Baseball Secures First-Ever Weekend Sweep Of ECU

Monday, February 24

Greenville, N.C.

5 PM

North Carolina

7-0

East Carolina

2-5

North Carolina

East Carolina

Photo by: Isabel Swindall

February 24, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: William Soule

GREENVILLE, N.C. – North Carolina baseball took care of business on Monday night with a 6-3 win over East Carolina in Clark-LeClair Stadium to complete the first ever weekend sweep in the series' history.

The Tar Heels (7-0, 0-0 ACC) controlled the game from the second inning on, keeping the normally raucous "Jungle" quiet for the majority of the night. It is the team's first 7-0 start to a season since winning their first eight in 2019 and the first under head coach Scott Forbes.

"It's a great sweep against a really good ECU team," Forbes said after. "Big step for Aidan Haugh to give us those five innings, then Matty [Matthijs], the hometown boy to come in and finish it up. We had a ton of base runners ton and never really put them away, but it's a credit to our pitching and defense to still find a way and finish the sweep."

It is the first time UNC has swept ECU in a weekend series, in just the third ever opportunity. North Carolina now owns a 63-39 record all-time against the Pirates. The Heels last won three games in one season against ECU in 2007, claiming two midweek wins before taking another in the Chapel Hill Regional.

The bats got going in the top of the second inning when Hunter Stokely sent one out the opposite way for Carolina's second home run of the year to tie the game. Sparked by Stokely, the next three Tar Heels got on and two of them scored to put UNC up 3-1.

Stokely put together quite the weekend for himself. Eight hits, four RBIs, and three runs scored on a double and a home run has him batting .429 to start the year.

Carolina pushed two more across in the fourth, showing off the small ball they've used so well all year. Two singles, two walks, a hit-and-run, a sac fly, and a run from a wild pitch extended their lead out to 5-2.

Important insurance was secured by Alex Madera and Luke Stevenson in the sixth. Only four pitches into their half of the inning, Madera had doubled and Stevenson had smacked a single to right to bring him around. The Tar Heels' catcher got on base in four of his five at-bats, matching a career-high in walks with three.

Forbes got a high-quality start from the senior Aidan Haugh. 5.0 innings were highlighted by a career high 10 strikeouts, the most by any Tar Heel so far this season and the highest tally for a Carolina hurler since Max Carlson had 11 in March of 2022.

Junior reliever Matthew Matthijs, a Greenville native, came home and threw a gem to pick up his third save of the year. In 2.2 innings of work, he punched out six, gave up no free bases, and only allowed two baserunners. Of his 41 pitches thrown, 32 were for strikes.

The Tar Heels are in the middle of a run of eight games in nine days. Tomorrow they return to Boshamer Stadium at 4 p.m. ET for a matchup with VCU.