A towering home run from Jackson Van De Brake and strong performances on the mound helped the Diamond Heels erase an early 2-0 hole and beat Virginia Tech 7-4 in Blacksburg Sunday. The win clinches the weekend series for UNC.

The Hokies struck first in the bottom of the third with a pair of two-out hits against UNC starter Jason DeCaro, giving the hosts the early advantage. Carolina cut that advantage in half in the fourth thanks to a single and an error in right field, which allowed Alex Madera to score all the way from first base.

Van De Brake led off the fifth inning, and he clobbered a 1-0 pitch 426 feet over the left-field fence to tie the game at 2-2. It was just the third home run of the season for the veteran second baseman.

In the sixth, Luke Stevenson made good on an eight-pitch at-bat with a hard-hit RBI single, scoring Carter French and giving UNC its first lead since the series opener Friday. Carolina broke the game open in the seventh, with Virginia native Lee Sowers singling to score Madera and Van De Brake bringing in two with another single. With Van De Brake at first and Kane Kepley at third, the speedy Kepley then tried a straight steal of home. Though the throw beat Kepley to the plate, umpires ruled catcher’s interference on the play after Virginia Tech’s Henry Cooke stepped in front of the plate to field the throw.

The Hokies got two runs back on a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth against Ryan Lynch, but the UNC freshman iced the game with a spotless ninth inning. Lynch recorded the final 11 outs of the game in relief of DeCaro, who earned his fifth win with 5.1 innings pitched, two runs allowed and six strikeouts.

The Diamond Heels are now 31-9 overall and 13-8 in ACC play, having won five weekend series in a row and 14 of their last 17 games. UNC will briefly return home Tuesday night when it hosts Presbyterian at Boshamer Stadium before visiting Pittsburgh for a three-game series the following weekend.

 

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

Chapelboro.comย does not charge subscription fees, and you canย directly support our efforts in local journalismย here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you byย signing up for our newsletter.

Related Stories
‹
2025 MLB Draft Tracker: See Where the Diamond Heels are Headed in the Pros
The 2025 Major League Baseball Draft saw several Diamond Heels get selected. It continues a run of excellence for the UNC baseball program, which has had at least one player selected in every draft since 1978. The first Diamond Heel off the board was catcherย Luke Stevenson, who went to theย Seattle Mariners with the No. 35 […]
College Baseball Foundation Names UNC's Jake Knapp National Pitcher of the Year
UNC right-hander Jake Knapp has been named the National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation. ๐’๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐š๐›๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ง๐จ๐›๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐Ÿ‘ Jake Knapp is the ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฌ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ. pic.twitter.com/uFaFnNZAWy — Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) June 13, 2025 Knapp missed the entirety of the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery during the […]
Late Collapse Dooms UNC Baseball in NCAA Super Regional Game 3
Arizona capitalized on a pair of fielding errors in the top of the eighth inning to score three runs and stun the Diamond Heels 4-3 in the winner-take-all game of the NCAA Super Regionals at Boshamer Stadium Sunday afternoon. UNC’s season is over. Carolina entered the inning leading 3-1 on the strength of a three-run […]
UNC Baseball in the 2025 NCAA Super Regionals: How to Watch, Cord-Cutting Options and Start Times
UNC baseball is hosting a super regional round, as the No. 5 Diamond Heels welcome the Arizona Wildcats for a best-of-three series.
'We Can't Overlook Today': UNC Baseball Learning From Past Drama Entering NCAA Tournament
If any team in the country knows not to take a so-called โ€œcupcakeโ€ NCAA Tournament game lightly, itโ€™s the Diamond Heels.
UNC Baseball Ranked No. 1 in D1Baseball, USA Today Polls
Both the writers and the coaches agree: the Diamond Heels are No. 1. The D1Baseball.com Top 25 poll and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll ranked UNC No. 1 in the nation this week. Carolina is coming off an ACC Tournament championship in Durham last weekend. Forward focused. #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/oel22W2sUO — Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) May 27, […]
Chansky's Notebook: Tar Heel Trifecta
It was hard to leave the TV screen on a scintillating Sunday across UNC women's lacrosse, baseball and golf.
UNC Baseball Rides Big Inning to Blowout Win in ACC Championship Game
The Diamond Heels scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and crushed No. 5 seed Clemson 14-4 in the ACC Championship Game Sunday afternoon in Durham. The win clinches UNC’s ninth ACC Tournament title, second under fifth-year head coach Scott Forbes and third in the last six tournaments. ๐‚๐Ž๐๐…๐„๐‘๐„๐๐‚๐„ ๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐”๐„๐‘๐„๐ƒ ๐Ÿ† We're […]
UNC Baseball Uses Late Rally to Beat Florida State in ACC Semifinals
The Diamond Heels scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning on their way to a 7-5 victory against No. 2 seed Florida State in the ACC Tournament semifinals Saturday in Durham. UNC will face No. 5 Clemson in the championship game Sunday at 12 p.m. ๐‡๐„๐„๐‹๐’ ๐†๐Ž ๐Œ๐€๐‘๐‚๐‡๐ˆ๐๐† We're on to the […]
UNC Baseball in the ACC Championship: How to Watch, Cord-Cutting Options and Start Time
The Diamond Heels will play in the ACC Tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham this week. Carolina is the No. 3 seed in the field and will face No. 5 Clemson in the championship game Sunday. UNC is seeking its first tournament title since 2022. The tournament’s full bracket can be found […]
›