The Diamond Heels earned their 30th win of the season in unorthodox fashion Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium, taking the lead on a Gardner-Webb balk in the bottom of the eighth inning and holding on for a 5-4 win. The victory was also the 100th in the three-year head coaching career of Scott Forbes.
The balk scored the second run of the inning for Carolina and capped off a rally defined by Gardner-Webb mistakes. After Vance Honeycutt and Mac Horvath each reached base and Tomas Frick was intentionally walked to load the bases, a throwing error on the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ pitcher allowed Honeycutt to score the game-tying, unearned run. The balk then occurred in the very next at-bat.
Carolina had trailed for much of the game after seeing a 2-0 lead disappear in the fourth as Gardner-Webb scored three runs. UNC then tied it in the sixth, only for the Runnin’ Bulldogs to take the lead once again in the seventh. The odd eighth inning allowed the Tar Heels to avoid what would’ve been a damaging loss for their NCAA Tournament hopes, and also meant Carolina has now won 30 games for the second time in three seasons under Forbes.
Forbes wasn’t the only Tar Heel to reach a milestone Tuesday night. An early home run from Horvath gave him 20 on the season, making him just the second player in program history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a single season. The first occurrence came just last season, courtesy of Horvath’s teammate: Honeycutt.
Only three regular-season home games remain for Carolina, and they all come later this week against NC State. Friday and Saturday’s games against the Wolfpack are already sold out. Thursday’s series opener is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
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