UNC Baseball Pulls Away Late to Beat Virginia Tech in ACC Tournament Quarterfinals

The Diamond Heels scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break open a close game and beat No. 7 seed Virginia Tech 10-4 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Charlotte Friday afternoon.

UNC entered the eighth inning leading 6-4, having scored two runs in the second, three in the fourth and one in the sixth. Carolina fell behind in the third inning as the Hokies hit back-to-back home runs off starter Jason DeCaro to take a 3-2 lead. DeCaro wouldn’t make it out of the fourth, surrendering six hits and two walks. Caden Glauber relieved DeCaro out of the bullpen, and the ACC Freshman of the Year would stay on the mound through the final out. Glauber logged 5.2 innings of relief while throwing 90 pitches, earning his ninth win of the season. His only blemish came in the fifth, when Virginia Tech’s Ethan Ball launched a no-doubt solo home run — the Hokies’ third of the day.

Ball’s home run answered UNC’s three-run fourth, during which time Carolina loaded the bases before tying the game when Jake Schaffner was hit by a pitch. Owen Hull gave UNC the lead for good with a two-RBI single later in the inning.

Gavin Gallaher provided insurance in the sixth inning with an RBI single, but UNC wouldn’t put the game out of reach until the eighth. Colin Hynek singled to lead off the inning and came all the way around to score on a wall-scraping triple from Schaffner, who finished his day with four RBI. Schaffner scored on a Hull single, and Macon Winslow provided the inning’s big hit with a long two-run home run to dead center field.

The top four hitters in the UNC lineup – Schaffner, Gallaher, Hull and Winslow – drove in all 10 of the team’s runs and were responsible for all three extra-base hits. The 7-8-9 hitters – Tyler Howe, Hynek and Carter French – scored six combined runs.

With Friday’s win, the No. 2 seed Diamond Heels will be back in action in the ACC semifinals Saturday at 5 p.m. (weather permitting) when they face the winner of No. 3 seed Florida State and No. 14 seed Pittsburgh, who will play later Friday. UNC swept the Panthers in the regular season and did not play the Seminoles.

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

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