Despite leaving 19 men on base — yes, 19 — the Diamond Heels defeated Charlotte for the second time this season, 5-3 at Boshamer Stadium on Tuesday night.

The crooked left-on-base number is the result of UNC leaving the bags loaded in five of the eight innings it came to bat, including each of the first three. Carolina left at least one man on in every inning.

The Tar Heels finally broke through in the third, using a Johnny Castagnozzi RBI single and a Colby Wilkerson hit-by-pitch (you guessed it, with the bases loaded) to tie the game after the 49ers scored two runs in the first. Tomas Frick put UNC ahead for good with a single in the sixth, and Mac Horvath provided insurance with his team-high 14th home run of the season in the seventh.

Four Tar Heel pitchers contributed to the victory, with Cameron Padgett starting and logging 4.1 innings while allowing the pair of Charlotte runs. Dalton Pence earned the win with 2.2 one-hit innings, and Matt Poston and Kevin Eaise each pitched an inning to finish off the evening. Eaise, now the de facto closer for the Tar Heels, earned his fifth save of the season with a perfect top of the ninth.

The win improves Carolina to 25-12 overall and 19-8 in Chapel Hill this season. UNC will host another important ACC series at Boshamer Stadium this weekend against No. 20 Boston College, with the first game scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter


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