UNC Baseball Splits Dramatic Doubleheader With Miami

The Diamond Heels split a pair of one-run games with Miami at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday, playing out the conclusion of Friday’s suspended game and squeezing in the series finale in full. Every game in the three-game set was decided by a single run, with the Hurricanes winning two.

Saturday’s completion of Friday’s suspended game capped a back-and-forth thriller which saw Miami go in front 6-0, UNC fight back to take a 7-6 lead and Miami tie it again before the rain came pouring down on Boshamer Stadium, forcing the game’s suspension. At the time of the suspension, the Hurricanes had a runner on third base with only one out, but the Tar Heels wriggled out of the jam by nabbing the Miami runner in a rundown and inducing a ground ball for the third out of the inning.

The game went to extra innings and the Hurricanes wasted no time breaking the tie, homering on the first pitch of the 10th to take the lead once again. Miami then had Carolina down to its final strike in the bottom of the frame before Casey cook sent a 3-2 pitch over the right field fence to keep UNC alive.

After the Hurricanes went scoreless in the 11th, Hunter Stokely ended the marathon by hitting Carolina’s first walk-off home run of the season and giving the Tar Heels a memorable 9-8 win.

Saturday’s second game saw the Tar Heels jump out in front in the second but fall behind 3-1 in the third. Miami pushed that lead to 4-1 before UNC loaded the bases with one out in the sixth. Hunter Stokely struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch that both he and head coach Scott Forbes disagreed with, but Tomas Frick laced a single in the next at-bat to score two runs. Unfortunately, Vance Honeycutt attempted to score from first on the play and was thrown out at home plate to end the inning.

UNC loaded the bases once again with one out in the eighth, but pinch hitter Eric Grintz — hitting for Stokely — grounded into an inning-ending double play to scuttle the threat. Carolina wouldn’t get a man on base in the ninth.

The loss snaps UNC’s streak of four consecutive ACC series victories and drops the team’s record to 24-12 and 9-7 in conference play. The Tar Heels will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Charlotte in Chapel Hill at 6 p.m.

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Ainsley Fauth

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UNC Baseball Splits Dramatic Doubleheader With Miami

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