but it wasn’t enough to overcome what the Yellow Jackets did at the plate themselves.

This week will see UNC take on Queens in a mid-week game before Miami come to town for another ACC series.