By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Alberto Osuna is fully healthy and having a blast.
The senior slugger never felt quite right while battling a left hamate injury last season, and his power numbers suffered. He got healthy and fitter in the offseason, and the results have been impressive.
After blasting a pair of leadoff home runs and an RBI double Wednesday to lead No. 17 North Carolina’s 12–3 romp over Longwood, the “Berto blasts” figure to keep coming.
“Coming back from it, obviously the bat speed just wasn’t there,” said Osuna, who didn’t hit his fifth home run until his 17th game last season. “I tried to battle as much as I could and try to help the team. It wasn’t the best year for me. But, thankfully, I feel a lot better now.”
His potential was obvious after he hit 25 home runs and was the national junior college player of the year as a freshman at Walters State. But after blasting 20 homers and driving in 51 runs for UNC (6–2) as a sophomore, the numbers dropped off to 11 and 27 last season.
UNC coach Scott Forbes said Osuna returned from the hamate injury faster than most because he’s such a tough kid, but never really recovered last season. Forbes said that Osuna worked hard in the summer and had a good fall season.
“It’s really not surprising me,” Forbes said. “I really thought he could be a more complete hitter and hit for a higher average but also hit for a lot of power. And obviously big swings of the bat all year so far, and he’s been balanced. He’s been looking at the ball better, and it’s really good to see.
“He’s also gotten in better shape,” Forbes said. “He’s leaned up. He’s still really, really big and physical. But he’s moving better, and he swings faster.”
Osuna leads the team RBI with 13 and is tied with Vance Honeycutt for the team home-run lead with five. He got all of a second-inning slider, driving it high off the screen above the left-field wall, a ball that would have gone an estimated 392 feet.
“Last season, I think I was just trying to do a little bit too much, trying to prove myself again,” Osuna said. “This season, it’s just a nice line-drive approach, and whatever happens, happens.”
What happened in the fifth, when he was just trying to hit an outside fastball up the middle, was an opposite-field shot 405 feet to right-center against the wind. That gave him his first multi-home run game since doing it three times during his sophomore season.
“It’s crazy how once you slow down, everything else slows down around you,” said Osuna, who was all smiles after the game. “It’s been a lot of preparation, too. I spend a lot preparation kind of slowing myself down before the game, on deck. And then when I’m in the box, at that point, just see it and hit it and stay relaxed.”
With Georgia transfer Parks Harber in concussion protocol, Osuna started at first base for the second consecutive game, and already has more put outs (16) than in his first two seasons combined (12) since he’s mostly been a designated hitter. He only had two previous UNC games playing first base, both last season.
“It’s been fun over there. Just hold my ground over there,” Osuna said.
Forbes hopes to get Harber back into the lineup this weekend after he got hit in his cheek with a ball from the pitching machine while in the batting cage on Monday. Forbes said Harber was lucky he didn’t get hit in the eye or break his jawbone.
UNC freshman right-handed starter Boston Flannery lasted 1⅓ innings after battling control issues with three walks and two wild pitches. Shortstop Noah Campanelli walked, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch in the second inning for Longwood (6–2).
Winning pitcher Matthew Matthijs (3–0), a sophomore right-hander, took over with two on and one out and got out of the inning, giving up one hit and striking out two in 2⅔ innings.
“The bullpen was pretty dang good,” Forbes said. “They filled it up. I thought they did great.”
After Osuna’s first home run tied it, back-to-back RBI doubles from right fielder Anthony Donofrio (scoring two) and Osuna in the third inning made it 4–1.
Senior right-hander Ben Peterson gave up a double and a walk in the fifth, but junior transfer right-hander Aidan Haugh struck out one and induced an inning-ending foul out. Haugh struck out three and gave up only one hit in 1⅔ innings, and has 10 strikeouts in 5⅔ innings on the season.
UNC chased Longwood starter Owens Simmons (0–1; 4 innings, 5 hits, 7 runs, 5 walks) after he gave up a single and three walks in the fifth inning. Catcher Luke Stevenson hit a two-run single in the four-run inning and had multiple hits for the second consecutive game.
Two UNC outfield errors helped the Lancers score two unearned runs in the seventh inning off graduate transfer right-hander Ryan Fischer, who gave up three hits and struck out two in pitching the final three innings to earn a save.
Carolina added four runs in the seventh, highlighted by Osuna’s second homer and Stevenson’s RBI single.
NOTES — Carolina finishes its five-game homestand with a three-game series against Princeton (1–2), which opened its season last weekend by losing two of three at UNCW. … The Tigers, picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League, went 24–23 last season when they also played a series in the Triangle, losing two of three at Duke. … The two four-run innings give UNC 10 this season. … After two earlier starts at second base, freshman Gavin Gallaher started at third base, giving Jackson Van De Brake the day off. … Former UNC head coach Mike Fox made his television debut as an analyst, alongside with former Tar Heels pitcher Paul Shuey, working with play-by-play announcer Dean Linke on the streaming TV broadcast of Wednesday’s game. … Longwood, which swept a three-game weekend series against Iona, has lost all four meetings with UNC, with the Heels also winning in 2009, 2022 and 2023.
No. 17 UNC 12, Longwood 3
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 14–15 | Fri.-Sat. | W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2 | vs. Texas Tech | 3–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 12–9 | vs. Kansas State | 4–0 |
| 22–24 | Sat.-Mon. | W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4 | vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville) | 7–0 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 7–4 | vs. VCU | 8–0 |
| 26 | Wednesday | W, 13–4 | vs. N.C. A&T | 9–0 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 16–2 | vs. Stony Brook | 10–0 |
| March | ||||
| 1–2 | Sat.-Sun. | W, 6–1; W, 9–5 | vs. Stony Brook | 12–0 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 6–4 (11) | vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina | 13–0 |
| 7–9 | Fri.-Sun. | L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0 | vs. Stanford | 14–2, 1–2 ACC |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 7–3 (10) | at UNCW | 15–2 |
| 14, 16 | Fri., Sun. | L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0 | at Louisville | 16–4, 2–4 |
| 19 | Wednesday | L, 5–1 | vs. UConn | 16–5 |
| 21–23 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7) | at Boston College | 18–6, 4–5 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 13–8 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 19–7 |
| 28–30 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2 | vs. Miami | 21–7, 6–6 |
| April | ||||
| 1 | Tuesday | W, 11–1 (7) | vs. Gardner-Webb | 22–7 |
| 3–5 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14) | vs. Duke | 24–8, 8–7 |
| 8 | Tuesday | W, 12–10 | at Elon | 25–8 |
| 11–13 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2 | vs. Wake Forest | 28–8, 11–7 |
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 14–4 (8) | vs. Charlotte | 29–8 |
| 18–20 | Fri-Sun. | W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5 | at Virginia Tech | 31–9, 13–8 |
| 25–27 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0 | at Pittsburgh | 33–10, 15–9 |
| 29 | Tuesday | W, 13–4 | vs. George Mason | 34–10 |
| 30 | Wednesday | W, 14–3 | vs. Queens | 35–10 |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | W, 10–1 | vs. Campbell | 36–10 |
| 8–9 | Thurs.-Fri. | W, 8–1; L, 8–5 | vs. N.C. State | 37–11, 16–10 |
| 15–17 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4 | at No. 7 Florida State | 39–12, 18–11 |
| ACC tournament | Durham | |||
| 23 | Friday | Quarterfinal: W, 7–3 | Boston College | 40–12 |
| 24 | Saturday | Semifinal: W, 7–5 | No. 7 Florida State | 41–12 |
| 25 | Sunday | Final: W, 14–4 | No. 14 Clemson | 42–12 |
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 30 | Friday | W, 4–0 | Holy Cross | 43–12 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 11–5 | Oklahoma | 44–12 |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | L, 9–5 | Oklahoma | 44–13 |
| 2 | Monday | W, 14–4 | Oklahoma | 45–13 |
| Chapel Hill Super Regional | Best-of-3 series | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 18–2 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–13 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 10–8 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–14 |
| 8 | Sunday | L, 4–3 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–15 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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