UNC Baseball: Horvath powers Tar Heels to series win

The UNC baseball program got back on track with an ACC series road win at Virginia Tech over the weekend, taking two of three from the Hokies.

After losing their previous two ACC series to Miami and Boston College and carrying a 1-5 record in their last six ACC games to Blacksburg, the UNC baseball program was able to stop the bleeding.

Game one was moved up due to weather and started early Friday afternoon and it appeared the Diamond Heels hadn’t improved after the struggles the last several weeks. The Tar Heels were shut out for the first time in ACC play in two years.

Game one was offensively uncharacteristic of the Tar Heels, as they struggled across the board. During their losing streak, UNC was able to get on base and in scoring position but was struggling to get hits with runners in scoring position. In game one, they never even got to that point and lost 7-0.

Game Two was scheduled for Saturday at 7 PM, but due to inclement weather in the forecast for Sunday, it was moved up to 2 PM so that a doubleheader could be played and the series would be complete.

Dalton Pence made his first career start in game two, taking the spot of Max Carlson who was moved to the bullpen after last weekend. It wasn’t the best start for Pence as it appeared game two was trending in the same direction as game one when Virginia Tech scored three runs in the first inning.

However, Mac Horvath got the Diamond Heels on the board and in the lead with a third-inning grand slam. In the next inning, the Tar Heel offense really took off, scoring eight runs in the inning and taking a 12-4 lead. Part of that inning was another home run by Horvath, a three-run home run this time.

According to Pat James, Horvath called a player-only meeting following the sweep by Boston College.

The Tar Heel bullpen gave up five runs over the final five innings but held on to win game two 12-8.

During game two, with Horvath’s two home runs in back-to-back innings, he moved into fourth place on the UNC baseball all-time home run list.

The Diamond Heels still had work to do in game three and the second game of the doubleheader going for the series win. Once again, like the first two games of the series, the Hokies jumped on the Tar Heels early with one run in the first inning.

However, Carolina answered, once again with a Horvath RBI, this time on a sacrifice fly in the third inning to tie the game. Virginia Tech took the lead again in their half of the third inning with a solo home run. The Diamond Heels’ offense caught fire once again and held a 5-2 lead halfway through the game.

Horvath continued his offensive hot streak with another home run for his third of the day to extend the Carolina lead.

The Hokies had the tying run to the plate in the eighth inning, but the UNC bullpen got out of the jam and sent the game to the ninth holding a 10-7 lead. The Diamond Heels picked up several insurance runs in the ninth thanks to wild pitches by the Virginia Tech pitching staff and held on for a 13-7 game three win and the series win.

The Tar Heels are now just two games out of first place in the Coastal Division, despite the struggles in the month of April and with two ACC series remaining (vs NC State and @ Clemson) following the bye week next weekend.

Carolina will host top-10 in-state opponent Campbell on Tuesday at The Bosh and head to Greenville for an in-state matchup with East Carolina on Wednesday for their mid-week games this week.

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