Knapp Finishes Off Baseball's Sweep Of NC State

Saturday, May 13

Chapel Hill, N.C.

2 p.m.

North Carolina

33-17, 14-11

NC State

31-18, 10-16

NC State

North Carolina

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

May 13, 2023 | Baseball

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By: UNC Athletics Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Five players drove in multiple runs, Jake Knapp pitched six strong innings and North Carolina beat NC State, 12-2, on Saturday to extend its winning streak to five games and earn its first ACC series sweep of the year.

The Tar Heels had 18 hits — with all nine starters getting at least one — in the finale of the three-game series while winning for the eighth time in 10 games. UNC has outscored its opponents by 29 runs in those 10 games, including a +17-run margin this weekend.

North Carolina (33-17, 14-11) recorded its first sweep of NC State (31-18, 10-16) since 2018 and its first sweep of the Wolfpack at Boshamer Stadium since 2006. UNC has won seven of the last eight games in the series dating back to the 2021 ACC Baseball Championship.

"It was a great day and a big weekend for us and what we're trying to accomplish," UNC head coach Scott Forbes said. "I told our guys to enjoy today, but we've got to wake up tomorrow, flush it and get ready for this road week.

"Knapp completely set the tone for us. He threw a ton of strikes, moved the ball on both sides [of the plate], pitched off his fastball and had some velocity. He's getting better, better and better, which is good for us."

Casey Cook and Jackson Van De Brake each had three hits and scored two runs. The duo was two of six Tar Heels to score multiple runs and among the seven with numerous hits.

Cook recorded his second consecutive three-hit game, his eighth of the year, while reaching base for the 39th straight game. Vance Honeycutt had a pair of hits to stretch his on-base streak to 35 games.

North Carolina got two hits and two RBIs apiece from Honeycutt, Johnny Castagnozzi and Colby Wilkerson. Tomas Frick and Hunter Stokely had two hits each, while Mac Horvath also drove in a pair of runs.

Knapp (4-3) struck out three while giving up two runs – solo home runs by Noah Soles and Eli Serrano – on five hits without a walk over six innings. Knapp threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 24 batters faced.

"We saw last night with [Max] Carlson that he attacked him mostly with heaters, and we weren't going to change that," Knapp said. "We mixed in sliders and change ups to keep them off balance."

Ben Peterson, Will Sandy and Nik Pry combined for three shutout relief innings.

NC State starter Sam Highfill (5-2) was tagged for eight hits and five runs over 2 1/3 innings. Carson Kelly gave up five runs and five hits in 1 1/3 innings, and Justin Lawson allowed four hits in 2 1/3 innings.

The Tar Heels batted around in the first inning, scoring three runs on five hits. Cook reached on an error to start the inning and moved to third on a single by Van De Brake. Three consecutive one-out singles brought both runners around to score. Castagnozzi lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Horvath and cap the the scoring in the first.

Horvath hit a sacrifice fly in the second to extend the lead to 4-0 before UNC broke the game open with seven runs across the third, fourth and fifth innings. Honeycutt and Van De Brake each had a two-run single during the stretch.

The Tar Heels went 10-for-20 with runners in scoring position and had seven two-out RBI.

North Carolina returns to action Tuesday, May 16, against Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m.