University of North Carolina Athletics
Saturday, February 17
Chapel Hill
12 noon
North Carolina
2-0
16
vs
5
Wagner
0-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Wagner
0
0
3
2
0
0
0
0
0
5
3
3
North Carolina
0
5
0
0
0
5
1
5
X
16
17
1
Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH
Big Innings Lead Baseball To Big Win
February 17, 2024 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 15 North Carolina Tar Heels collected 17 hits and scored 16 runs en route to a 16-5 win over Wagner on Saturday at Boshamer Stadium.
The Tar Heels (2-0) scored five runs in the second, sixth, and eighth innings to earn their 10th consecutive season-opening series, following its 10-3 opening-day win last night.
Casey Cook went 4-for-6 with a home run and a double with four RBIs, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. Alberto Osuna and Vance Honeycutt also homered.
Parks Harber, Alex Madera and Colby Wilkerson each registered two hits. Osuna drove in three runs with his home run in the sixth, while Honeycutt and Anthony Donofrio had two RBIs.
Dalton Pence (1-0) earned the win in relief, tossing 3 2/3 shutout innings with five strikeouts. He retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced, including nine in a row.
Carolina scored five runs in the second, with five players driving in a run. Wagner (0-2) scored three in the third and two in the fourth to tie the game but didn't scratch across another run.
UNC regained its five-run lead in the sixth, retaking the lead of Harber's run-scoring triple that pushed Cook across with the go-ahead run. Donofrio then singled to plate Harber. Jackson Van De Brake drew a walk before Osuna came to the plate with one out and smashed a 404-foot home run to center field.
Honeycutt homered to lead off the seventh for an 11-5 Carolina lead. Cook hit a three-run shot in the eighth, with Honeycutt and Parker Haskin hitting a ground ball that produced a run.
Pence, Matthew Matthijs, and Connor Bovair combined to shut out the Seahawks for the final 5 2/3 innings. Matthijs retired the side on six pitches in the eighth, and Boviar needed just seven to close the game in the ninth.
Ryan Bilka (0-1) took the loss for Wagner after surrendering three runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.
The series concludes Sunday, Feb. 18, at 1 p.m. inside Boshamer Stadium, with UNC freshman Olin Johnson scheduled to pitch against Wagner senior Julian Taudin-Chabot.
NOTABLES:
• UNC won its 10th consecutive season-opening series.
• The Tar Heels scored double digits in their first two games of the season for the second time in three years.
• Honeycutt homered in consecutive games for the 12th time in his career. He had a home run streak of four games and two additional three-game streaks, one as a freshman and one as a sophomore.
• Honeycutt has 39 career home runs and needs one to become the fourth player in school history with 40 career home runs and 40 career stolen bases.
• Cook tied his career-high for hits with four while collecting a career-high four RBI. Cook had four hits in a game against Notre Dame last season, which included three RBIs.
• Harber tripled for the first since June 4, 2022 against Hofstra as a member of the Georgia Bulldogs at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional in Boshamer Stadium.
• Madera made his Carolina debut as the starting second baseman and doubled in his first at-bat.
• Ben Peterson made his first start as a Tar Heel and his first start as an NCAA Division I student-athlete on May 18, 2021, as a freshman at Appalachian State against South Carolina.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Stevenson singled up the middle to drive in Van De Brake, who led off the second inning with a walk, with the game's first run (UNC 1-0).
• Osuna drew a walk to push Stevenson to second base. Madera and Wilkerson laced back-to-back RBI singles to drive in a pair of runs before Cook and Donofrio collected one-out RBIs (UNC, 5-0).
• Ariv Camacho scored Wagner's first run on a headfirst slide into home plate, narrowly avoiding Stevenson's tag (UNC, 5-1) in the third. Chris Conniff ground out to second to bring Bryce Phelps across with a run. Connor Roche scored the final run of the frame on an infield single by David Melfi (UNC, 5-3).
• Conniff singled through the left side to drive in two runs in the fourth (T, 5-5).
• Harber tripled to plate Cook with the game-winning run in the sixth. Donofrio singled home Harber, and Osuna hit a three-run home run to cap the scoring in the sixth (UNC, 10-5).
• Honeycutt homered to lead off the seventh inning (UNC, 11-5).
• Madera scored on a fielding error in the eighth for the Tar Heels' first run. With Wilkerson and Honeycutt on base, Cook hit an opposite three-run homer. Haskin ground out to plate Hunter Stokely, who got aboard with a pinch-hit single.
The Tar Heels (2-0) scored five runs in the second, sixth, and eighth innings to earn their 10th consecutive season-opening series, following its 10-3 opening-day win last night.
Casey Cook went 4-for-6 with a home run and a double with four RBIs, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. Alberto Osuna and Vance Honeycutt also homered.
Parks Harber, Alex Madera and Colby Wilkerson each registered two hits. Osuna drove in three runs with his home run in the sixth, while Honeycutt and Anthony Donofrio had two RBIs.
Dalton Pence (1-0) earned the win in relief, tossing 3 2/3 shutout innings with five strikeouts. He retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced, including nine in a row.
Carolina scored five runs in the second, with five players driving in a run. Wagner (0-2) scored three in the third and two in the fourth to tie the game but didn't scratch across another run.
UNC regained its five-run lead in the sixth, retaking the lead of Harber's run-scoring triple that pushed Cook across with the go-ahead run. Donofrio then singled to plate Harber. Jackson Van De Brake drew a walk before Osuna came to the plate with one out and smashed a 404-foot home run to center field.
Honeycutt homered to lead off the seventh for an 11-5 Carolina lead. Cook hit a three-run shot in the eighth, with Honeycutt and Parker Haskin hitting a ground ball that produced a run.
Pence, Matthew Matthijs, and Connor Bovair combined to shut out the Seahawks for the final 5 2/3 innings. Matthijs retired the side on six pitches in the eighth, and Boviar needed just seven to close the game in the ninth.
Ryan Bilka (0-1) took the loss for Wagner after surrendering three runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.
The series concludes Sunday, Feb. 18, at 1 p.m. inside Boshamer Stadium, with UNC freshman Olin Johnson scheduled to pitch against Wagner senior Julian Taudin-Chabot.
NOTABLES:
• UNC won its 10th consecutive season-opening series.
• The Tar Heels scored double digits in their first two games of the season for the second time in three years.
• Honeycutt homered in consecutive games for the 12th time in his career. He had a home run streak of four games and two additional three-game streaks, one as a freshman and one as a sophomore.
• Honeycutt has 39 career home runs and needs one to become the fourth player in school history with 40 career home runs and 40 career stolen bases.
• Cook tied his career-high for hits with four while collecting a career-high four RBI. Cook had four hits in a game against Notre Dame last season, which included three RBIs.
• Harber tripled for the first since June 4, 2022 against Hofstra as a member of the Georgia Bulldogs at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional in Boshamer Stadium.
• Madera made his Carolina debut as the starting second baseman and doubled in his first at-bat.
• Ben Peterson made his first start as a Tar Heel and his first start as an NCAA Division I student-athlete on May 18, 2021, as a freshman at Appalachian State against South Carolina.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Stevenson singled up the middle to drive in Van De Brake, who led off the second inning with a walk, with the game's first run (UNC 1-0).
• Osuna drew a walk to push Stevenson to second base. Madera and Wilkerson laced back-to-back RBI singles to drive in a pair of runs before Cook and Donofrio collected one-out RBIs (UNC, 5-0).
• Ariv Camacho scored Wagner's first run on a headfirst slide into home plate, narrowly avoiding Stevenson's tag (UNC, 5-1) in the third. Chris Conniff ground out to second to bring Bryce Phelps across with a run. Connor Roche scored the final run of the frame on an infield single by David Melfi (UNC, 5-3).
• Conniff singled through the left side to drive in two runs in the fourth (T, 5-5).
• Harber tripled to plate Cook with the game-winning run in the sixth. Donofrio singled home Harber, and Osuna hit a three-run home run to cap the scoring in the sixth (UNC, 10-5).
• Honeycutt homered to lead off the seventh inning (UNC, 11-5).
• Madera scored on a fielding error in the eighth for the Tar Heels' first run. With Wilkerson and Honeycutt on base, Cook hit an opposite three-run homer. Haskin ground out to plate Hunter Stokely, who got aboard with a pinch-hit single.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pence, Dalton (1-0)
L: BILKA, Ryan (0-1)
Batting:
RBI: CONNIFF, Chris 3 ; ROCHE, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CAMACHO, Ariv 2 ; PHELPS, Bryce 2 ; ROCHE, Connor 1
Batting:
2B: Cook, Casey 1 ; Madera, Alex 1
3B: Harber, Parks 1
HR: Honeycutt, Vance 1 ; Cook, Casey 1 ; Osuna, Alberto 1
RBI: Honeycutt, Vance 2 ; Cook, Casey 4 ; Harber, Parks 1 ; Donofrio, Anthony 2 ; Stevenson, Luke 1 ; Haskin, Parker 1 ; Osuna, Alberto 3 ; Madera, Alex 1 ; Wilkerson, Colby 1
SF: Donofrio, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Honeycutt, Vance 2 ; Cook, Casey 2 ; Harber, Parks 1 ; Stokely, Hunter 1 ; Donofrio, Anthony 1 ; Van De Brake, Jackson 2 ; Stevenson, Luke 1 ; Osuna, Alberto 2 ; Madera, Alex 2 ; Wilkerson, Colby 2
Game Leaders
lf/rf
AB
6
R
2
H
4
RBI
4
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
1B/DH
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
1B
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballCarolina Insider - Football vs. Stanford Preview (Full Segment) - November 7, 2025
Friday, November 07
Carolina Insider - Men's Basketball vs. Kansas Preview (Full Segment) - November 7, 2025
Friday, November 07
WBB: Post-Elon Press Conference - Nov. 6, 2025
Friday, November 07
Hubert Davis Pre-Kansas Press Conference
Thursday, November 06