By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — No. 10 North Carolina blew a big lead for the second time in the series, but the Tar Heels powered through it this time.
After No. 15 Virginia erased a six-run deficit, the Tar Heels took control with seventh-inning home runs from first baseman Parks Harber and catcher Luke Stevenson. That salvaged a win from the three-game series as UNC regained a six-run lead before winning 12–7 Saturday at Disharoon Park.
“I think it just shows that we have a lot of guys with strong character, strong conviction and competitiveness,” said Harber, who was 3 for 5 with four RBI. “That’s what you need on a team to be successful.”
Harber led off the seventh with a 394-foot shot just to the left of the right-field foul pole. After an Alberto Osuna single, Stevenson launched a 409-foot home to center field.
Harber bemoaned not being “on time” against fastballs, but he was on time at the right time.
“Definitely wanted to not try to let the moment be too big than it was, just treat it as a normal at-bat,” Harber said. “If I get a pitch at the plate, I need to be in a position to hit it.”
UNC (26–6, 11–4 ACC), which squandered a five-run lead in Thursday’s 14–11 loss, also got a homer from right fielder Anthony Donofrio, banged out 13 hits and scored in double digits for the 15th time in 32 games.
“It didn’t surprise me,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said of his team’s resilience in the game. “We obviously have some parts of the game that we need to do better. But that’s a really good team, the best offense we faced all year by far. When they tied it up like that, to come back? That was a character win for sure at this point in the season. This is a tough place to win.”
UNC had a 2–0 lead before it made a first-inning out. Donofrio singled and stole second, and center fielder Vance Honeycutt walked and stole second. Both scored on left fielder Casey Cook’s single to right.
“I mean we’ve got one helluva a ballclub,” Donofrio said. “Didn’t get the outcome we wanted [Thursday, Friday], but this team is never out of it. You can always come back.”
It was 6–0 after Donofrio hit a 491-foot shot over the right-field wall for a two-run homer. Cook hit an RBI single and Harber an RBI double in the second inning. Virginia starter Kevin Jaxel gave up seven hits and walked two in two innings.
“I’ve been finally able to get the ball over the wall and it’s ideal. Anything I could do to help the team win, honestly, is my goal,” Donofrio said.
Virginia (26–7, 9–6) cut the Carolina lead in half with a run in the second inning and two in the third.
First baseman Henry Ford led off with a single and scored on groundout. But UNC starter Shea Sprague struck out third baseman Luke Hanson with a 92-mph fastball to leave two Cavaliers stranded.
UNC third baseman Jackson Van De Brake’s throwing error with two outs allowed a Virginia third-inning run. Cavaliers left fielder Harrison Didawick followed with an RBI single to slice UNC’s lead to 6–3.
Sprague tamed Virginia’s offense pretty well, scattering seven hits and giving up only one earned run over 4⅓ innings with no walks and five strikeouts. He retired Virginia in order twice after UNC pitchers only did it four times in the first two games.
Forbes said that what he likes about Sprague the most is his makeup.
“You can just tell he’s a tough kid, a competitor. Right now, he’s arguably one of our best,” Forbes said.
Sophomore right-hander Matthew Matthijs relieved Sprague after he gave up two one-out infield singles in the fifth. Matthijs elicited a pair of flyouts to get out of the inning but exited after giving up a walk and single in the sixth inning.
Dalton Pence came on and allowed three runs to score on back-to-back Virginia hits to tie it at 6. Matt Poston (winner, 2–0) relieved and gave up a single to load the bases but struck out Didawick swinging to get out of the inning.
After Harber and Stevenson gave UNC the lead in the top of the seven off sophomore left-hander Aiden Teel (loser, 2–2), Poston retired Virginia in order in the bottom of the inning.
Virginia played error-free baseball in the series until pitcher Jay Woolfolk’s throwing error on Honeycutt’s bunt scored a run. Harber’s single through the left side of the infield restored the six-run lead.
Right fielder Casey Saucke’s two-out RBI single scored an eighth-inning Virginia run.
NOTES — UNC plays No. 22 South Carolina at Truist Field in Charlotte at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN3) before hosting Notre Dame for a three-game weekend series beginning with a 6 p.m. Friday contest. … The Gamecocks (21–10) lost to Texas A&M 6–3 on Saturday for their third consecutive loss. … The Irish (14–14, 2–12) lost Saturday 3-2 to Clemson for their sixth consecutive loss. … This was only Carolina’s third series loss this season, after dropping two of three in late February against East Carolina and in mid-March at Miami. … Co-captain Van De Brake started for the first time since starting for six consecutive games from March 13 against Rutgers to March 22 against Georgia Tech. … Honeycutt stole two bases and has 18 on 20 attempts this season to give him 66 for his career. … It was Cook’s 16th multi-hit game of the season. … Flags at the stadium were at half-staff in memory of firefighters who died battling a recent wildfire in the area. … Carolina hasn’t been swept in a series since Clemson won all three games of the regular-season-ending series at Clemson in late May last season. … UNC leads the all-time series with Virginia 191–123–3.
No. 10 UNC 12, No. 15 Virginia 7
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Georgia Tech | 19–11 | — | 39–16 |
| No. 6 Florida State | 17–10 | ½ | 37–13 |
| No. 3 North Carolina | 18–11 | ½ | 39–12 |
| No. 22 N.C. State | 17–11 | 1 | 33–18 |
| No. 14 Clemson | 18–12 | 1 | 41–15 |
| Virginia | 16–11 | 1½ | 32–17 |
| Duke | 17–13 | 2 | 36–18 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 3 | 36–19 |
| Miami | 15–14 | 3½ | 31–23 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 15–15 | 4 | 35–20 |
| Notre Dame | 14–16 | 5 | 32–20 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–18 | 7 | 30–24 |
| Boston College | 11–19 | 8 | 26–28 |
| Stanford | 11–19 | 8 | 27–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–20 | 9 | 27–26 |
| California | 9–21 | 10½ | 22–30 |
Thursday-Saturday series
No. 16 Georgia Tech at Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 14 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 22 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 3 North Carolina at No. 6 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–3, 10 innings
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times | Opponent (current rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | |||
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sat. | 4, noon, 1 | vs. Indiana |
| 17 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Richmond |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Longwood |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 4 (Greenville), 2 (DBAP), 2 (CH) | vs. East Carolina |
| 24 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. N.C. A&T |
| 25 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. VCU |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | 4 p.m., 2 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| March | |||
| 1 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| 3 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Elon |
| 6–8 | Fri.-Sun. | 4, 2, 1 | vs. Virginia |
| 10 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Bucknell |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | 9, 5, 4 | at California |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. UNCG |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 8, 2, 1 | vs. No. 8 Louisville |
| 24 | Tuesday | 6:30 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte |
| 27–29 | Fri.-Sun. | 6:30, 3, 1 | at Notre Dame |
| 31 | Tuesday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Fri.-Sun. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (non-conference game) | vs. Duke |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Charlotte |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites |
| June | |||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics
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