A 6-1 victory over the visiting Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday helped the No. 7 UNC baseball team put the finishing touches on yet another series sweep, while also handing the Tar Heels the regular season ACC championship.

Ashton McGee and Brandon Riley each drove in two runs apiece for UNC (37-17, 22-8 ACC), and the Tar Heel pitching staff held the Hokies (21-33) to just three hits over the course of the entire game.

It also marked the long-awaited return of 6-foot-6 right-hander Gianluca Dalatri, who has missed nearly the entire season with an undisclosed injury after receiving Preseason All-American recognition prior to the year.

Dalatri threw four scoreless innings in his first action since Feb. 23, striking out a pair of Virginia Tech hitters in the process.

The Tar Heels opened up a 3-0 lead over the first three innings, before the Hokies finally got on the board with a run in the top of the fifth.

In the home half of the fifth, however, UNC struck for three more runs–an RBI double from Riley and a two-run single by McGee.

From there, the Tar Heels had little trouble taking care of business against a Virginia Tech team that struggled mightily to create any type of offense all game long–clinching the No. 1 overall seed for next week’s ACC Tournament in Durham.

Up Next:

Dates and times for the ACC Tournament games will be announced on Sunday.

 

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Photo via UNC Athletics