The Diamond Heels notched yet another impressive win Friday night in Charlotte, dispatching No. 2 Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament to clinch a spot in the tournament’s semifinals on Saturday.

The Tar Heels jumped on the Hokies, the conference’s regular-season champion, early and often to take a commanding lead. Angel Zarate continued to swing a red-hot bat, leading off the top of the first inning with a double and then scoring on a Danny Serretti sacrifice fly. It was all part of a four-run first for Carolina, punctuated by a Vance Honeycutt two-run home run, his 19th of the season, and a Tomas Frick RBI single. Honeycutt is now tied with Alberto Osuna for the team lead home runs.

Zarate went yard himself in the second, and Honeycutt followed that up with his second home run in as many innings to make the score 6-0 Carolina in the blink of an eye. Serretti added a fourth home run for good measure in the fourth inning to extend that lead to 7-0. Seven of UNC’s nine hitters recorded at least two hits, with Honeycutt going 3-3 and Serretti improving his batting average to .372.

But all that offense turned out to be an unneeded luxury for starting pitcher Brandon Schaeffer, who tossed UNC’s first complete game shutout of the season. The left-hander was simply magnificent, allowing just six hits and striking out seven. He faced 31 batters, just four more than the minimum 27 required in a nine-inning game. He now has a team-best seven wins this season.

More than being an impressive feat of pitching, Schaeffer’s gem also provided much-needed rest for the Carolina bullpen, which will likely see extended action in the short turnaround from Friday night’s pool play finale into Saturday afternoon’s semifinal. The Tar Heels, winners of 13 of their last 15 games and five in a row, will take the field at 1 p.m. to face No. 16 Notre Dame, who won Pool D. The two teams haven’t met since the 2021 regular season, when the Fighting Irish swept UNC in South Bend.

 

Featured image via UNC Baseball 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 Beats Bucknell in Chapel Hill; 8th Run-Rule Win This Season
The Diamond Heels scored eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on their way to a 13-3 win against visiting Bucknell at Boshamer Stadium Tuesday. Carolina won the game in seven innings via the 10-run rule, marking the teams eighth win by way of the run rule already this season. 𝐀 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐮𝐛 […]
UNC Baseball Drops ACC Opener vs. Virginia in Blowout Fashion
The Diamond Heels were on the wrong end of the 10-run rule Friday, as visiting Virginia dominated UNC 13-3 in a game ended after seven innings. The Cavalier bats jumped all over UNC starting pitcher Jason DeCaro, bashing six hits and scoring five runs in just three innings. Only two of those Virginia runs were […]
UNC Baseball Beats Elon at Boshamer Stadium; ACC Play Next
It took all nine innings this time, but the Diamond Heels were still able to comfortably beat Elon 5-1 at Boshamer Stadium Tuesday afternoon. Light work of the fire birds 🔥#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/HVWEAqyNhK — Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) March 3, 2026 Carolina’s offense was nowhere near its historic level showcased in its weekend sweep of […]
UNC Baseball Rides Hot Bats to Home Sweep vs. Le Moyne
The Diamond Heels scored a combined 49 runs across a three-game sweep of Le Moyne at Boshamer Stadium during the weekend. All three games were ended early via the 10-run rule. Friday’s opening game saw Carolina score five runs in the first inning thanks to a sacrifice fly, a bases-loaded walk and a bases clearing […]
UNC Baseball Wins Midweek Matchups vs. North Carolina A&T, VCU
The Diamond Heels had no trouble in a pair of midweek games against North Carolina A&T and VCU. Carolina outscored the opposition 22-4 on its way to wins in both matchups at Boshamer Stadium. Tuesday against the Aggies, George Mason transfer Owen Hull had the best game of his young UNC career with three hits […]
UNC Baseball Drops Second Game of East Carolina Series; Final Game Declared a Tie
The Diamond Heels fell in the second game of this weekend’s three-game series against East Carolina and ended Sunday’s rubber match after five innings due to weather conditions. As the score was tied 3-3 at the time of the stoppage, the game will officially go down as a tie. Saturday’s game at Durham Bulls Athletic […]
DeCaro Dazzles as UNC Baseball Beats East Carolina in Series Opener
Jason DeCaro threw a complete-game shutout and the UNC lineup banged out 12 hits as the Diamond Heels rolled past East Carolina 10-0 in Greenville Friday night. The game was ended after eight innings via the run rule. Sprinkled in a 𝘿𝙐𝘽 💪#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/1a6yCgvcLv — Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) February 21, 2026 Carolina provided […]
Chansky's Notebook: An Early Test
One of the most unique series on the college baseball calendar gets underway tonight as UNC and ECU open their three-ballpark series.
UNC Baseball Wins Midweek Games vs. Richmond, Longwood
The Diamond Heels hosted games against Richmond and Longwood at Boshamer Stadium this week and won both to move to 5-0 this season.
Walk-Off Home Run Helps UNC Baseball Sweep Opening Series vs. Indiana
The Diamond Heels swept a Saturday doubleheader against Indiana at Boshamer Stadium Saturday, and in the process swept the three-game opening series against the Hoosiers. Carolina ended the first game early via the 10-run rule, scoring three runs in the fifth, six in the sixth and two in the seventh to earn a 12-2 win. […]
›