The Diamond Heels earned their fourth straight win to start the 2022 season Tuesday evening, topping visiting Elon 5-1 at Boshamer Stadium.
Sophomore Will Sandy took the mound for his first start of the season, and the lefty impressed through four innings, allowing just three hits, one unearned run and striking out three Phoenix batters. Elon capitalized on an error from shortstop Danny Serretti to plate a run in the third inning, and Sandy was on the hook for a tough-luck loss after he tossed his final pitch in the fourth.
But the Carolina offense came to life in the bottom half of the frame. Freshman outfielder Vance Honeycutt continued to impress in the early going, raking a wall-ball double to move Alberto Osuna over to third base with no outs. First baseman Johnny Castagnozzi would drive in both runners with a towering double to center field. Castagnozzi missed a home run by about a millimeter as his ball bounced off the top of the wall and back into the field of play.
He would be back for more in the eighth. Castagnozzi got his home run and then some, sending a booming drive over the left field scoreboard for a two-run blast. It was measured at 429 feet.
Behind Sandy in relief, Connor Bovair, Shawn Rapp and Kyle Mott combined to toss five innings of shutout ball, scattering just two hits and a walk between them and striking out nine. Bovair earned the win, which is already his second of 2022.
Castagnozzi and Honeycutt finished as two of four Tar Heels to record two hits, along with outfielder Angel Zarate and catcher Tomas Frick. Zarate’s hits extended his on-base streak to 27 games, dating back to the 2021 season. Honeycutt, in his first collegiate season, is batting .462 through four games and has scored a run in each.
Carolina faces its toughest challenge of the young season this weekend, as the No. 25 East Carolina Pirates will visit Boshamer Stadium for the first two games of a three-game series. The teams will play the third game in Greenville on Sunday. The Tar Heels and Pirates split a two-game, home-and-home series in 2021.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
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