Playing in its ACC opener on Friday at Boshamer Stadium, the UNC baseball team was defeated 8-5 by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish despite getting two home runs from Preseason All-American Aaron Sabato.

Notre Dame (8-2, 1-0 ACC) jumped out to a 4-0 lead through three innings against Tar Heel starting pitcher Joey Lancellotti, and would go on to carry a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning.

Sabato’s first home run came shortly after, a two-run blast that pulled the Tar Heels (10-5, 0-1 ACC) within one run on the scoreboard.

The Fighting Irish responded by tacking on one run in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth, which proved to be all the insurance they needed to hold on for the win as a solo shot by Sabato was the only other offense UNC could muster.

“The lights are a little brighter when league play gets here, and Aaron was really good in ACC play last year so it’s not surprising what he did tonight,” head coach Mike Fox said afterwards. “We were trying to keep the game close because we knew that if we did, we could get him an extra at-bat in the ninth. Aaron can get you a run or two very quickly, but we could not hold it down tonight.”

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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