UNC Downs NC State, Earns 8th ACC Baseball Title

CHARLOTTE, NC– The No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels took state bragging rights and the ACC Championship Title in a 9-5 defeat over the No. 10 NC State Wolfpack at Truist Field.  

The Tar Heels’ victory this afternoon made this their eighth ACC Championship Title.

Devonte Brown started the NC State lineup with a double down the right-field line to bring the momentum for the Wolfpack early. After a walk for Tommy White, Hood singled down the left side for Brown to put up the first run of the game. The Tar Heels answered with a home run by Honeycutt in the bottom of the first, sending Angel Zarate to home plate for UNC to take the lead 2-1.

North Carolina took over in the second inning having themselves a six-run streak. Sophomore, Tomas Frick made it to second off a fielding error while Stokely singled up the middle to put Frick in scoring position. Colby Wilkerson was then hit by a pitch to put the bases fully loaded. Angel Zarate stepped up to bat and singled up the middle for Stokely and Frick to give UNC two more runs. The inning finished with a double by Serretti allowing Wilkerson to score along with Honeycutt’s three-run homer to give the Tar Heels a big lead of 8-1.

Freshman, Max Carlson, was a vital role in the Tar Heels’ victory this afternoon. Carlson appeared in five innings where he faced 21 batters while only allowing six hits and three runs. He finished with six strikeouts to keep the Wolfpack at bay.

The Tar Heels had their last run of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a score by Mac Horvath off a wild pitch making the score 9-1. NC State added two more runs to the board in the sixth inning from a double down the left-field line by Jarrett to advance Soles and Groover III to home plate. The Pack wasn’t done yet though. The ninth inning brought hope as Nixon advanced to second off an error and was able to score off a double by Brown. Groover III followed with a single up the middle to put up another to make it a four-run game. With two outs, Bovair was able to close out the inning for UNC.

After a week of upsets, home runs, and a battle of the Carolina natives, the Tar Heels take home the hardware with their 9-5 victory.