CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - UNCG baseball earns its third win against an ACC squad this Tuesday, taking down hosts North Carolina 3-2 in Chapel Hill. The Spartans' win over the Tar Heels mark the first time they've beaten three teams from the ACC in a single season since 2015, wrapping up their midweek schedule with their 10th win of the past 12 games.
It didn't take long for the Spartans to get to Carolina starter Shawn Rapp. Leadoff man
Corey Rosier broke up the no-hitter in the first at bat of the night with an infield single before getting brought in on
Greg Hardison's third home run of the season. Working to an 0-2 count, Hardison turned on the fourth pitch of the at bat to give his side a two-run advantage while driving in his 33rd run of the 2021 season.
Base runners were hard to come by for the Spartans in the proceeding innings, with Rosier's third inning walk representing the Spartans' lone other batter to reach base safely before the sixth.
The Spartans' lack of runners wouldn't matter however as the UNCG pitching staff continued to shut down the home team's offense.
Despite giving up a solo shot,
Jacob Curry struck out three batters in his two-inning start giving up a single knock and a walk. He was followed by
Jack Voigt,
Price King and
Brendan Collins who combined for four innings of shutout baseball to preserve the visitors' advantage.
Voigt was near perfect during his 2.0 innings of relief, with a reach on a third strike wild pitch the only thing separating the lefty from facing the minimum.
King and Collins both were aided by some excellent plays in the infield, with the Spartan defense turning double plays in the fifth and sixth to help keep the Tar Heels off the board.
Pres Cavenaugh collected his first hit of the night on a single in the top of the sixth, but he and
Hogan Windish were left stranded in the frame, allowing UNC to find the equalizing run in the bottom of the eighth. Cavenaugh's offensive day wasn't over however as the right fielder tallied a one-out double in the ninth. The redshirt freshman laced a ball to right center that would roll all the way to the wall, and was in line to get thrown out at third, but a muffed throw by the Tar Hell third baseman gave the Spartans a man 90 feet from home.
Zack Budzik did his job in the following at bat, hitting a sac fly to right to score Cavenaugh to give UNCG its lead right back after relinquishing it the frame prior.
That sacrifice RBI proved to be the game-winner as
Brandon Stephens and
Kross Robinson closed out the ninth. Stephens would snake his third win of the season after coming in for the final out of the eighth, while Robinson's one-out save was his team-high fifth of the season.
>>> This is the second time in the past seven years that the Spartans have beaten three different ACC teams in a single campaign. UNCG delivered victories over NC State, Virginia Tech and UNC in 2021, while earning wins over the Wolfpack, Wake Forest and the Tar Heels in 2015. That was also the most recent season that the Spartans beat the Tar Heels
>>>
Robbie O'Neal and
Sam Koruschak both had hits on the night, with the former tallying his third two-bagger of the season
>>> The Spartans finish their 2021 midweek schedule with an 8-2 record, with those lone two losses coming to NC State and Duke by scores of 3-0 and 5-2 respectively. They finish the 2021 campaign 3-2 against ACC opponents, 4-1 against the Big South and 1-0 against Conference USA
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