Diamond Heels Suffer Second Straight One-Run Loss To ECU

Sunday, February 26

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1 p.m.

North Carolina

4-3

East Carolina

5-1

East Carolina

North Carolina

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

February 26, 2023 | Baseball

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By: UNC Athletics Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Second baseman Jacob Starling ripped a two-run, go-ahead double in the top of the seventh inning and No. 11 East Carolina rallied past No. 12 North Carolina, 6-5, at Boshamer Stadium on Sunday.

ECU (5-1) scored four runs in the seventh to overcome a three-run deficit for the second consecutive game.

Back-to-back hits by Jacob Jenkins-Cowart and Lane Hoover brought the Pirates within a run before Starling drove in the tying and game-winning runs with one out.

The Pirates also trailed UNC (4-3) by three runs entering the eighth inning on Friday but scored six runs in the frame in Greenville, N.C. and won the series opener 6-5 as well.

With four runs in, UNC redshirt freshman Dalton Pence, the Tar Heels' third pitcher of the inning, made quick work of the final two batters to stem the tide. Freshman Cameron Padgett pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning to keep the Tar Heels within a run.

For the second straight game, UNC mounted a ninth inning rally which began with an ECU error. Hunter Stokely was hit by a pitch after Tomas Frick reached on the error, putting the tying run at second and the winning run at first.

ECU reliever Carter Spivey, the 202 American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, retired the next three Tar Heels to earn the save.

Frick, who was 3-of-5 with a trio of RBIs, got UNC on the scoreboard with an RBI double in bottom of the first. He later put the Tar Heels up 4-2 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth.

Mac Horvath added another run in the sixth with his fourth home run of the year – and the Tar Heels' third of the game – to give North Carolina a 5-2 lead.

Vance Honeycutt smashed his first home run of the year in the fourth inning an estimated 431-feet for a 2-0 UNC lead.

UNC starting pitcher Connor Bovair pitched 5.2 innings and struck out six Pirates, surrendering two runs.

ECU starter Josh Groz also surrendered two runs in his outing, tossing 4.0 innings and walking five with four strikeouts. Erik Ritchie (1-0) picked up the win and Justin Szestowicki (0-1) took the loss.

The Tar Heels will return to action on Tuesday as they open a two-game series with VCU. The first pitch is schedule for 4 p.m. at Boshamer Stadium.