Power Surge Leads Baseball Past Duke

Friday, March 18

Durham, NC

4 p.m.

North Carolina

16-2, 0

Duke

10-8, 0

North Carolina

Duke

Alberto Osuna's (23) solo homer to left puts Caroina up 8-5 in the eighth.

Alberto Osuna hits his second homer of the game.

Photo by: Joe Bray

March 18, 2022 | Baseball

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By: Jody Jones

DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina batters homered to lead off each of the first three innings and the Diamond Heels posted 10-5 victory over Duke in the first game of a three-game ACC Coastal series at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Friday.

The 15^th-ranked Diamond Heels (16-2, 4-0) collected 12 hits, including five home runs to earn its first win away from Boshamer Stadium this season.

Freshman Vance Honeycutt started the power surge with a home run to lead off the game, followed by Alberto Osuna with a home run to start the second inning with Johnny Castagnozzi homering to lead off the third inning.

Osuna also homered to lead off the eighth inning and finished with a season-high three RBIs. Danny Serretti joined the offensive attack with a two-run home run in the seventh.

The Diamond Heels held a 5-1 lead through 4.5 innings before Duke (10-8, 1-3) scored three total runs in the fourth and sixth innings to make it a one-run game after six innings.

Carolina answered with a total of three runs across the seventh and eighth innings before adding two insurance runs in the ninth inning. Castagnozzi doubled to the gap into left center field to plate the first run and Osuna followed with an RBI ground to score the other.

Kyle Mott (5-0) picked up his third win in the last five games with three strikeouts in three innings pitched. Marcus Johnson (1-4) took the loss for the Blue Devils, allowing five runs on seven hits, including three home runs, with four walks.

NOTABLES
• North Carolina is off to a 4-0 start in ACC play for the first time since 2012 when it opened league play by winning its first five games.
• Carolina homered in each of the first three innings for the first time since March 17, 2019 against Miami (Aaron Sabato, Dylan Harris, Aaron Sabato).
• The Diamond Heels have outscored the Blue Devils 41-16 in the last three games in the series.
• Angel Zarate reached on an error in the top of the first to extend his on-base streak to 41 games, tying Logan Warmoth for the most consecutive games reaching base in the Super Regional era. He singled in the top of the second to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.
• Castagnozzi homered for the third time in four games. He homered in each of the final two games of the Pitt series before going hitless against VMI on Tuesday. Castagnozzi collected multiple hits for fifth time in the last six games.
• Tomas Frick drove in a run for the third straight game and leads the team with 18 RBIs on the season. He had 15 total RBIs in 2021.
• Honeycutt swiped his league leading 14th stolen base of the season.
• Shawn Rapp made his NCAA leading 13^th appearance of the season. He struck out the only batter he faced on three pitches.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Honeycutt hit a home run over the left field wall on a 2-2 pitch to lead off the game (UNC 1, DU 0).
• Serretti singled through the left side to drive home Zarate in the top of the first (UNC 2, DU 0).
• Duke's RJ Schreck hit a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the first (UNC 2, DU 1).
• Osuna hit a home run over the left field monster to lead off the second inning (UNC 3, DU 0).
• Castagnozzi homered to lead off the third inning (UNC 4, DU 1).
• Frick singled to right to plate Honeycutt from second base in the top of the fourth (UNC 5, DU 1).
• Duke's Graham Pauley scored on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the fourth (UNC 5, DU 2).
• The Blue Devils Luke Storm hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning (UNC 5, DU 4).
• Serretti hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning (UNC 7, DU 4).
• Schreck hit a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the seventh (UNC 7, DU 5).
• Osuna blasted a solo home to left field in the top of the eighth (UNC 8, DU 5).
• Castagnozzi doubled to the left-center field gap to drive Frick in from first base in the top of the ninth (UNC 9, DU 5).
• Osuna plated Castagnozzi on an RBI ground out in the ninth (UNC 10, DU 5).

UP NEXT
The Diamond Heels and Blue Devils will resume their three-game series Saturday, March 19, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be televised on the ACC Network.