Tag: Diamond Heels

Sweep of Wolfpack shows UNC has the momentum, swagger to possibly replicate last season’s May magic

CHAPEL HILL — From suicide-squeezing in the game-ending run in the opener to a pair of blowout victories, North Carolina’s three-game sweep of N.C. State showed that the Tar Heels have the potential to repeat the May magic of a year ago. A year after flipping the switch and surging to the ACC title before hosting a regional and a Super Regional, UNC — after never reaching low points quite as dire — appears to have flipped the switch faster than a Mac Horvath drive shoots over the outfield wall.

Knapp gives UNC second stellar start in a row as UNC rolls to finish sweep of State

CHAPEL HILL — Suddenly, Carolina’s previously struggling starting pitching is tough to beat, although N.C. State did all that it could to stop right-hander Jake Knapp on Saturday. Before the fourth inning, the Wolfpack requested that the umpires check Knapp’s cap, glove and hands for sticky substances. The short investigation produced a smile and a laugh from Knapp but no substances. And he resumed sticking it to State batters in his best outing as a Tar Heel.

Carlson masterful in return as starter; UNC rolls past State

CHAPEL HILL — A different Max Carlson took the mound Friday in his first start after three weeks in the Carolina bullpen. N.C. State couldn’t handle this version, but not that many teams could have. The junior right-hander showed the talent that made him the No. 1 starter heading into the season and got plenty of offensive support as UNC pounded rival N.C. State 9–3 Friday at a sold-out Boshamer Stadium for its fourth straight win to earn a second consecutive series victory over the Wolfpack.

Carolina gives Forbes five-year contract extention

After getting Carolina into the NCAA tournament in his first two seasons as head coach and on his way to doing it for a third consecutive year, UNC gave baseball coach Scott Forbes a five-year contract extension on Friday. The new contract means that Forbes, whose team won its third consecutive game Thursday night with a 9–8 victory over rival N.C. State, is under contract through the 2028 season.

Resilient Tar Heels rally from rough start for huge win over State

CHAPEL HILL — The maddening pattern of short outings by starters again threw Carolina’s bullpen for a loop. But the resilient Tar Heels, with yeoman work from the relievers, rallied to overcome it this time. Eric Grintz tied it with a pinch-hit RBI triple to right field in the ninth inning. Colby Wilkerson scored pinch-runner Carter French on a suicide squeeze with one out to give UNC a thrilling 9–8 victory Thursday at Boshamer Stadium.

With ‘chip on their shoulders,’ Heels could get on a roll, starting this weekend against Pack

CHAPEL HILL — As North Carolina’s baseball season has progressed through tough one-run losses and big wins, it’s clear that the Tar Heels are at a different level when, as Coach Scott Forbes says, they play with a chip on their shoulders. Junior third baseman Mac Horvath has talked about the need for UNC to play with a purpose and not be joking around after a defeat as if losing is acceptable, telling the team that in a players-only meeting last month.

After words exchanged in heated moment, fired-up UNC knocks off Gardner-Webb for Forbes’ 100th win as Horvath powers to history

CHAPEL HILL — What was supposed to be an easy tune-up for North Carolina ahead of a big weekend series with N.C. State turned into an unexpected battle with heated words exchanged. UNC’s 5–4 come-from-behind victory over Gardner-Webb at Boshamer Stadium on Tuesday night marked the 100th victory as head coach for Scott Forbes, while junior third baseman Mac Horvath blasted into program history. But the craziness of the seventh and eighth innings made for a wild Bark at the Bosh night.

UNC gets outstanding pitching, Honeycutt HR in huge victory at No. 14 ECU despite season-low three hits

With three rested pitchers, North Carolina got its best overall pitching performance in weeks on a night that the Tar Heels needed it to win. UNC collected a season-low three hits, but they were enough as the Tar Heels got a huge 2–1 victory Wednesday at a soldout Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville over No. 14 East Carolina to snap a three-game losing streak against the Pirates.

UNC, in last five out last week, now projected to make the NCAA baseball field

The latest D1 Baseball projection of the NCAA tournament field has Carolina as the No. 3 seed in the Conway, S.C., regional, with No. 8 Coastal Carolina as the host. That projection has No. 13 East Carolina (31–11), which lost to the Tar Heels (29–17) 2–1 in Greenville on Wednesday, as the No. 2 seed in that regional, with Maine as the No. 4 seed.

UNC’s woes against ranked teams and in one-run games continue against No. 13 Camels

CHAPEL HILL — With final exams underway at Carolina, the Tar Heels failed in the first of two tests this week against ranked teams as their frustrations in one-run games continued. UNC got stellar defense and some, but not enough, timely hitting, but it wasn’t enough as No. 13 Campbell rallied for a 6–5 victory Tuesday at Boshamer Stadium to end a seven-game skid against the Tar Heels.

After Hokies’ talk in contentious first inning, UNC does talking with bats, sweeps doubleheader to win series

In a game that started with a lot of talk and cockiness from Virginia Tech, the Tar Heels did their talking with their bats. Tomas Frick, in the middle of a first-inning dust-up, gave Carolina the lead for good with a two-run fourth-inning home run. The Heels beat the Hokies 13–7 to sweep the Saturday doubleheader at English Field in Blacksburg, Va., and win an ACC series after losing the previous two.

Horvath’s two HRs, 7 RBI power UNC to much-needed win over Hokies

Scoreless in the previous 13 innings, Carolina needed a spark to break out of an offensive funk. Enter Mac Horvath. The junior third baseman swung so hard that he lunged over the plate during his backswing. His fourth-inning drive went 416 feet, well over the left-field fence, for a grand slam and flipped the Tar Heels’ fortunes in a game they had to have.