Aggies Visit The Bosh For Midweek Matchup

Tuesday, April 12

Chapel Hill

6 p.m.

North Carolina

North Carolina A&T

April 12, 2022 | Baseball

By: Jody Jones

CHAPEL HILL - The Diamond Heels open a four-game homestand Tuesday night against instate foe North Carolina A&T at 6 p.m. inside Boshamer Stadium. Carolina is coming off a 2-1 series loss at Louisville over the weekend, while the Aggies lost two of three at UNC Asheville. Both of UNC's losses were one-run extra inning affairs, including a 6-5 14-inning marathon in the series finale.

The Heels (21-11) return home to Boshamer Stadium where they are 18-2 this season and 14-0 against non-conference opponents. The Aggies (11-19) are just 1-9 on the road in 2022.

Carolina has won seven in a row against the Aggies and owns a 7-1 all-time lead in the series. Tuesday night's game will be the fourth meeting in the past six seasons between the I-40 opponents. The last meeting in the series came in 2020 with the Diamond Heels claiming an 8-0 victory.

Probable Pitching Matchup

	Tuesday \| 7 p.m. (ACCNX)
N.C. A&T	RHP Evan Demurias (1-1, 4.65 ERA)
North Carolina	RHP Shaddon Peavyhouse (3-2, 5.48 ERA)
Links	WATCH \| LISTEN \| STATS

HOT AT HOME
Carolina has won 22 of its last 24 games at The Bosh dating back to the final four home games of 2021 ... UNC won 21 consecutive games at home until Virginia Tech ended the streak on April 1 .. It was the programs most consecutive home wins since winning 26 straight between the end of the 2018 season (18) and start of the 2019 campaign (8) ... UNC is 18-2 at home this season and has outscored its opponents by 76 runs (138-62) ... Diamond Heel hurlers have 213 strikeouts in 181.0 innings at home with an ERA of 2.54.

OSUNA FLIPS THE POWER SWITCH
In three games over the weekend at Louisville, sophomore Alberto Osuna slashed .500/.529/1.188, while going 8-of-16 at the plate with three home runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs with 19 total bases ... After hitting just three homes in the first 17 games, he has hit seven homers in the last 14 games with a slugging percentage of .604.
+Osuna hit two home runs in the series opener and posted career-highs for hits (4) and RBIs (6); it was his second two homer game of the season (at Duke, 3/18)
+Osuna became the first Tar Heel since Danny Serretti against Boston College in 2019 to have 10 RBIs in a series.
+He became the first Tar Heel to have two homers and six RBIs in a game since Colin Moran against Wake Forest in 2013, while also becoming the first to collect four hits, two homers and six RBIs in a game since Seth Baldwin versus Princeton in 2009.

SERRETTI FINDING HIS GROOVE
Since ACC play began on March 11, Danny Serretti has raised his batting average by 53 points over the last 19 games. He has hit .365 since the Diamond Heels' conference opener against Pittsburgh, going 27-of-74 with three home runs, four doubles and 13 RBIs.
+Serretti is four doubles shy of becoming the 10th player in school history with 50 career doubles
+His batting average is 104 points higher through 32 games this season (.326) compared to his average through 32 games a year ago (.222).

MADEJ TAKING OVER IN LEFT FIELD
After juggling the lineup to find a third outfielder, the Carolina coaching staff has inserted Mikey Madej in left field each of the last six games and nine times overall this season. His nine starts are the most of any outfielder aside from Vance Honeycutt and Angel Zarate, who have started every game. Madej has collected eight hits in the last six games with a trio of two-hit games.
+He has 12 hits in 41 at-bats this season after collecting 13 hits in 80 at-bats in the previous two seasons.

FRESHMAN FLASH
Freshman Vance Honeycutt is tied for the ACC lead in stolen bases with 21 entering Tuesday night's game, which ties him for ninth among all NCAA Division I players ... He is the only freshman to ranks among the top 10 nationally in stolen bases.
+Honeycutt's 21 stolen bases are the most by a Tar Heel freshman since 2000 when Adam Greenberg stole 28 and Russ Adams swiped 20.
+Honeycutt is tied for sixth among all Division I freshmen with eight home runs ... He has homered and stolen a base in the same game four times this season.

PITCHING STAFF AMONG ACC'S BEST
With an ERA of 3.79, North Carolina has the fourth-lowest team ERA in the ACC, entering the week ... The Diamond Heels rank among the top half in the conference in shutouts (2nd/3), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5th, 2.55) fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6th/8.10), strikeouts per nine innings (6th/10.3) and WHIP (6th/1.35).
+Shawn Rapp leads the ACC and NCAA in appearances with 24 ... Kyle Mott (2nd/18), Gage Gillian (6th/16), Davis Palermo (6th/16) and Caden O'Brien (9th/15)are all among the top 10 in the ACC in appearances this season.
+Mott ranks second in the conference in victories with six, trailing only Rhett Lowder of Wake Forest who has seven.
+O'Brien has made 102 pitching appearances in his career, which is the fifth-most among active DI players.

SHOWING OFF THE ARM
Junior outfielder Angel Zarate recorded his ninth and 10th outfield assists of the season Sunday at Louisville ... Its the most outfield assists by a Tar Heel since Sean Farrell had 10 during the 2001 season ... Four of those assists have been thrown runners out at home plate.
+Although his consecutive games reaching base streak ended at 50 on April 3, he wasted no time in starting a new streak ... Zarate has hit safely in each of the last four games since the streak ended, going 8-for-20 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored.
+Zarate has hit safely in 30 of 32 games this season, including the first 24 to start the season ... It was the longest hitting streak of his career ... He has put together three hitting streaks of 10 or more games during his career.
+He has reached base safely in 95 of 98 games played since the start of the 2020 season.