Padgett, Frick Lead Baseball Past Seton Hall, 11-2

Saturday, February 18

Chapel Hill, N.C.

2 p.m.

North Carolina

1-1

Seton Hall

1-1

Seton Hall

North Carolina

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

February 18, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Steve Kirschner

The University of North Carolina scored its first seven runs on two-out hits, including a bases-clearing double in the fourth inning by junior catcher Tomas Frick, and got four and a third innings of shutout relief pitching by freshman Cameron Padgett in an 11-2 win over Seton Hall Saturday at Boshamer Stadium.

Padgett retired 12 of the 15 batters he faced in his collegiate debut, including 10 of the last 11. He entered the game with two outs in the fourth, gave up two singles in the fifth but got out of the inning with a 5-4-3 double play. The Salisbury, N.C., native then allowed only an eighth inning walk over the next three frames to get the win. Padgett threw 36 strikes in 55 pitches.

Seton Hall won Friday's opener, 10-8, and struck first today with two runs in the first inning on just one hit. The Pirates turned a pair of walks, two stolen bases, a throwing error and a wild pitch into an early 2-0 advantage.

Carolina went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the third on three straight two-out base hits. Hunter Stokely got the Tar Heels on the board with a bloop single to right, Frick doubled, which sent Stokely to third, and Casey Cook ripped a two-run single to right field to plate Stokely and Frick.

The Tar Heels added four runs in the fourth on Eric Grintz's RBI single and Frick's double to left-center, which plated three. It was Frick's second double in as many innings.

Grintz drove in two more in the seventh with a double down the left-field line that gave Carolina a 10-2 lead.

Vance Honeycutt and Mac Horvath, Carolina's top two in the lineup, combined to walk eight times, steal four bases and score five runs. Horvath was walked five times, while Honeycutt was one of four Tar Heels with multi-hit games.

Cook, a freshman right fielder, had three hits and two RBI. Honeycutt, Frick and Grintz had two hits apiece.

The Tar Heels out-hit the Pirates, 10 to four. UNC also drew 11 walks and had four hit batsmen.

Seton Hall's Daniel Frontera (0-1) allowed five hits and five runs in three and two-third innings and took the loss.

"The thing I saw that was most important was we went down 2-0 right out of the gate after losing our home opener, but our guys just kept playing, you can't play tight," says Carolina head coach Scott Forbes. "(Tomas) Frick let the air out a little bit with that double (in the fourth inning) and after their two runs we put up all zeroes. Cam Padgett was the story of the game on the mound. We knew Cam was going to pound the zone. He's a tough kid, throws a lot of strikes."

The third and final game of the season-opening series is Sunday at 1 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.