The Diamond Heels stayed undefeated in 2025 by completing a three-game sweep of visiting Stony Brook at Boshamer Stadium during the weekend.
In the series opener Friday, Carolina led 8-0 by the end of the fourth inning. Among the damage in the early stages was a solo home run from Perry Hargett. Making his first career start after a star turn during the week, Hargett became the first Diamond Heel to hit home runs in consecutive at-bats (he hit one in his final at-bat against North Carolina A&T) since Vance Honeycutt in the 2024 NCAA Super Regionals against West Virginia. Ironically, Hargett wears the No. 7 jersey Honeycutt made famous during his time in Chapel Hill.
Absolutely no doubt about that one!! Gone.
Kid is making a name for himself 👀 pic.twitter.com/7p1rB3o0Cv
— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) February 28, 2025
After walking, stealing second base and advancing to third on a wild pitch, Hargett scored again in the fourth on a Jackson Van De Brake groundout. Gavin Gallaher brought in two more runs with a double later in the inning before stealing home to score himself. Alex Madera drove in the inning’s fifth run on a triple.
Though the result was never in doubt, UNC truly broke the game open with an eight-run eighth inning. Tyson Bass, Madera, Sawyer Black, Carter French, Reece Holbrook and Parker McCoy each drove in runs during the inning.
On the mound, pitcher Jason DeCaro gave UNC the longest start of his career; the sophomore lasted 7.2 innings while allowing only one run on four hits and striking out three Seawolves. Tom Chmielewski and Boston Flannery combined to record the final four outs in the 16-2 win.
The second game of the series was not nearly as high scoring, but the Diamond Heels were still in control for all nine innings. Hunter Stokely drove in the game’s first run with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the first and then did even more damage in the third, launching a two-run home run to extend UNC’s lead to 4-0.
Luke Stevenson joined the home run derby in the fourth, blasting another two-run shot after Stony Brook had cut the deficit to 4-1. Three UNC pitchers would keep the Seawolves off the scoreboard for the rest of the afternoon. Starter Jake Knapp earned his first win since 2023 by tossing five innings, allowing only the one run and striking out eight. Ryan Lynch struck out six more Seawolves over the next three innings and allowed just one hit before Matthew Matthijs slammed the door in the ninth for a 6-1 UNC win.
In Sunday’s series finale, Carolina jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on the shoulders of a strong start from pitcher Aidan Haugh and three RBIs from Hunter Stokely. Stokely drove a run with a single in the first, a sacrifice fly in the fifth and another single in the sixth. He came around to score on a Bass single later in the sixth inning.
Haugh pitched into the seventh inning, striking out eight Seawolves and allowing only two runs, both of which came in his final frame. After Haugh allowed a two-RBI double, Camron Seagraves relieved the UNC starter and recorded the final two outs of the inning with strikeouts. But Seagraves ran into trouble himself in the eighth, allowing a single and a walk before giving way to Matthew Matthijs. He recorded two outs before Stony Brook struck for a three-run home run, cutting UNC’s lead to 7-5.
After Matthijs got out of the inning, Bass provided valuable insurance with a two-run blast in the bottom of the eighth, pushing the advantage to 9-5. Walker McDuffie worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth to finish off the UNC sweep.
The Diamond Heels’ 12-0 start is the program’s best since 2013, when the team started 16-0 on its way to the Men’s College World Series. UNC will look to extend its spotless start when it hosts Coastal Carolina at Boshamer Stadium Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter
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