North Carolina
39-11, 0
Louisville
29-22, 0
Baseball Routs Louisville To Win The Coastal Division
May 12, 2024 | Baseball
The Tar Heels completed a three-game sweep of Louisville 16-7, wrapping up its regular season slate at Boshamer Stadium with a 32-2 record with its fifth ACC series sweep. UNC posted a program record 14 ACC wins at home.
Carolina claimed its eighth Coastal Division championship, twice as many as any other team.
"Awesome weekend," UNC head coach Scott Forbes said. "We played really well. Getting sweeps like that is really hard, which has amazed me the most about this team. We're not done yet, so obviously, we want to keep playing well."
Freshman Luke Stevenson hit a pair of three-run homers and collected a career-high eight RBIs, while Vance Honeycutt and Casey Cook also homered, combining for five RBIs.
UNC (39-11, 20-7) scored eight runs in the first. After Alex Madera and Gavin Gallaher reached to start the inning, Stevenson hit his first home run in exactly a month. Colby Wilkerson followed with a single, and Honeycutt belted his 22nd home run of the season.
Gallaher roped a two-out, two-run single to left, and Stevenson went back up the middle to drive in his fourth run of the inning to cap the scoring.
Cook hit a three-run homer in the fourth to put the Tar Heels up 11-0.
Louisville (29-22, 13-14) answered with a six-run fifth, highlighted by a lead-off homer from JT Benson and a three-run shot from Eddie King, Jr.
The teams traded runs in the next two half innings.
Carolina added four runs in the eighth. Gallaher hit a sacrifice fly and Stevenson smashed his second three-run homer of the game.
Peterson tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings with a career-high eight strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.
"He looked like a [second round MLB Draft pick] today," Forbes said. "He's older. He believes in the team and what we're doing, and he's being rewarded for it."
Aidan Haugh (4-1) earned the win, shutting out the Cardinals through four before allowing six runs in the fifth. Connor Bovair came out to pitch the sixth.
UofL starter Colton Hartman (0-2) didn't make it out of the second inning and allowed six runs, five hits, and three walks. The Cardinals used eight pitchers in all, surrendered 16 hits, and issued 14 walks.
UNC will return to action on Tuesday, May 14, at UNCW. The game has been scheduled for 6 p.m. at Brooks Field.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Haugh, Aidan (4-1)
L: Colton Hartman (0-2)
S: Peterson, Ben (1)
Batting:
2B: Alex Alicea 1 ; Isaac Humphrey 1 ; Eddie King Jr. 1 ; JT Benson 1
HR: Eddie King Jr. 1 ; JT Benson 1
RBI: Alex Alicea 1 ; Isaac Humphrey 1 ; Eddie King Jr. 3 ; JT Benson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alex Alicea 1 ; Zion Rose 1 ; Brandon Anderson 1 ; Isaac Humphrey 1 ; Eddie King Jr. 1 ; JT Benson 2
SB: Zion Rose 1 ; JT Benson 2
HBP: Zion Rose 1
Batting:
2B: Madera, Alex 1 ; Wilkerson, Colby 1
HR: Honeycutt, Vance 1 ; Cook, Casey 1 ; Stevenson, Luke 2
RBI: Honeycutt, Vance 2 ; Cook, Casey 3 ; Gallaher, Gavin 3 ; Stevenson, Luke 8
SF: Gallaher, Gavin 1 ; Stevenson, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Honeycutt, Vance 2 ; Cook, Casey 2 ; Donofrio, Anthony 2 ; Osuna, Alberto 2 ; Madera, Alex 3 ; Gallaher, Gavin 1 ; Stevenson, Luke 2 ; Wilkerson, Colby 2
SB: Honeycutt, Vance 1 ; Osuna, Alberto 1
HBP: Donofrio, Anthony 1 ; Wilkerson, Colby 1
