The Diamond Heels’ ACC title defense will last a little longer.
Carolina put forth a dominant effort Thursday afternoon against No. 2 overall seed Virginia, defeating the Cavaliers 10-2 in the final game of pool play to advance to the conference semifinals on Saturday.
Pool B belongs to Carolina!!#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/lWkT5eAiiM
— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) May 25, 2023
A red-hot day at the plate from Tomas Frick and RBIs from each of the bottom four hitters in the lineup paced the UNC offense all day. Frick ended his afternoon 3-5 at the plate with five runs batted in, three of which came on a bases-clearing, wall-denting double in the top of the eighth inning to break the game open. Frick missed a home run over Durham Bulls Athletic Park’s “Blue Monster” in left field by less than a foot.
That run support was more than enough to back up Jake Knapp and Dalton Pence, who combined to silence a potent Cavalier lineup. Knapp, who contributed to a shutout against Virginia in the regular season, logged 5.2 innings while allowing just five hits and the two Cavalier runs. He gave way to Dalton Pence, who recorded nine consecutive outs before allowing his first baserunners in the bottom of the ninth. Pence’s 3.1-inning, two-hit outing goes in the books as his first save of the season.
The win sees Carolina through to the ACC semifinals for the second consecutive season and is its seventh straight win in ACC Tournament play. The Tar Heels will face the winner of Pool C on Saturday, which will be either Clemson or Boston College. It’s an unenviable matchup; the Tigers and Eagles both swept UNC this season.
Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines