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Sports

Tar Heels Roll Past UNCW In Last Home Baseball Game

Graham Kalish

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina improved to 25-22 after a 14-9 win over UNCW (29-18) Tuesday night which marked the Tar Heels’ fourth-straight victory.

After Caleb Cozart sat the Seahawks down in order in the opening frame, Ange Zarate smoked a leadoff triple down the right-field line. The Tar Heels took the 1-0 lead after Justice Thompson recorded a sacrifice fly a batter later.

Carolina exploded for eight runs in the second inning, which was highlighted by home runs from Danny Serretti and Mac Horvath. After Horvath led-off the inning with a single, Serretti hit his eighth home run of the season to put the up three.

Following a single from Johnny Castagnozzi, the Tar Heels drew four-consecutive walks, which included two wild pitches, and Carolina found itself up 5-0. With Brett Centracchio and Caleb Roberts on base, Horvath hit his third home run in his last five games to extend the lead to 9-0.

UNCW posted a two-run third inning and added another run in the fifth with an RBI groundout to second base.

North Carolina answered in the half-home of the fifth when UNC scored on its third wild pitch of the night. In the sixth, Zarate touched home after the Seahawks’ fourth wild pitch allowed UNC to take an 11-3 lead.

The Seahawks roared back and scored five in the seventh, and one in the eighth, to cut the lead to five, but UNC rebounded with a three-spot in the half-half of the eight to pull away.

Thompson recorded his second sacrifice fly in the eighth before Caleb Roberts smoked an RBI single to plate Zarate. According to the UNC Analytics team, Roberts’ single came off of his bat at 102.9 miles per hour. Horvath collected his third hit of the night to polish off the scoring and notched his first three-hit game of his Carolina career.

Horvath led UNC at the plate and finished the night 3-for-5, which included four RBI and a home run. Zarate and Serretti each added a pair of hits.

Connor Ollio picked up the win in relief, pitching 2.1 innings yielding two hits, one run, three walks, and a pair of strikeouts.

Nik Pry collected his fourth save of the year after he tossed 3.0 innings. He surrendered four hits and one run but added four punchouts.

The Tar Heels will finish the 2021 regular season at Georgia Tech with a three-game set that is set to begin on Thursday.