North Carolina
17-13, 0
Duke
13-15, 0
Baseball Routs Duke 21-8 To Win Fourth ACC Series
April 12, 2021 | Baseball
The Tar Heels' 21 runs were the most since scoring 21 in a win over Virginia Tech on April 12, 2013.
The Blue Devils took the first lead of the evening with a home run and an RBI single in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead.
North Carolina responded when Tomas Frick hit a three-run home run after Danny Serretti hit an RBI double off of the right-field wall. At the end of the opening frame, Carolina held a 4-2 advantage.
Dallas Tessar sparked the Heels' offense in the bottom of the second with a three-run home run to extend the lead to 7-3. North Carolina capitalized on a single from Caleb Roberts and a couple Blue Devil errors to load the bases before Frick hit a sacrifice fly to plate Caleb Roberts. With two outs, Justice Thompson got caught in a pickle, which allowed Serretti to steal home and push the score to 9-3.
Duke scored three runs in the fourth, including another home run, in an attempt to close in on Carolina's lead.
The Tar Heels answered the Blue Devils' runs with a nine-run fifth inning. The barrage of runs started with Brett Centracchio hitting a two-run home run. Tessar's RBI single to left field gave the Heels a 12-6 lead over Duke and marked his career high of four RBI. With one out, Justice Thompson added a three-run home run.
During the ensuing at-bat, Centracchio hit his second home run of the inning far beyond the right field fence. His second home run went 460 feet, which is the farthest for a Tar Heel since 2015. Centracchio is the first Tar Heel to hit two home runs in one inning since Chris Maples did so on March 23, 2002 against Florida State.
The nine-run fifth inning was the most runs in an inning for Carolina since the team scored 12 in the sixth inning against Boston College on April 21, 2019.
Duke hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the eighth, marking the 10th home run of the game between both teams.
The five home runs hit by the Tar Heel's offense were the most since June 1, 2019 against Liberty, when UNC also hit five.
Austin Love started the game and he pitched 4.0 innings. He allowed six runs on seven hits, while striking out five batters. Chris Joyner and Kyle Mott combined for 4.0 innings, five strikeouts, and three hits.
Joyner earned his first win of the season with after tossing three scoreless innings.
Cannon Pickell made his first appearance as a Tar Heel and struck out the first batter he faced.
The win marked the fourth ACC series win for North Carolina in 2021.
North Carolina is back in action on Friday, April 16 at 6 p.m. in Pittsburg, Pa. to begin a three-game set against Pitt.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Joyner, Chris (1-0)
L: Cooper Stinson (2-2)
Batting:
HR: Joey Loperfido 1 ; Peter Matt 1 ; Graham Pauley 1 ; Wil Hoyle 1
RBI: Joey Loperfido 1 ; Peter Matt 2 ; Graham Pauley 1 ; Chad Knight 1 ; Wil Hoyle 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Joey Loperfido 1 ; Rj Schreck 1 ; Peter Matt 1 ; Erikson Nichols 1 ; Graham Pauley 1 ; Chase Cheek 1 ; Michael Rothenberg 1 ; Wil Hoyle 1
HBP: Joey Loperfido 1
Batting:
2B: Serretti, Danny 2 ; Wilkerson, Colby 2
HR: Tessar, Dallas 1 ; Thompson, Justice 1 ; Frick, Tomas 1 ; Centracchio, Brett 2
RBI: Tessar, Dallas 4 ; Roberts, Caleb 1 ; Serretti, Danny 4 ; Thompson, Justice 4 ; Frick, Tomas 3 ; Centracchio, Brett 4
SF: Thompson, Justice 1 ; Centracchio, Brett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tessar, Dallas 3 ; Roberts, Caleb 4 ; Serretti, Danny 3 ; Thompson, Justice 1 ; Frick, Tomas 2 ; Centracchio, Brett 2 ; Schroeder, Will 3 ; Wilkerson, Colby 3
HBP: Roberts, Caleb 1
PO: Thompson, Justice 1
