UNC Baseball Dominates in 3-Game Road Sweep at Cal

The Diamond Heels played dominant baseball in a three-game road sweep of Cal in Berkeley during the weekend. UNC never trailed in any of the three games.

Friday’s opening game saw Carolina ace Jason DeCaro silence the Bear bats in the early innings. Freshman Tyler Howe provided the game’s first offense with an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning, giving UNC a 1-0 lead. That lead grew to 5-0 in the next inning after two walks with the bases loaded and another single plated four Carolina runs. Jake Schaffner launched a solo home run in the seventh and UNC scored a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth to seal the 8-1 win.

DeCaro earned his fourth win of the season with six innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and striking out two Bear hitters. Freshman Caden Glauber pitched the final three innings in relief and did not allow a run.

UNC struck early in the second game Saturday, with Owen Hull driving in Erik Paulsen with a single in the first inning, then scoring two Carolina runs on another single in the third. That would be enough run support for starter Ryan Lynch, who logged the longest start of his career: eight innings with just two runs allowed and seven strikeouts. Paulsen, Hull and Gavin Gallaher each provided late-inning support for Lynch, pushing UNC’s lead to 6-2 after a two-run home run for Cal in the sixth.

Walker McDuffie slammed the door in the Bears in the ninth, tossing a perfect frame to secure the win and the series for the Diamond Heels.

Going for the sweep Sunday, UNC’s bats once again secured an early lead as Colin Hynek blasted a solo home run in the top of the second. Macon Winslow drove in two more runs with a double in the third, and a triple from Carter French and an RBI groundout from Schaffner in the fourth grew the lead to 6-0 after four innings.

After Paulsen homered in the fifth, Winslow joined the long ball party in the seventh with a massive home run to left field.

UNC would score two more runs in the eighth on its way to a 10-2 win and a three-game sweep. McDuffie picked up his fourth win of the season with 1.2 innings of relief after starter Folger Boaz recorded the first 13 outs. Matthew Matthijs, Camron Seagraves and Cameron Padgett also pitched for Carolina.

The three-game sweep is UNC’s first in a road series since a sweep at Wake Forest in 2024. The Diamond Heels are now 17-3-1 overall, 4-2 in league play and have won five consecutive games. They will be back in action Wednesday when they host UNC-Greensboro Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

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