The No. 8 seed UNC baseball team (36-19, 15-15 ACC) upset top-seeded Virginia Tech (41-12, 19-9 ACC), 10-0, on Friday night to advance to the ACC Championship semifinals.
What happened?
The Diamond Heels got a hot start in the top of the first inning after redshirt junior Angel Zarate and sophomore third baseman Mac Horvath recorded back-to-back hits to begin the game. After a sacrifice fly from junior shortstop Danny Serretti scored Zarate to put the first run on the board, first-year center fielder Vance Honeycutt blasted a two-run bomb to right center, bringing the score to 3-0. Yet another run was tacked on as senior left fielder Mikey Madej singled through the right side and stole second, and was scored by a base hit from sophomore catcher Tomas Frick. The Tar Heels exited the first frame with a 4-0 lead.
After a three-up, three-down frame in the bottom of the first inning, the top of the second inning saw UNC add two more runs to its tally. Thanks to home runs from Zarate and Honeycutt, the Diamond Heels extended their early lead over the Hokies to 6-0.
A single from Virginia Tech’s Jack Hurley began the bottom of the second inning. However, UNC quickly ended the Hokies’ chance at tacking on a run with a 4-6-3 double play to get out of the frame.
In the top of the fourth inning, Serretti knocked an oppo home run to left field to bring the Diamond Heels out to a 7-0 lead. His bomb marked the fourth homer for the Tar Heels in just four innings.
After two scoreless innings for both teams, UNC extended its lead by two more runs as Honeycutt scored on an error and Frick drove an RBI double to center field.
UNC’s final run came in the top of the ninth inning, as sophomore first baseman Hunter Stokely doubled to score Madej, who walked to start the inning. This brought the final score to 10-0.
Who stood out?
