UNC Faces NC State For ACC Baseball Championship

CHARLOTTE -- The Diamond Heels are back in the ACC Championship for the third time in five tournaments following a 7-2 victory over 16th-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday.

The Heels (37-19) will face rival NC State (36-20) today at 12 noon on ESPN2.

Mac Horvath's two-out bases loaded single in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and propel North Carolina past the fourth-seeded Irish. Danny Serretti followed with a two-run single to put UNC up 5-2 before Johnny Castagnozzi smacked a two-run single in the ninth. Davis Palermo earned the save, striking out three in 2.0 innings of relief.

Mikey Madej collected a career-high four hits, while scoring four runs. Horvath and Angel Zarate had two hits each.

Carolina returns to the title game for the first time since winning the ACC Baseball Championship at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in 2019. The Tar Heels are seeking their eighth ACC tournament title.

Meanwhile, NC State had no trouble disposing of Pittsburgh, 8-3, setting up the first championship game between Carolina and State since 1990.

The Wolfpack returns to the ACC Baseball Championship title game a year after losing to Duke 1-0 in last year's final. NC State last won the tournament in 1992.

The Diamond Heels took two of three from NC State at Doak Field in Raleigh earlier this month, winning the series opener and finale, after dropping the middle game of the series.

Horvath lifted a sacrifice fly in the ninth to give UNC an 8-7 game one victory to complete a weather-suspended game. The two teams played a doubleheader on Sunday with NC State winning the first game 9-2 and Carolina taking game two, 7-6 with Alberto Osuna's two-run home run in the eighth inning putting the Heels ahead to stay. UNC racked up 11 hits in game two with five players collecting multiple hits. Palermo picked up the save, striking out the side in the ninth after issuing a leadoff walk.

Since losing game two of the series at NC State, Carolina has gone 11-1 and is riding a six-game winning streak heading into Sunday's championship game.

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Players Mentioned

Johnny Castagnozzi

Mac Horvath

Mikey Madej

Alberto Osuna

Davis Palermo

Danny Serretti

Angel Zarate

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University of North Carolina Athletics