UNC Baseball’s late comeback effort comes up short

The UNC baseball program’s comeback effort against VCU came up just short, as they’ll now face elimination on Sunday afternoon. 

Not many things went right for the UNC baseball program on Saturday night, including the final score of their contest against VCU.

North Carolina saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end, as they suffered a 4-3 loss on Saturday night. It’s the first time that the Tar Heels have lost a regional game at home since 2017.

The early storyline was some questionable calls that went against North Carolina.

First, North Carolina was set up in a good spot, as they had bases loaded with just one out in the second inning. Johnny Castagnozzi hit a ground ball to the second baseman, who proceeded to make a play to get Tomas Frick out at second base. Castagnozzi would’ve beaten the throw to first, but Frick was called out for interference, thus ending the inning and the Tar Heels’ chances to score a run.

Just an inning later, more drama ensued for the Tar Heels. With runners on first and second and only one out, Danny Serretti hit a popup that went behind the pitcher’s mound. The second baseman dropped the ball, which led to a double play for the Rams.

Upset with the call, head coach Scott Forbes argued the call and was ejected from the game. It marked the second time that the Tar Heels’ manager was ejected from a game, the other coming earlier this season in a game against Coastal Carolina on March 5.

North Carolina’s offense was silent through seven innings but finally was able to capitalize over the final two innings of play.

Trailing 3-0, freshman Vance Honeycutt hit a solo homer, his 23rd of the season, to start the comeback trail.

In the ninth, Serretti would get some revenge for earlier in the game, as he clobbered a two-run home run to cut the Rams’ lead to just one.

Serretti’s blast was followed by walks from Honeycutt and Alberto Osuna, but both players were unfortunately left on base to end the threat.

Brandon Schaeffer put together another strong outing on the mound, as he allowed just one run over his 5.1 innings of work. Unfortunately, the Tar Heels’ offense couldn’t get him much support, as they were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 guys on base.

The UNC baseball program will now face elimination, as they’ll square off with Georgia on Sunday afternoon in hopes of keeping their season alive. Will Sandy is expected to be on the mound for the Tar Heels in this big win-or-go-home contest.

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