Saturday, March 2
Chapel Hill
12 noon
North Carolina
9-2
11
vs
2
Princeton
1-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Princeton
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
12
1
North Carolina
3
0
2
0
3
1
1
1
X
11
19
0
Baseball Clinches Series Win Over Princeton
March 2, 2024 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Anthony Donofrio collected three hits, drove in three runs, and scored three to lead No. 17 North Carolina over Princeton 11-2 at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday, clinching the three-game series win.
In his first at-bat of the game, Donofrio hit an inside-the-park home run that produced a trio of runs with Casey Cook and Parks Harber scoring in front of him.
"I wasn't even supposed to swing at that pitch," Donofrio said. "Typically, when you get 3-0, you get the take sign. I looked down at coach, and he gave me the green light.
"To do that and look up and see the Tar Heel faithful supporting me was really cool."
Freshman Luke Stevenson belted a 422-foot home run, his first as a Tar Heel, in the third to give UNC (9-2) a 5-2 lead.
Carolina added three runs in the fifth on three consecutive singles before scoring one run in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.
"Our offense was outstanding today from top to bottom," UNC head coach Scott Forbes said. "It's the best quality at-bat chart we've had. Everybody was dialed in today."
Seven different Tar Heels notched a multi-hit game on a season-high 19 hits. Harber went 3-for-5 in this first game after missing the previous three games due to injury. Stevenson, Alex Madera, Casey Cook, Johnny Castagnozzi, and Colby Wilkerson each had two hits.
Stevenson collected his third RBI of the game in the sixth with a single. Madera added two RBIs with a sacrifice fly and a single.
Elon transfer Shea Sprague tossed 4.0 complete innings with four strikeouts in his first start as a Tar Heel, surrendering two runs. He retired six of the final seven batters he faced before Dalton Pence (2-0) took over in the fifth.
"Shea couldn't really throw bullpens this week," Forbes said. "I think he'll continue to improve, but if you look at him at Elon, that's how he pitched. He'll give up some hits, but he'll usually go out there for five or six innings and less than three runs, and he was able to do that."
Pence pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four, while Connor Bovair pitched a pair of scoreless frames with three strikeouts before Will Simmons closed the game with a shutout ninth.
Justin Kim (1-1) gave up five runs on eight hits with four walks in four innings. Kim allowed just one run in six innings during his previous start at UNCW a week ago.
Caden Shapiro went 5-for-5 with a home run and a double as part of the Tigers' 12-hit performance. Princeton put its first two runners on in the first, second, fifth, and seventh innings, but only Matt Scannell, who led off the game with a double, scored in the first.
The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at noon with UNC freshman right-handed pitcher Jason DeCaro scheduled to face Princeton junior Rich Ferrer-Westrop.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
T1 – Jake Bold hit a two-out single up the middle to plate Scannell, who led off the game with a double (PU, 1-0).
B1 – Donofrio hit an inside-the-park home off the wall in left-center field, scoring Cook and Harber (UNC, 3-1).
T3 – Shapiro hit a solo home run to right field (UNC, 3-2).
B3 – Stevenson hit a two-run home run to center field (UNC, 5-2).
B5 – Castagnozzi singled through the drawn-in infield to plate Osuna (UNC, 6-2).
B5 – Madera singles back up the middle to score Castagnozzi from second base (UNC, 7-2).
B5 – Honeycutt singled to left to score Wilkerson from second base (UNC, 8-2).
B6 – Stevenson singled up the middle to plate Donofrio (UNC, 9-2).
B7 – Cook scored on a fielder's choice (UNC, 10-2).
B8 – Madera lifted a sacrifice fly to drive in Carter French, who reached on a pinch-hit single to lead off the inning (UNC, 11-2).
NOTABLES:
• Carolina won its 17th consecutive game against Princeton and improved to 32-9 all-time against the Tigers.
• Donofrio is the first Tar Heel with an inside-the-park home run since Cody Roberts against Georgia Tech 2018.
• Stevenson registered the second three-hit game of his Carolina career, while Donofrio recorded his first.
• Stevenson and Madera have multiple hits in three of the last four games
• Castagnozzi picked up his first two hits of the season and made his first start of the year.
In his first at-bat of the game, Donofrio hit an inside-the-park home run that produced a trio of runs with Casey Cook and Parks Harber scoring in front of him.
"I wasn't even supposed to swing at that pitch," Donofrio said. "Typically, when you get 3-0, you get the take sign. I looked down at coach, and he gave me the green light.
"To do that and look up and see the Tar Heel faithful supporting me was really cool."
Freshman Luke Stevenson belted a 422-foot home run, his first as a Tar Heel, in the third to give UNC (9-2) a 5-2 lead.
Carolina added three runs in the fifth on three consecutive singles before scoring one run in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.
"Our offense was outstanding today from top to bottom," UNC head coach Scott Forbes said. "It's the best quality at-bat chart we've had. Everybody was dialed in today."
Seven different Tar Heels notched a multi-hit game on a season-high 19 hits. Harber went 3-for-5 in this first game after missing the previous three games due to injury. Stevenson, Alex Madera, Casey Cook, Johnny Castagnozzi, and Colby Wilkerson each had two hits.
Stevenson collected his third RBI of the game in the sixth with a single. Madera added two RBIs with a sacrifice fly and a single.
Elon transfer Shea Sprague tossed 4.0 complete innings with four strikeouts in his first start as a Tar Heel, surrendering two runs. He retired six of the final seven batters he faced before Dalton Pence (2-0) took over in the fifth.
"Shea couldn't really throw bullpens this week," Forbes said. "I think he'll continue to improve, but if you look at him at Elon, that's how he pitched. He'll give up some hits, but he'll usually go out there for five or six innings and less than three runs, and he was able to do that."
Pence pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four, while Connor Bovair pitched a pair of scoreless frames with three strikeouts before Will Simmons closed the game with a shutout ninth.
Justin Kim (1-1) gave up five runs on eight hits with four walks in four innings. Kim allowed just one run in six innings during his previous start at UNCW a week ago.
Caden Shapiro went 5-for-5 with a home run and a double as part of the Tigers' 12-hit performance. Princeton put its first two runners on in the first, second, fifth, and seventh innings, but only Matt Scannell, who led off the game with a double, scored in the first.
The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at noon with UNC freshman right-handed pitcher Jason DeCaro scheduled to face Princeton junior Rich Ferrer-Westrop.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
T1 – Jake Bold hit a two-out single up the middle to plate Scannell, who led off the game with a double (PU, 1-0).
B1 – Donofrio hit an inside-the-park home off the wall in left-center field, scoring Cook and Harber (UNC, 3-1).
T3 – Shapiro hit a solo home run to right field (UNC, 3-2).
B3 – Stevenson hit a two-run home run to center field (UNC, 5-2).
B5 – Castagnozzi singled through the drawn-in infield to plate Osuna (UNC, 6-2).
B5 – Madera singles back up the middle to score Castagnozzi from second base (UNC, 7-2).
B5 – Honeycutt singled to left to score Wilkerson from second base (UNC, 8-2).
B6 – Stevenson singled up the middle to plate Donofrio (UNC, 9-2).
B7 – Cook scored on a fielder's choice (UNC, 10-2).
B8 – Madera lifted a sacrifice fly to drive in Carter French, who reached on a pinch-hit single to lead off the inning (UNC, 11-2).
NOTABLES:
• Carolina won its 17th consecutive game against Princeton and improved to 32-9 all-time against the Tigers.
• Donofrio is the first Tar Heel with an inside-the-park home run since Cody Roberts against Georgia Tech 2018.
• Stevenson registered the second three-hit game of his Carolina career, while Donofrio recorded his first.
• Stevenson and Madera have multiple hits in three of the last four games
• Castagnozzi picked up his first two hits of the season and made his first start of the year.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pence, Dalton (2-0)
L: Kim, Justin (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Scannell, Matt 1 ; Shapiro, Caden 1
HR: Shapiro, Caden 1
RBI: Shapiro, Caden 1 ; Bold, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Scannell, Matt 1 ; Shapiro, Caden 1
HBP: Kelly, Jordan 1
PO: Shapiro, Caden 1
Batting:
2B: Harber, Parks 1 ; Osuna, Alberto 1
HR: Donofrio, Anthony 1 ; Stevenson, Luke 1
RBI: Madera, Alex 2 ; Honeycutt, Vance 1 ; Donofrio, Anthony 3 ; Osuna, Alberto 1 ; Stevenson, Luke 3 ; Castagnozzi, Johnny 1
SF: Madera, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cook, Casey 2 ; Harber, Parks 1 ; Donofrio, Anthony 3 ; Osuna, Alberto 1 ; Stevenson, Luke 1 ; Castagnozzi, Johnny 1 ; French, Carter 1 ; Wilkerson, Colby 1
SB: Honeycutt, Vance 1 ; Donofrio, Anthony 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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OF
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LHP
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RHP
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LHP
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C
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INF
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