UNC Baseball Sweeps Weekend Series Against Stony Brook

The Diamond Heels made it an undefeated weekend at Boshamer Stadium, sweeping a three-game series against visiting Stony Brook.

Game one of the series was likely a little too close for comfort against a Seawolves team which came into the series winless on the season. Carolina managed just one run through the first five innings in support of ace pitcher Max Carlson. After tossing five shutout innings, Carlson finally made a mistake in the top of the sixth, giving up a solo home run to tie the game. A Tomas Frick long ball gave UNC the lead once more in the seventh, but another Seawolves home run off Carlson the next inning tied it once more at 2-2.

The game stayed that way all the way until the bottom of the 11th, when Mac Horvath ended things with a walk-off home run. It was Carolina’s first walk-off of the season and Horvath’s sixth homer in just ten games.

The junior third baseman was up to his old tricks once again in Saturday’s second game, cranking another home run to open the scoring in the bottom of the first. It was the first of three the Tar Heels would hit on the day, with Patrick Alvarez and Hunter Stokely each also leaving the yard within the first five innings. The home run derby staked Carolina to a 7-1 lead, once which only just held up after the Seawolves scored four runs in the final three frames. Stony Brook had the tying run at the plate in their final at-bat, but reliever Matthew Matthijs induced a game-ending fly out to avoid disaster in the 7-5 win.

Sunday’s finale was not nearly as competitive as the first two games. Carolina posted five runs in the bottom of the second and never looked back. Vance Honeycutt homered for the fourth time in his last six games to open the scoring, one of five times he’d reach base on the day. Tacoma Community College transfer Jackson Van De Brake also sent one out of Boshamer Stadium in the same inning, then added another homer for good measure in the seventh. The red-hot Horvath added an RBI double in the eighth on the way to the 15-4 blowout. It’s the sixth time this season Carolina has scored at least 10 runs, and the Tar Heels are undefeated in those games.

UNC will stay in Chapel Hill following the sweep, welcoming in Western Carolina and Penn State for midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday before the opening series of ACC play against Virginia the following weekend. The Cavaliers swept Carolina in Charlottesville last season.

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Joe Bray

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UNC Baseball Sweeps Weekend Series Against Stony Brook

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