A litany of errors doomed the Diamond Heels to their third straight loss on Friday night in Raleigh, as Carolina gave up three runs in the bottom of the eighth in a 5-4 loss.
Home runs from Vance Honeycutt, Parks Harber and Gavin Gallaher and a sparkling start from pitcher Shea Sprague had staked Carolina to a 4-1 lead entering the bottom of the seventh. Dalton Pence entered in relief of Sprague and gave up a run, but Matthew Matthijs ended the inning without further damage. It was in the eighth that the wheels came off.
Matthijs gave up consecutive singles to the first two Wolfpack batters before recording the first out on a fielder’s choice. Thursday night hero Brandon Butterworth singled to bring in NC State’s third run and advance another runner to third, before Matthijs uncorked a wild pitch which tied the game. Against the next batter, catcher Luke Stevenson then allowed a passed ball – his second of the game – to bring Butterworth home as the go-ahead run. UNC went down in order in the top of the ninth to seal the embarrassment.
The loss drops the Diamond Heels to 29-10 on the year and 14-6 in league play. The team’s three-game losing streak is its longest of the season, and Carolina has now lost six of its last 10 games after a 25-4 start. UNC will try to avoid a sweep in the final game of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
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