By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — The ace stuff was back for freshman right-hander Jason DeCaro.
In a huge bounce-back game after a rough night at N.C. State, DeCaro was masterful in the best outing of his college career, as No. 15 North Carolina rolled to an 8–1 victory Friday over Virginia Tech at Boshamer Stadium.
Carolina (32–10, 16–6 ACC) leads the Coastal Division by three games over No. 6 Duke, which lost at home Friday to No. 10 Florida State 4–2.
“I had more stuff working today,” said the 6–5 DeCaro, who struck out eight and threw 105 pitches in 7+ shutout innings, all season-highs, allowing four hits and two walks. “I felt like I could throw all four of my pitches for strikes, and that’s huge. I definitely couldn’t do that last week. I couldn’t make an adjustment. Today, I was really able to, and also going after guys.”
The Hokies (26–13, 12–10) came into the game with an ACC-leading 78 home runs, averaging 8.9 runs per game, but they were no match for DeCaro (winner, 3–1). It was only the third time Virginia Tech had scored fewer than three runs.
“DeCaro was the story of the game,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “He set the pace and was outstanding from the beginning until we took him out.”
DeCaro, who still had a fastball in the mid-90s at the end, repeatedly used his changeup to keep Virginia Tech hitters off stride.
“They had a lot of lefties, and that’s a big pitch I throw against lefties and that was good having that working today,” DeCaro said. “We worked hard this week to get better at that, and think I’m on the right track.”
DeCaro’s dominant game came one start and eight days after needing 67 pitches to get through a season-low 2⅓ innings, when he gave up five runs to the Wolfpack in a 9–8 loss.
“He’s a tough kid. He’s not really one you have to talk to,” said Forbes, who didn’t discuss that State outing with DeCaro, and didn’t hesitate to bring him out for the seventh and eighth innings. “He’s got that it factor. I know he’s young, but you know it when you see it. He got better when he needed to make a big pitch.”
It was the first time DeCaro made it through the seventh inning this season after starting the seventh three other times. He admitted that his teammates had been teasing him about being unable to get past 6⅓ innings.
“To go back out there for the eighth inning was a big amount of confidence from the coaches, letting me go out there and go after guys,” DeCaro said. “Maybe it didn’t end the way I wanted to. But I think overall, I felt awesome.”
DeCaro’s first three-ball count came against catcher Henry Cooke in the third inning. He came back from a 3–0 count to strike him out, then struck out shortstop Clay Grady looking on three pitches.
He retired the first 11 batters before left fielder Chris Cannizzaro’s two-out single in the fourth inning.
DeCaro left to a loud, standing ovation after giving up a leadoff single in the eighth inning. Redshirt sophomore left-hander Dalton Pence took it from there.
“It was really good,” DeCaro said of his walk from the mound to the dugout. “The fans really came out tonight and showed up, and it was great. Coming out, it was awesome seeing the looks on my teammates’ faces. Hard not to smile after that.”
Pence retired the next four batters before Hokies third baseman Carson DeMartini broke up the shutout with a one-out solo homer to right-center field in the ninth inning. Pence struck out four in two innings, including the last two batters, as the Hokies fanned 12 times.
Cannizzaro mistimed a diving attempt to catch right fielder Anthony Donofrio’s leadoff drive in the first inning. Donofrio got a triple and scored on center fielder Vance Honeycutt’s sacrifice fly.
First baseman Parks Harber launched a changeup 416 feet over the trees behind the left-field fence for a three-run homer after Honeycutt walked and left fielder Casey Cook singled in the third inning. That ended the evening for Hokies starter Jeremy Neff (loser, 0–1), who gave up six hits and six runs.
“I thought our guys played a complete game,” Forbes said. “Big swing of the bat by Parks Harber.”
An RBI triple to left by second baseman Alex Madera and an RBI single to center by shortstop Colby Wilkerson added a pair of runs in the fourth. UNC scored a run in the fifth on Madera’s bases-loaded walk and an unearned seventh-inning run.
NOTES — The series resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday (ESPN3), with Carolina left-hander Shea Sprague (2–1, 3.71 ERA) opposing Virginia Tech right-hander Brett Renfrow (5–1, 3.50 ERA). In Sunday’s 1 p.m. series finale (ESPN3), UNC right-hander Aidan Haugh (3–0, 3.06 ERA) takes on Hokies right-hander Griffin Stieg (3–2, 4.79 ERA). … Forbes said freshman Folger Boaz is likely out for the season but didn’t specify what the pitcher is dealing with. … Nearly two dozen former players and staffers from the 1984 ACC championship team will be at a 40-year anniversary celebration Saturday, including Olympians Scott Bankhead and All-ACC picks Jeff Hubbard and Todd Wilkinson. Former head coach Mike Roberts will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. … UNC has won five of the last six games with Virginia Tech and leads the all-time series 82–32–3, including 48–16–2 in Chapel Hill.
No. 15 UNC 8, Va. Tech 1
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. |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics by Ainsley Fauth
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