Vance Honeycutt clubbed his 56th collegiate home run – one shy of tying the UNC program record – as the Diamond Heels emerged victorious in a 16-10 slugfest against Campbell on Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium.

 

Campbell nosed in front in the top of the first with a run, but Carolina answered with six unanswered in the next two innings off the bats of Alberto Osuna, Casey Cook and Anthony Donofrio. The Camels slowly crept back over the next three innings, eventually taking the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth to make the score 8-7.

It was deadlocked at 9-9 entering the bottom of the sixth when Carolina finally gained separation. Johnny Castagnozzi reached on an error and scored on a single from Donofrio to give the hosts the lead back, and four straight Tar Heel batters produced runs later in the inning — capped by Honeycutt’s two-run blast. Carolina added one more in the eighth on its way to the win.

The two teams combined for 33 hits, three errors and 22 men left on base. Only four half-innings out of the 17 played did not see at least one run scored.

Eight Carolina pitchers appeared in the game, and six of them were charged with at least one run. Starter Aidan Haugh allowed one in his two innings pitched before the trio of Matthew Matthijs, Connor Bovair and Matt Poston allowed the next seven over just 2.2 innings. Kyle Percival, Ben Peterson, Cameron Padgett and Dalton Pence calmed the Camel bats the rest of the way, with Peterson earning his second win of the season. Campbell’s 19 hits were the most allowed in a game this season by Carolina pitching.

The Diamond Heels are now 36-11 overall and 29-2 at home. Carolina will conclude its final homestand of the regular season when Louisville visits Boshamer Stadium for a three-game series this weekend. The first game is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Baseball on Twitter


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