Heels Use Power And Pitching To Defeat CSU

Wednesday, May 11

Chapel Hill

6 p.m.

North Carolina

Charleston Southern

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

May 11, 2022 | Baseball

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By: Jody Jones

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina scored 12 runs across the first three innings and cruised to a 12-1 victory over visiting Charleston Southern at Boshamer Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Diamond Heels (29-18) collected 10 hits, including three home runs. Mac Horvath and Alberto Osuna each homered in the second inning and Vance Honeycutt went deep in the third inning. Horvath and Honeycutt each registered a pair of hits, while Danny Serretti led UNC with three base knocks.

"A lot of time the team that scores first gets the momentum, not always, so we have emphasized that," UNC Head Coach Scott Forbes said. "It gives [the pitching staff] more confidence and allows them to attack more.

"The great thing about having power is that you can score runs in bunches and we've got some guys in the heart of the order that can do damage and hit the ball out of the park. I don't like the fact that we had all those zeroes after, but sometimes that happens in baseball."

Will Sandy (1-0) earned his first win of the year, holding Charleston Southern (18-26) without a hit, while striking out a pair in four innings of relief. Caleb Cozart closed out the game by tossing a scoreless ninth, retiring all three batters he faced.

After putting three runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first, Carolina added five runs in the second as Horvath smashed a two-run homer and Osuna crushed a 448-foot three-run home run over the batter's eye in center field to lead 8-0 at the end of two innings.

UNC concluded its scoring barrage in the third with Mikey Madej scoring on a wild pitch and Honeycutt lining a three-run home run over the right field wall.

NOTABLES
• UNC has won six of its last seven games overall and has won five in a row at home.
• The Diamond Heels finished their home non-conference schedule with a record of 19-1.
• Carolina improved to 12-4 all-time versus Charleston Southern (previously known as Baptist College).
• Colby Wilkerson made his second start of the season and first since February 27 at East Carolina.
• Horvath posted his first career triple in the top of the first inning.
• Serretti extended his career-long hitting streak to 21 games.
• Horvath homered for the second straight game and for the 11^th time in the last 20 games.
• Honeycutt homered for the third straight game and the fourth time in the last five games. Since moving to the cleanup spot8-for-12 with eight RBIs, seven runs scored, four homes, two doubles and a triple

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Diamond Heels scored three times in the top of the first inning with Serretti, Hunter Stokely and Tomas Frick each collecting an RBI (UNC 3, CSU 0).
• Horvath hit a two-run home run and Osuna crushed a three-run homer in the bottom of the second (UNC 8, CSU 0).
• Connor Carter scored on a fielder's choice in the top of third after he led off the frame with a single (UNC 8, CSU 1).
• Honeycutt hit a three-run homer and Mikey Madej scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third inning (UNC 12, CSU 1).

UP NEXT
North Carolina opens a three-game series against ACC rival Wake Forest on Friday, May 13, at Boshamer Stadium. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and will be televised on the ACC Network.