By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina’s pitching mostly held Virginia Tech’s offense in check again, but the No. 15 Tar Heels couldn’t get enough big hits to back that up.
UNC went 2 of 16 with runners on base as the Hokies salvaged a game in the three-game series with a 4–3 victory Sunday at Boshamer Stadium. The Heels held Virginia Tech to four runs or fewer in three consecutive games for the first time this season.
“That can happen sometimes,” Forbes said of his team’s inability to hit with runners on. “Unfortunately, it happened to us today. It tells you how good this team is, losing just by one run still. If you pitch and defend, you’ll be in every game and that’s why we were in the game.”
It was the first home league loss in 371 days (a 6–2 defeat on April 23, 2023, as Boston College finished a three-game sweep) for UNC (33–11, 17–7 ACC), its first defeat in an ACC series finale this season and the first time the Heels have scored fewer than four runs since the 2–1 loss to South Carolina on April 9.
Carolina’s last five losses have all come by one run, dropping the Tar Heels to 7–7 in one-run games. The defense continues to be solid as the Tar Heels have had two consecutive error-free ACC series.
“Hitting’s hard; you’re going to have days like that,” said Forbes, whose team leads the ACC Coastal Division by three games over No. 6 Duke and No. 14 Virginia. “They’re going to be ticked off if they lose a game. There’s nothing I have to say to them.”
Reliever Dalton Pence gave UNC a chance, coming in with a runner at second and one out in the ninth inning. He got a fly out and struck out center fielder Chris Cannizzaro looking to end the inning.
After first baseman Parks Harber (top photo) led off the ninth inning with a single to left field for his third hit, right fielder Anthony Donofrio lined out to second. Designated hitter Alberto Osuna, representing the potential winning run, just got under the ball on a drive that ended up as a fly out to center field, and catcher Luke Stevenson struck out swinging to end the game.
“When Dalton came in and got that out, and we’re down by one, I was like, ‘We’ll find a way to win this game,’ ” Forbes said. “Donofrio gets the ball a little more down to right or Berto gets the bat head out a little bit more, we probably celebrate a walkoff — potentially — with Berto.”
Junior Hokies reliever Brady Kirtner befuddled the Tar Heels for four innings with his curveball before UNC finally got to him in the eighth inning. Kirtner, who struck out five in 4⅓ innings, came out after giving up a leadoff single to third baseman Gavin Gallaher and an RBI single to second baseman Alex Madera.
“His breaking ball is elite,” Forbes said. “It is a nasty breaking ball. It’s hard to time it up, and he was able to mix that for a strike when he needed it and reach back 92, 93 [mph] at times. He also threw some changeups to get some big strikeouts.”
In the third start for junior right-hander Aidan Haugh (loser, 3–1), he gave up more runs (3) in four innings and 71 pitches than in his first two starts combined (2).
All the runs off him came on homers that just cleared the outfield fence — left fielder Ben Watson’s solo shot to right in the first inning and shortstop Clay Grady’s two-run blast in the fourth, just beyond the reach of leaping left fielder Casey Cook.
“Our guys battled, and I didn’t think Aidan had his best stuff. He still battling, didn’t have that perfect control that he’s had recently,” Forbes said.
The big bright spot for the Tar Heels on a frustrating day was the performance of the last four relievers — Kyle Percival, Matthew Matthijs, Matt Poston and Pence — who combined to give up three hits and strikeout seven over the last 5⅔ innings.
“He looked as good as he’s looked in a long time,” Forbes said of Poston, who struck out four and gave up two hits in 2⅓ innings. “So that’s the positive off of it.”
Virginia Tech starter Griffin Steig was injured after throwing three pitches and allowing Madera to reach on an error. Jacob Exum, his relief, gave up a two-out Harber RBI single that fell in front of Hokies right fielder Sam Tackett.
Osuna led off the second inning with a double to center and scored on third baseman Gavin Gallaher’s sacrifice fly to center to give UNC a 2–1 lead.
The Hokies (27–14, 13–11) took a 4–2 lead on Cannizzaro’s RBI single to center in the fifth inning off right-handed reliever Connor Bovair, who gave up two hits in ⅓ of an inning. Pence came on and avoided further damage, eliciting a flyout before striking out third baseman Carson DeMartini.
NOTES — UNC continues a stretch of four games in five days ahead of a six-day final exam break with home games at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ACC Network) against Charlotte and 6 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN3) against William & Mary. Forbes said that his weekend starters won’t start either game. The 49ers (20–24) lost to UAB 5–1 on Sunday. The Tribe (26–18) lost at home Sunday to UNCW 18–6. … Final exams at UNC start Thursday, with the Tar Heels returning from the break on Tuesday, May 7, at home against Campbell, which has wins over No. 6 Duke, No. 7 East Carolina and No. 21 N.C. State. … UNC center fielder Vance Honeycutt covered substantial ground to his left to make a terrific play on a Gehrig Ebel drive to the right-center warning track that ended the second inning. … UNC speedster Kaleb Cost, used frequently as a pinch-runner, was in a walking boot and is out indefinitely after suffering a stress reaction in his left foot. … DeMartini, who stuck his tongue out at UNC catcher Tomas Frick after hitting a home run last season, struck out in all four at-bats Sunday. … UNC’s Aranza Vazquez, who has won four NCAA diving national championships, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. … UNC has won six of the last eight with Virginia Tech and leads the all-time series 83–33–3, including 49–17–2 in Chapel Hill. … It was only Carolina’s second loss in the third game of a series and first since falling to East Carolina on Feb. 25.
Virginia Tech 4, No. 15 UNC 3
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 UNC Athletics by Ainsley Fauth
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