Baseball Completes Twin Bill Sweep Of Hokies

Saturday, April 29

Blacksburg, Va.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

28-16, 11-11

Virginia Tech

25-16, 11-12

North Carolina

Virginia Tech

Photo by: Ainsley E. Fauth

April 30, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Mac Horvath and Tomas Frick homered and combined for seven RBIs as North Carolina completed a doubleheader sweep of Virginia Tech on Saturday with a 13-7 win in Game 2.

Horvath's three-run shot – third of the day, fifth of the week, and 19th of the season – in the sixth inning broke open a three-run game and propelled the Tar Heels to their first doubleheader sweep of the season and first since April 23, 2021, against Miami.

Horvath hit a grand slam and a three-run blast to lead North Carolina to a 12-8 win in the opener. His third inning grand slam put UNC ahead 4-3, and the Tar Heels never trailed again.

"When nobody believed in us, our guys believed in themselves and we believed in them as coaches," UNC head coach Scott Forbes said. "We've had a tough couple of weeks. You look at close losses to Miami and Boston College, and for guys to come back and wins two games in a doubleheader after losing game one at Virginia Tech is a testament to the player-led leadership.

"Mac Horvath put us on his back and led the way."

Horvath was 2-for-2 with a home runs and four RBI and three walks in Game 2 after going 3-for-6 with two home runs and seven RBIs in Game 1.

"I felt really good with my rhythm that we worked on Monday," Horvath said. "That's been my focus in batting practice. Being slow and early, and just seeing the ball."

Frick hit a two-run homer, his first since April 6, off Kiernan Higgins for a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning of Game 2. Hunter Stokely beat the shift in the fifth and drove home two runs.

Frick added an RBI single in the eighth after Casey Cook collected his third hit of the game with a run-scoring double in the seventh.

In the ninth, Carter French scored on a sacrifice fly, while Cook and Jackson Van De Brake sprinted home on wild pitches.

Virginia Tech brought the tying run to the plate twice in the eighth, but Matt Poston induced a ground ball out and struck out Brody Donay to end the threat.

Ben Peterson (2-0) earned his second win of the season with 2.1 innings of relief, and Poston struck out three in the final two innings to finish the game.

Peterson, Poston, and Matthew Matthijs combined for seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings of relief, while starter Jake Knapp fanned five in 3.2 innings.

Higgins (2-2) took the loss.

Carson DeMartini hit two home runs and had four RBI for the Hokies, and Chris Cannizzaro drove in a pair of runs.

The Tar Heels will return to the diamond on Tuesday as they host No. 9 Campbell inside Boshamer Stadium at 6 p.m.