The Diamond Heels took their third straight loss and their ninth in 12 games Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium, as a late rally ran out of steam in a 7-6 loss to North Carolina A&T. It’s UNC’s first loss to the Aggies since 1993.

Carolina led 2-0 after three innings on an RBI single from Angel Zarate, but fell victim to an ambush from the Aggies in the top of the fourth. The visitors scored six runs in the frame, with most of the damage coming on a grand slam to center field. The home run flipped a 2-1 Carolina lead into a 5-2 deficit, one from which the Tar Heels never recovered.

UNC used the long ball to get back into the game, with home runs from Danny Serretti and Mac Horvath cutting the Aggie lead to 6-5 in the sixth, but A&T scratched across an all-important insurance run in the next inning, moving the lead back to two runs at 7-5. That run proved critical, as the red-hot Alberto Osuna belted a home run in the eighth inning which would have tied the game otherwise, but only got Carolina back to within one. The Tar Heels would not score again.

The loss drops the Tar Heels to 21-12 on the season after an 18-3 start. After the team won its first 17 games at Boshamer Stadium this season, it has lost three of its last four games at the ballpark. Carolina will have a chance to start a new winning streak this weekend, as the defending Coastal Division champions Georgia Tech come to town for a three-game series. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati


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