By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Free passes continue to be costly for No. 10 North Carolina.
The Tar Heels lost their second straight game against No. 15 Virginia, as the Cavaliers again got big hits after UNC pitchers couldn’t find the plate.
Virginia belted three home runs and pulled away from a close game with a three-run seventh inning to take a 7–2 victory Friday at Disharoon Park.
But, as UNC coach Scott Forbes summed it up, “They just beat us.”
Center fielder Vance Honeycutt broke out of a 1-of-19 slump with a pair of majestic home runs, but he wasn’t happy that it came in another loss.
“It felt good,” Honeycutt said of the two home runs, both off changeups. “Baseball is a tough game. Pissed off we didn’t get the win, but we’ll come back tomorrow.”
His second home run in the sixth inning cut it to a one-run game, but Virginia (25–6, 9–5 ACC) pulled away from there.
Right-handed freshman Jason DeCaro had another solid start against the opportunistic Cavaliers, but it wasn’t enough for UNC (25–6, 10–4).
“I thought DeCaro was phenomenal,” Forbes said of his ability to rally after giving up a three-run first-inning home run. “To come back and put up those zeros against a really good offensive team. Gave us a chance to win. We just couldn’t manufacture enough offensively.”
DeCaro (loser, 1–1) continued to be Carolina’s most consistent starting pitcher. In 6+ innings, he made only two mistakes on home-run balls and struck out five. He had given up three or fewer runs in six straight starts since giving up four in his college debut against Elon on Feb. 20.
“Jason’s gonna be special,” Forbes said. “He’s been throwing the ball really well for us.”
Carolina has lost back-to-back games for only the third time this season and the first time since dropping the first two games of the mid-March series at Miami. As Forbes points out, that’s pretty good for 31 games into a season.
“It’s not frustrations. It’s just baseball,” Forbes said. “We’re coming off a big sweep of Wake Forest, and we just lost two games. We’ll bounce back tomorrow and be ready. Win or lose, you play enough games like this throughout the season, you have to be able to overcome a couple of losses.”
Virginia batters drawing walks scored three runs, and the Cavaliers have eight home runs in two games after hitting five in Thursday’s 14–11 victory.
The Cavaliers jumped out to an early three-run, first-inning lead on center fielder Harrison Didawick’s three-run homer. That came after DeCaro gave up a single and a walk with two outs.
In the third inning, Honeycutt launched a 454-foot shot over the batter’s eye in center field, which was Carolina’s first run in nine innings. But Honeycutt and catcher Luke Stevenson (2 of 4) were the only UNC batters who could do much against Virginia pitching.
“We just could never get anything going offensively, and that’s a credit to their starting pitcher,” Forbes said of sophomore left-hander Evan Blanco (winner, 3–1). “I thought Blanco did a good job of filling up the strike zone. He had a good changeup.”
Blanco scattered six hits, walked one and struck out seven in 6⅓ innings and 94 pitches. Two relievers combined to give up two hits, no walks and two strikeouts.
“It was fastball, changeup majority mix from the starter, sliders to lefties,” Honeycutt said. “He did a pretty good job of keeping us off the fastball a little bit.”
Virginia catcher Ethan Anderson lined DeCaro’s 86th pitch over the right-field wall to start the seventh, extending the Cavaliers’ lead to two.
DeCaro exited after issuing his third walk. That runner, of course, scored on a Casey Saucke single off right-handed senior reliever Ryan Fischer, whose ⅔-of-an-inning stint ended after Anderson hit another homer to right field to lead off the eighth.
NOTES — The series concludes at 1 p.m. Saturday (ESPN3), with Carolina left-hander Shea Sprague (1–1, 4.55 ERA) opposing Virginia right-hander Kevin Jaxel (4–0, 7.40 ERA). … It was Honeycutt’s fourth two-homer game of his career, but first since his freshman season against N.C. State in the 2022 ACC tournament. … A Tar Heel has hit multiple home runs in five of the last six games: March 26 vs. N.C. A&T (Parks Harber), March 29 vs. Wake Forest (Casey Cook), Saturday vs. Wake Forest (Harber), Sunday vs. Wake Forest (Stevenson) and Honeycutt on Friday. … Stevenson has two hits in each of the last three games. During his four-game hit streak, he has 13 RBI. … It was only the third time Carolina has lost a series this season, dropping two of three to East Carolina in late February and two of three at Miami in mid-March. … UNC leads the all-time series 190–124–3. … A Tar Heel hit multiple home runs in five of the last six games: March 26 vs. N.C. A&T (Parks Harber), March 29 vs. Wake Forest (Casey Cook), March 30 vs. Wake Forest (Harber), March 31 vs. Wake Forest (Stevenson) and Honeycutt on Friday.
No. 15 Virginia 7, No. 10 UNC 2
ACC standings
| Coastal Division | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 12 North Carolina | 17–7 | 35–11 |
| No. 11 Virginia | 14–10 | 35–12 |
| No. 10 Duke | 14–10 | 30–14 |
| Virginia Tech | 13–11 | 28–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 11–10 | 27–15 |
| Miami | 8–16 | 19–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–16 | 18–23 |
| Atlantic Division | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Clemson | 15–6 | 34–9 |
| No. 7 Florida State | 13–8 | 34–9 |
| No. 21 N.C. State | 12–9 | 25–17 |
| No. 13 Wake Forest | 12–12 | 28–16 |
| Louisville | 10–11 | 26–18 |
| Boston College | 8–16 | 21–22 |
| Notre Dame | 7–17 | 22–20 |
(Unless otherwise indicated, games only stream on ESPN3)
Tuesday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 13, Charlotte 1, 6½ innings (10-run rule)
UMass Lowell 7, Boston College 6
UNCW 5, No. 20 N.C. State 4, 10 innings
Louisville 11, Northern Kentucky 7
No. 13 Wake Forest 10, Appalachian State 9
West Virginia 11, Pittsburgh 1
No. 11 Virginia 8, VCU 4
Wednesday’s games
No. 12 North Carolina 19, William & Mary 2, 6½ innings (10-run rule)
No. 11 Virginia 10, Navy 0, 7 innings (10-run rule)
Virginia Tech 11, N.C. A&T 9
No. 13 Wake Forest at High Point, 6 p.m.
Thursday’s games
BYU at Miami, 7 p.m.
Louisville at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Friday’s games
Louisville at Boston College, 5 p.m.
No. 20 N.C. State at No. 7 Florida State, 6 p.m.
Georgia Tech at No. 4 Clemson, 6 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame, 6:30
BYU at Miami, 7 p.m.
| Date | Day/ month | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 16 | Friday | W, 10–3 | vs. Wagner | 1–0 |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 16–5 | vs. Wagner | 2–0 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 20–6 | vs. Wagner | 3–0 |
| 20 | Tuesday | W, 8–7 | vs. Elon | 4–0 |
| 23 | Friday | W, 2–1 | vs. No. 5 East Carolina | 5–0 |
| 24 | Saturday | L, 7–4 | vs. No. 5 East Carolina in Fayetteville | 5–1 |
| 25 | Sunday | L, 10–9 | at No. 5 East Carolina | 5–2 |
| 27 | Tuesday | W, 8–2 | vs. VCU | 6–2 |
| 28 | Wednesday | W, 12–3 | vs. Longwood | 7–2 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Friday | W, 12–2 | vs. Princeton | 8–2 |
| 2 | Saturday | W, 11–2 | vs. Princeton | 9–2 |
| 3 | Sunday | W, 13–6 | vs. Princeton | 10–2 |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 7–3 | at Campbell | 11–2 |
| 8 | Friday | W, 2–1 | vs. Pittsburgh | 12–2, 1–0 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 7–3 | vs. Pittsburgh | 13–2, 2–0 ACC |
| 10 | Sunday | W, 6–5, 10 innings | vs. Pittsburgh | 14–2, 3–0 ACC |
| 12 | Tuesday | W, 13–7 | vs. Rutgers | 15–2 |
| 13 | Wednesday | W, 9–8 | vs. Rutgers | 16–2 |
| 15 | Friday | L, 14–1 | at Miami | 16–3, 3–1 ACC |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 2–1 | at Miami | 16–4, 3–2 ACC |
| 17 | Sunday | W, 18–6, 7 innings (10-run rule) | at Miami | 17–4, 4–2 ACC |
| 19 | Tuesday | W, 11–0, 7 innings (10-run rule) | vs. UNCW | 18–4 |
| 22 | Friday | W, 5–4 | vs. Georgia Tech | 19–4, 5–2 ACC |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 11–5 | vs. Georgia Tech | 20–4, 6–2 ACC |
| 24 | Sunday | W, 9–2 | vs. Georgia Tech | 21–4, 7–2 ACC |
| 26 | Tuesday | W, 10–8 | vs. N.C. A&T | 22–4 |
| 29 | Friday | W, 6–5 | at No. 13 Wake Forest | 23–4, 8–2 ACC |
| 30 | Saturday | W, 10–6 | at No. 13 Wake Forest | 24–4, 9–2 ACC |
| 31 | Sunday | W, 14–10 | at No. 13 Wake Forest | 25–4, 10–2 ACC |
| April | ||||
| 4 | Thursday | L, 14–11 | at No. 11 Virginia | 25–5, 10–3 ACC |
| 5 | Friday | L, 7–2 | at No. 11 Virginia | 25–6, 10–4 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 12–7 | at No. 11 Virginia | 26–6, 11–4 ACC |
| 9 | Tuesday | L, 2–1 | vs. No. 15 South Carolina in Charlotte | 26–7 |
| 12 | Friday | W, 13–0, 6½ innings (10-run rule) | vs. Notre Dame | 27–7, 12–4 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 7–2 | vs. Notre Dame | 28–7, 13–4 ACC |
| 14 | Sunday | W, 10–3 | vs. Notre Dame | 29–7, 14–4 ACC |
| 16 | Tuesday | L, 5–4 | vs. Coastal Carolina | 29–8 |
| 18 | Thursday | L, 9–8 | at No. 20 N.C. State | 29–9, 14–5 ACC |
| 19 | Friday | L, 5–4 | at No. 20 N.C. State | 29–10, 14–6 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 14–3 | at No. 20 N.C. State | 30–10, 15–6 ACC |
| 23 | Tuesday | W, 5–2 | vs. Gardner-Webb | 31–10 |
| 26 | Friday | W, 8–1 | vs. Virginia Tech | 32–10, 16–6 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 6–3 | vs. Virginia Tech | 33–10, 17–6 ACC |
| 28 | Sunday | L, 4–3 | vs. Virginia Tech | 33–11, 17–7 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 13–1, 6½ innings (10-run rule) | vs. Charlotte | 34–11 |
| May | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | W, 19–2, 6½ innings (10-run rule) | vs. William & Mary | 35–11 |
| 7 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Campbell | ESPN3 |
| 10 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. Louisville | ESPN3 |
| 11 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Louisville | ESPN3 |
| 12 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Louisville | ACCN |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW | FloSports |
| 16 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at No. 10 Duke | ACCN |
| 17 | Friday | 6 p.m. | at No. 10 Duke | ESPN3 |
| 18 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at No. 10 Duke | ESPN3 |
| 21–26 | Tuesday- Sunday | TBA | ACC tournament in Charlotte | ACCN |
| 31 | Friday | TBA | NCAA Regional | TBA |
| June | ||||
| 1–3 | Saturday- Monday | TBA | NCAA Regional | TBA |
| 7–10 | Friday- Monday | TBA | NCAA Super Regional | TBA |
| 14–24 | Friday- Monday | TBA | College World Series in Omaha, Neb. | TBA |
Photos courtesy of Virginia Athletics
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