By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — In a game that meant nothing in No. 7-ranked North Carolina’s pursuit of an ACC tournament title, the Tar Heels got in some early batting practice.
Playing as the visiting team, the first three UNC batters — and four of the first five — hit home runs. Casey Cook and Anthony Donofrio each swatted a pair of homers in the game as the top-seeded Tar Heels rolled to a 12–2 win Thursday over No. 12-seed Pittsburgh in their tournament opener, with freshman right-hander Jason DeCaro retiring 11 in a row to end a dominating performance.
Star center fielder Vance Honeycutt sat out the game with back spasms but Coach Scott Forbes said he expects him to play in the 7 p.m. Friday game against No. 22-ranked and No. 8-seed Wake Forest with a tournament semifinals berth on the line.
Donofrio (top photo), usually the right fielder, took over his leadoff spot and was in Honeycutt’s usual center field spot. Donofrio, who belted a three-run homer in the ninth inning and went 3 for 3 with five RBI, led off the game by hitting a 3–2 pitch over the right-field wall for a homer.
Cook and Parks Harber followed with homers to right field. With one out, Alberto Osuna rocketed a home run off the scoreboard beyond right field for his 45th career blast.
“I’ve seen a lot of things playing baseball but not many teams starting off a game like that,” Cook said.
It was the first time this season in college or the major leagues that a team has opened a game with three home runs.
Pittsburgh starter Ryan Andrade (loser, 2–3) had given up 11 home runs in 62 innings before giving up four in the first inning.
“That was impressive because they were no-doubters,” Forbes said.
Cook added a two-run blast to right field in the three-run sixth that went 416 feet.
Forbes wanted to keep his starting pitchers on their normal routine, so he started DeCaro against Pittsburgh, resisting the urge to make one of his top two starters available for a possible semifinal game Saturday.
“We wanted to try to keep him in [Shea] Sprague as close as we could to the rotation,” Forbes said. “We wanted to get Jason out there and make sure he got his work in and we also feel very confident in all three of our starters.”
DeCaro (winner, 5–1) went seven innings, tying his season-high, giving up five hits, two runs and one walk and striking out six. He also struck out six in when he beat the Panthers 7–4 on March 9.
“Getting run support like that early on is really big,” DeCaro said. “Try not to focus too much on the score. Try to just go out there and attack their guys the same. But it’s definitely nice going out there with a four-run lead.”
Going up against Wake Forest junior right-hander Chase Burns (10–1, 2.64 ERA), the ACC Pitcher of the Year, on Friday, it will be imperative for UNC to get a big outing from Sprague (3–1, 4.03 ERA), a junior right-hander.
“They’re balanced, top to bottom, they’ve got potentially, most likely, three first-round picks,” Forbes said of the Deacs. “Have a lot of respect for what they’ve done, and we’ll have to play well. But we’re not gonna back down, I can tell you that. We’re gonna get in the box and we’re gonna battle and I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Burns, a transfer from Tennessee, will try to avenge his only loss on the season, suffered in late March against the Tar Heels (42–12).
Forbes said that he’ll do whatever he has to do to beat the Deacons, even if it means using his Aidan Haugh, his No. 3 starter, in the game.
“We’ll use wherever we need to and we’ll wake up Saturday morning, if we win, and we’ll figure out where we’re gonna start,” Forbes said.
(Photo courtesy of the ACC by Nel Redmond)
Forbes could have opted to start a usual mid-week starter against Pittsburgh, start DeCaro against Wake Forest and save Sprague for a potential Saturday semifinal game.
Forbes wanted to avoid Sprague starting his first NCAA tournament game next week with two weeks of rest, which would have happened if he held Sprague until Saturday and UNC lost to Wake Forest.
In Sprague’s first start after the final exam break, with two weeks between starts, he lasted only four innings in the shortest of his last eight starts, giving up five hits, four runs and walking two against three strikeouts.
Besides UNC’s obvious desire to make the semifinals, advancing would also ensure that Haugh (4–1, 3.12 ERA) will not go two weeks between outings.
Pittsburgh (26–29), got a pair of runs in the fourth on right fielder C.J. Funk’s solo home run and second baseman Tyler Bischke’s RBI double.
UNC reliever Kyle Percival gave up one hit in one shutout inning. Connor Bovair pitched the ninth inning, striking out two.
NOTES — That was the first time that UNC has hit three consecutive home runs since Ryan Blake, Chris Maples and Chris Ianetta did it against Princeton in the sixth inning on March 20, 2002. … It was the second time this season that the Tar Heels have hit four home runs in an inning. Honeycutt, Gavin Gallaher, Harber and Osuna did it against Louisville on May 10. … Osuna’s 45 career home run puts him two away from tying Mac Horvath for fourth on UNC’s all-time list. … Donofrio led off for the first time since doing it the last of 12 consecutive games in an April 27 home game against Virginia Tech, which is also the last time Gallaher played left field (the last of five starts there). … Van De Brake started the season’s first six games at third base, but Thursday was his first start since Feb. 24. … UNC is 27–6 all-time as the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament and has reached the championship six times (4–2).
No. 7 UNC 12, Pittsburgh 2
ACC tournament
At Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Buy tickets at durhambulls.com or theacc.com/tickets
Tuesday’s first round
No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2, 8 innings
No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
No. 15 Pittsburgh 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
No. 14 Boston College 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 4, 10 innings
Wednesday’s second round
California 14, No. 8 seed Wake Forest 12
No. 5 Clemson 6, Virginia Tech 1
No. 7 Duke 4, Pittsburgh 3
Boston College 12, No. 6 Virginia 8
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s results
No. 1 seed Georgia Tech 10, California 3
Clemson 7, No. 4 seed N.C. State 6
Friday’s results
No. 2 seed Florida State 14, Duke 7
No. 3 seed North Carolina 7, Boston College 2
Saturday’s semifinals
Clemson 9, Georgia Tech 4
North Carolina 7, Florida State 5
Sunday’s championship
North Carolina 14, Clemson 4
UNC career home run leaders
| Player | Seasons | Games | Homers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vance Honeycutt | 2022–24 | 176 | 65 |
| Devy Bell | 1984–87 | 205 | 57 |
| Chris Cox | 1990–93 | 192 | 49 |
| Mac Horvath | 2021–23 | 160 | 47 |
| Alberto Osuna | 2022–24 | 176 | 45 |
| Chad Flack | 2005–08 | 267 | 42 |
| Sean Farrell | 2000–03 | 240 | 40 |
| Jarrett Shearin | 1996–99 | 241 | 40 |
| Cookie Massey | 1993–94 | 108 | 40 |
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 The ACC by Nell Redmond
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