Saturday, June 3
Terre Haute, Ind.
12 p.m.
North Carolina
36-23
5
vs
0
Wright State
39-23
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Wright State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
North Carolina
0
0
1
0
0
0
3
1
X
5
8
1
Carlson, Pence Combine On One-Hitter To Beat Wright State
June 3, 2023 | Baseball
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -Â Max Carlson combined with Dalton Pence on a one-hitter, Mac Horvath homered, and North Carolina defeated Wright State 5-0 in an elimination game Saturday in the NCAA Terre Haute Regional.
The Tar Heels will play the loser of tonight's winner's bracket game between Indiana State and Iowa Sunday at noon in another elimination game.
Carlson (5-2) retired the first 10 batters and faced the minimum through four innings before yielding a single to Sammy Sass to lead off the fifth.
Making his first start in 11 days, Carlson struck out five and walked two.
"The guy sitting beside me set the tone; that's why we won the game," UNC Head Coach Scott Forbes said. "Those two guys on the mound were outstanding, and a huge play by Casey Cook. I preach to these guys all the time the importance of pitching and defense and not giving away outs. I thought we defended really well today too."
Pence pitched 2.1 hitless innings and retired the seven batters he faced on 22 pitches for his second save.
UNC won a game in the NCAA Tournament in its 28th consecutive appearance dating back to 1983.
The Tar Heels pushed across their first run in the third inning as Colby Wilkerson scored from third while Wright State turned its third double play.
Horvath broke the game open in the seventh with a two-out, three-run home run, snapping a 0-for-13 streak at the plate.
"My timing hasn't felt really good these last two days," Horvath said. "I felt like the last month; I was on time for every pitch. You can't be perfect every single day. I focused on my timing in pregame today and just try to make sure I'm in a good position to swing it."
Johnny Castagnozzi drove home the fifth run with a hit through the right side in the eighth.
Castagnozzi and Cook each went 2-for-3, while Cook made a highlight catch that took away a home run from Julian Greenwell in the fourth.
Luke Stoffel (5-6) took the loss and allowed four runs and six hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
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The Tar Heels will play the loser of tonight's winner's bracket game between Indiana State and Iowa Sunday at noon in another elimination game.
Carlson (5-2) retired the first 10 batters and faced the minimum through four innings before yielding a single to Sammy Sass to lead off the fifth.
Making his first start in 11 days, Carlson struck out five and walked two.
"The guy sitting beside me set the tone; that's why we won the game," UNC Head Coach Scott Forbes said. "Those two guys on the mound were outstanding, and a huge play by Casey Cook. I preach to these guys all the time the importance of pitching and defense and not giving away outs. I thought we defended really well today too."
Pence pitched 2.1 hitless innings and retired the seven batters he faced on 22 pitches for his second save.
UNC won a game in the NCAA Tournament in its 28th consecutive appearance dating back to 1983.
The Tar Heels pushed across their first run in the third inning as Colby Wilkerson scored from third while Wright State turned its third double play.
Horvath broke the game open in the seventh with a two-out, three-run home run, snapping a 0-for-13 streak at the plate.
"My timing hasn't felt really good these last two days," Horvath said. "I felt like the last month; I was on time for every pitch. You can't be perfect every single day. I focused on my timing in pregame today and just try to make sure I'm in a good position to swing it."
Johnny Castagnozzi drove home the fifth run with a hit through the right side in the eighth.
Castagnozzi and Cook each went 2-for-3, while Cook made a highlight catch that took away a home run from Julian Greenwell in the fourth.
Luke Stoffel (5-6) took the loss and allowed four runs and six hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Carlson, Max (5-2)
L: Luke Stofel (5-6)
S: Pence, Dalton (2)
Base Running:
SB: Andrew Patrick 1
Batting:
2B: Stokely, Hunter 1
HR: Horvath, Mac 1
RBI: Horvath, Mac 3 ; Castagnozzi, Johnny 1
SH: Stokely, Hunter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cook, Casey 1 ; Horvath, Mac 1 ; Frick, Tomas 1 ; Castagnozzi, Johnny 1 ; Wilkerson, Colby 1
HBP: Alvarez, Patrick 1 ; Osuna, Alberto 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
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