The Diamond Heels avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of No. 15 Virginia on Saturday, winning the final game of the series 12-7.

Carolina leapt out to a 6-0 lead with two runs in the first inning and four runs in the second. Casey Cook had his hands all over the offense, knocking in both runs in the first with a single and picking up another RBI single in the second. A two-run home run from Anthony Donofrio and an RBI double from Parks Harber accounted for the rest of the scoring.

But Virginia had an answer, scoring once in the second, twice in the third and then three times in the sixth to tie the game at 6-6. Harber came to the rescue in the seventh with a solo shot to right field, and Luke Stevenson blasted a two-run home run of his own to give Carolina a 9-6 lead. A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt in the top of the eighth gifted the Tar Heels another run, and Harber blew the game open with a two-RBI single later in the frame. Matt Poston put the game away with 3.1 innings of relief while striking out three, earning his second win of the season.

With the win, Carolina is now 26-6 overall and 11-4 in conference play. The Diamond Heels will take a break from ACC action on Tuesday when they play No. 22 South Carolina in Charlotte. The Gamecocks have won the last two contests in the annual series.

 

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter

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