The Diamond Heels stayed hot in their first pool play matchup of the ACC Tournament Tuesday night in Charlotte, defeating No. 12 seed Clemson 9-2.

Carolina scored in each of the first five innings to open up an 8-1 lead, which was more than enough for Max Carlson and the rest of the Tar Heel pitchers. Carlson, who has become head coach Scott Forbes’ ace, was once again solid on the mound, tossing six innings and only allowing one run to earn his second win of the season. Gage Gillian and Davis Palermo combined to allow just one hit between them in the final three innings.

At the plate, Carolina picked up where it left off last weekend against Florida State. Angel Zarate led off the bottom of the first with a double on the first pitch he saw, then came home on Danny Serretti’s RBI single two batters later. Zarate scored again in the second inning and once more in the fourth, coming in on a two-RBI single from Vance Honeycutt which capped off a three-run inning. Zarate knocked an RBI single of his own in the fifth, then scored yet another run in the bottom of the eighth on a slick slide to avoid the tag at home plate.

All in all, it was one of the best games of the season for the third team All-ACC outfielder: he batted 4-4 with a walk, four runs scored and an RBI. In the process, he improved his average to .369, leapfrogging Serretti for the team lead.

Zarate was one of seven Tar Heels to get a hit against the Tigers, including Mikey Madej, who slugged just his second home run of the season in the third. Not originally an Opening Day starter, Madej has forced his way into Forbes’ lineup with a .301 batting average and .406 on-base percentage, both third-best on the team behind Zarate and Serretti. The senior second baseman has started each of Carolina’s last 28 games.

UNC has now won 12 of its past 14 games, improving what was a 23-17 record to 35-19 and all but sealing a berth in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The win was also the team’s first at a neutral site this year.

Due to the nature of pool play in the ACC Tournament, Carolina’s game Friday against No. 1 Virginia Tech now turns into a de facto elimination game for a spot in the semifinals on Saturday. No matter the Hokies’ result against the Tigers later this week, Carolina will need to win to advance. Since Virginia Tech is the higher-seeded team, they would advance to the semifinals if both UNC and the Hokies ended pool play with 1-1 records. Weather permitting, the two teams will face off Friday night at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

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