Alberto Osuna’s second home run of the game capped off a dramatic night at Boshamer Stadium Thursday, as the Diamond Heels came back from a ninth-inning deficit to defeat No. 20 Florida State, 7-5.

Osuna’s home runs bookended the action Thursday night, with his first punctuating a four-run first inning for the Tar Heels. Danny Serretti opened the scoring with an RBI double to score Angel Zarate, before Osuna’s bomb brought home Serretti and Vance Honeycutt to make it 4-0.

The Tar Heels wouldn’t score again until Osuna’s walk-off, and the Seminoles steadily chipped away at the deficit in the interim. Two runs in the fourth sliced the lead in half, a solo shot in the sixth brought the ‘Noles closer, and a two-run blast in the top of the eighth finally gave them the lead. It looked to be a crushing blow for a Carolina side fighting for its postseason life, and the go-ahead blast also stood as a rare blemish on the record of reliever Davis Palermo. Starting pitcher Max Carlson had lasted only 4.1 innings, with Gage Gillian and Shawn Rapp getting the Tar Heels into the eighth with the slim lead.

Despite the home run, Palermo stayed in and got the last out of the inning. Carolina put itself in position to answer right away in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with two outs for Zarate. But Carolina’s reliable leadoff man struck out to end the threat, sending the game to the ninth.

Palermo returned to the mound and set the Seminoles down in order, setting up the bottom-of-the-ninth drama. Serretti, who went 3-5 on the night to move his batting average to an astounding .372, singled with one out and advanced to second on a Honeycutt groundout. Johnny Castagnozzi stepped up next, and despite taking the game down to its final strike on a 2-2 count, he took two straight balls and earned a nerve-wracking walk.

Up came Osuna, who quickly found himself in an 0-2 hole. Once again, Carolina was down to its last strike. Osuna drove the count to 2-2, then finally got a pitch to hit. The junior college transfer sent a hanging slider high, far and over the left field fence to end proceedings with a bang.

“I was looking for something up, then I saw it and thankfully put a good swing on it,” Osuna said.

While also being perhaps his biggest hit of the season, the three-run blast also extended Osuna’s team lead as his 18th home run of the season. Not bad for someone playing his first season of Division I baseball.

“The one thing about Alberto, to me coaching third base, is that he always looks like he wants to be in that moment,” said head coach Scott Forbes.

The win is Carolina’s ninth in its last 11 games, and moves the team to 32-19 overall on the season. It’s also UNC’s first win over a ranked opponent since an April 8 win at Louisville. The Tar Heels will have a chance to earn a critical series win over the Seminoles on Friday, when the team will also honor former head coach Mike Fox. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

 

Featured image via Aaron Fitt on Twitter

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

Related Stories
‹
UNC Baseball in the 2025 NCAA Super Regionals: How to Watch, Cord-Cutting Options and Start Times
UNC baseball is hosting a super regional round, as the No. 5 Diamond Heels welcome the Arizona Wildcats for a best-of-three series.
'We Can't Overlook Today': UNC Baseball Learning From Past Drama Entering NCAA Tournament
If any team in the country knows not to take a so-called “cupcake” NCAA Tournament game lightly, it’s the Diamond Heels.
UNC Baseball Ranked No. 1 in D1Baseball, USA Today Polls
Both the writers and the coaches agree: the Diamond Heels are No. 1. The D1Baseball.com Top 25 poll and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll ranked UNC No. 1 in the nation this week. Carolina is coming off an ACC Tournament championship in Durham last weekend. Forward focused. #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/oel22W2sUO — Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) May 27, […]
Chansky's Notebook: Tar Heel Trifecta
It was hard to leave the TV screen on a scintillating Sunday across UNC women's lacrosse, baseball and golf.
UNC Baseball Rides Big Inning to Blowout Win in ACC Championship Game
The Diamond Heels scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and crushed No. 5 seed Clemson 14-4 in the ACC Championship Game Sunday afternoon in Durham. The win clinches UNC’s ninth ACC Tournament title, second under fifth-year head coach Scott Forbes and third in the last six tournaments. 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 🏆 We're […]
UNC Baseball Uses Late Rally to Beat Florida State in ACC Semifinals
The Diamond Heels scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning on their way to a 7-5 victory against No. 2 seed Florida State in the ACC Tournament semifinals Saturday in Durham. UNC will face No. 5 Clemson in the championship game Sunday at 12 p.m. 𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐆𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 We're on to the […]
Late Rally Helps UNC Baseball Beat Boston College, Advance to ACC Semifinals
The Diamond Heels scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a 2-0 deficit against No. 14 seed Boston College and win 7-2 to advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals. Carolina will face No. 2 seed Florida State Saturday at 5 p.m. Cardiac Carolina is back baby! Win 1️⃣ of the […]
UNC Baseball in the ACC Championship: How to Watch, Cord-Cutting Options and Start Time
The Diamond Heels will play in the ACC Tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham this week. Carolina is the No. 3 seed in the field and will face No. 5 Clemson in the championship game Sunday. UNC is seeking its first tournament title since 2022. The tournament’s full bracket can be found […]
Here's the Complete Bracket for the 2025 ACC Baseball Tournament
The ACC Baseball Tournament returns to Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham this week. The tournament will begin Tuesday, May 20 and conclude Sunday, May 25. The tournament has a new format this season, moving away from the "Pool Play" model used in years past. This season, the tournament is a simple, single-elimination tournament which mirrors the brackets for the men's and women's basketball tournaments. The top four teams receive double-byes into the quarterfinals, while the teams seeded 5-8 receive byes into the second round. The teams seeded 9-16 will play Tuesday in the opening round.
UNC's Jake Knapp Named ACC Pitcher of the Year; 6 Other Teammates Honored
Jake Knapp is bringing home some hardware. The Diamond Heels ace was named the ACC’s Pitcher of the Year Monday afternoon, becoming the first UNC pitcher to win the award since J.B. Bukauskas in 2017 and the fifth overall, the most in the conference. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 🏆 Jake Knapp is the ACC Pitcher of […]
›