The Diamond Heels and NC State played home run derby all night long in Raleigh on Thursday, but it was Wolfpack who got the last laugh with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to take a 9-8 victory in the first of a three-game series.
The two teams combined for eight homers on the night, with the last and decisive one coming off the bat of Brandon Butterworth for NC State. Casey Cook homered twice in the first three innings for Carolina, while Vance Honeycutt, Parks Harber and Alberto Osuna each went deep once.
The UNC bats had to be active, as starting pitcher Jason DeCaro lasted only 2.1 innings and gave up five runs. Six relievers followed DeCaro, with Dalton Pence, Connor Bovair and Matthew Matthijs each posting scoreless outings. Cameron Padgett lasted the longest with 2.2 innings, but he was charged with two of NC State’s three runs in the sixth, all of which came on a three-run blast from Jacob Cozart which broke a 5-5 tie. Carolina answered with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, but couldn’t do any more damage before Butterworth’s walk-off. UNC reliever Matt Poston was charged with his second loss in as many games.
The loss drops Carolina to 29-9 overall and 14-5 in conference play. The Diamond Heels have lost five of their last nine games after a 25-4 start. The second game of the series with the Wolfpack is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
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