By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Excellent pitching and just enough offense has been a dependable formula in ACC play for No. 19 North Carolina. On Thursday, the Tar Heels mixed in smart base running and an outstanding defensive play to hold on for the win.
Senior right-hander Jake Knapp has authored a gem in the opening game for the third straight series since taking over the top starting spot. Knapp overcame one bad pitch to lead the Tar Heels to a 4–3 victory over Duke before a season-high 4,045 fans at Boshamer Stadium on Thursday night, but it nearly slipped away.
“What a great game, great crowd,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said after the Tar Heels (23–7, 7–6) earned their straight win over the Blue Devils (20–11, 7–6) and 13th in the last 17 meetings.
Clinging to that one-run lead with runners at second and third with one out in the ninth inning, shortstop Alex Madera saved the game with a play that was No. 3 on ESPN “SportsCenter” top plays.
Playing well to the right of second base on a shift, a shot off the bat of Duke center fielder AJ Gracia went off the glove of UNC reliever Walker McDuffie. Madera snagged the ball, sped to touch second base, then zipped a throw to outstretched first baseman Hunter Stokely to beat Gracia at first for the game-ending double play.
“I saw it coming to me,” Madera said. “I knew that I had to try and give my best effort to make a play. Luckily, I was able to get to the bag quick and just sling it over first. Stokely made a good stretch.”
They had to wait for a lengthy replay review to confirm that the game was over, and Madera said he got no help from Stokely in relieving his anxiety while waiting for the decision.
“We always ask Stokely, ‘Was he out or safe?’ and Stokely always has an answer for you,” Madera said of when there is a review of a play at first. “Of course, this time he’s like, ‘I don’t know.’ We had a pretty good idea. But with Stokely not saying anything …”
Senior second baseman Jackson Van De Brake, one of the hitting heroes of the game, had a good vantage point.
“To make that throw on the run was unreal,” he said. “It was really, really cool, and we kind of expect that out of him these days.”
That only was enough for the win because of left fielder Perry Hargett’s insurance run in the eighth inning. He ripped a two-out double down the left-field line and hustled home from second after Duke second baseman Jake Berger’s error.
“Perry hustling around there got us the win,” said Forbes, who gave an emphatic fist bump as Perry scored. “When he’s going that hard, you think, ‘OK, why wouldn’t we send him right there?’ Perry never slowed down, and that gave him the opportunity to slide in there safe.”
Van De Brake was huge, going 2 for 4 with a big two-run homer. He’s come around offensively, thanks to work with hitting coach Jesse Wierzbicki.
“We feel like he’s back in that mechanical spot he was in in 2023, and I thought he really had some good swings,” Forbes said.
Carolina needed the bats at the bottom of the order, with Van De Brake in the eight hole and Hargett going 2 for 3 in the nine hole, since UNC got only one hit out of the top six batters in the order.
“I think that that’s something that our lineup can do,” Van De Brake said. “We can hit one through nine, get on base, one through nine, and our one through four guys have won us games. You can’t expect them to go out and do that every single day. So, bottom of the lineup has to be productive.”
Forbes isn’t worried about the top of the order, knowing that players such as Tyson Bass and Luke Stevenson are going to come around.
“I know how good they are. They’re a hit away — it’s just a matter when they get going,” Forbes said.
Knapp (above), who D1 Baseball named mid-season All-American this week, moved to 6–0 with another masterful start, giving up four hits, two runs, and one walk while striking out two in seven innings.
“His fastball command wasn’t as good as it’s been for both sides of the plate. That tells you how good he is,” Forbes said.
Six days after throwing 115 pitches in a win over Miami, he threw 112 and has gone seven innings in four of his last five starts.
Knapp elicited plenty of fly balls, with one going out — right fielder Tyler Albright’s two-run homer in the fourth inning — and 11 others going for outs, two of those caught at the wall.
Duke starter Owen Proksch (loser, 1–1), a junior left-hander, needed only 14 pitches to retire UNC in order over the first two innings, but UNC made him throw 59 in the third and fourth innings combined. He left in the fifth inning after hitting two of the last three batters he faced to give him five hit batsmen for the game.
The first four Tar Heel batters reached base in the third, and the second hit by pitch of the inning forced in Madera, who led off with a single to left. After Proksch struck out three consecutive Tar Heels swinging to get out of the bases-loaded jam, Duke took a 2–1 lead. Albright’s homer followed the leadoff man who reached on Stokely’s error.
“I think if they score more there, that momentum grows,” Forbes said of the bases-loaded situation.
Van De Brake, who ripped a single to left in the third, lofted a high-arching drive (a 42-degree launch angle) that went 348 feet and just cleared the left-field fence in the fourth inning for his first home run of the year. The two-run blast came after Madera reached on a fielder’s choice, giving UNC a 3–2 lead.
“It felt good. The coolest thing was just being in that spot [after the inning before, there were] guys on base we only got one across,” Van De Brake (below) said.
Freshman right-hander Ryan Lynch retired Duke in order in the eighth inning but gave way to McDuffie, a freshman right-hander, after the first three batters reached in the ninth inning on a passed ball after a strikeout, a walk and a hit batsman. Madera’s big play ended the game after McDuffie elicited a groundout that scored one run as McDuffie recorded his third save.
NOTES — UNC sophomore right-hander Jason DeCaro (4–2, 3.86 ERA) opposes Duke junior left-hander Andrew Healy (2–2, 7.25 ERA) at 6 p.m. Friday (ACC Network Extra), with Carolina senior right-hander Aidan Haugh (3–2, 1.69) pitching in the 2 p.m. Saturday finale (ACC Network Extra). Duke hasn’t named a starter for the third game. … Friday’s game is nearly a sellout and Saturday’s game is sold out. … UNC’s Kane Kepley got hit by pitches three times and leads the ACC with 16 hit by pitches. … Six Tar Heels got hit by pitches, which tied for the most since an April 7, 2002, game at Wake Forest. … UNC field hockey coach Erin Matson threw out the ceremonial first pitch, zinging a 50.7 mph pitch over the plate. … Carolina has 17 home runs in 21 home games. … UNC leads the all-time series with Duke 201–107–2, including 112–47–1 in Chapel Hill.
No. 19 UNC 4, Duke 3
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Time/ score | Opponent | TV */ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 14–15 | Fri.-Sat. | W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2 | vs. Texas Tech | 3–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 12–9 | vs. Kansas State | 4–0 |
| 22–24 | Sat.-Mon. | W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4 | vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville) | 7–0 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 7–4 | vs. VCU | 8–0 |
| 26 | Wednesday | W, 13–4 | vs. N.C. A&T | 9–0 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 16–2 | vs. Stony Brook | 10–0 |
| March | ||||
| 1–2 | Sat.-Sun. | W, 6–1; W, 9–5 | vs. Stony Brook | 12–0 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 6–4 (11) | vs. Coastal Carolina | 13–0 |
| 7–9 | Fri.-Sun. | L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0 | vs. No. 20 Stanford | 14–2, 1–2 ACC |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 7–3 (10) | at UNCW | 15–2 |
| 14, 16 | Fri., Sun. | L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0 | at No. 18 Louisville | 16–4, 2–4 |
| 19 | Wednesday | L, 5–1 | vs. UConn | 16–5 |
| 21–23 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7) | at Boston College | 18–6, 4–5 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 13–8 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 19–7 |
| 28–30 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2 | vs. Miami | 21–7, 6–6 |
| April | ||||
| 1 | Tuesday | W, 11–1 (7) | vs. Gardner-Webb | 22–7 |
| 3 | Thursday | W, 4–3 | vs. Duke | 23–7, 7–6 |
| 4–5 | Fri.–Sat. | 6, 2 | vs. Duke | |
| 8 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at Elon | |
| 10–12 | Thu.–Sat. | 7, 6, 1 | vs. No. 16 Wake Forest | ACCN/ESPN2 (Thur./Sat.) |
| 15 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Charlotte | |
| 18–20 | Fri.–Sun. | 7, 3, 1 | at Virginia Tech | ACCN (Sunday) |
| 22 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Presbyterian | |
| 25–27 | Fri.–Sun. | 6, 3, 1 | at Pittsburgh | |
| 29 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. George Mason | |
| 30 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens | |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Campbell | |
| 9–11 | Fri.–Sun | 6, noon, 1 | vs. N.C. State | |
| 13 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW | |
| 15–17 | Thu.–Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | at No. 4 Florida State | ACCN (Thursday) |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 20–25 | Tue.–Sun. | Single-elimination event | Durham Bulls Athletic Park | |
| 30–31 | Fri.–Sat. | NCAA regionals | Campus sites | |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | NCAA regionals | Campus sites | |
| 6–8 | Fri.–Sun. | Super Regionals | Campus sites | |
| 18–30 | Wed.–Mon. | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
* Unless otherwise indicated, games only stream on ACC Network Extra.
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics
tarheeltribune.com 