North Carolina
6-3
VCU
2-6
Van De Brake Homers Twice To Finish Sweep Of VCU
March 1, 2023 | Baseball
UNC (6-3) matched its season-high for hits with 15, including six for extra bases. Van De Brake and Mac Horvath each registered three hits, and Alberto Osuna, Eric Grintz and Colby Wilkerson recorded two hits apiece.
The Tar Heels have hit three or more home runs in each of the last three games and four of the past five after hitting two total home runs in the first four games of the season.
Van De Brake hit his first home run in the bottom of the third inning, crushing a 2-0 pitch over the left field wall with two runners on board to give UNC a 7-4 lead. Eric Grintz drew a walk and Alberto Osuna singled in Horvath with the game-tying run ahead of Van De Brake.
Both teams exchanged runs in the fourth and Will Carlone singled in two runs for the Rams in the top of the sixth inning to make it a one-run game.
Honeycutt drove in the Tar Heels' next two runs with a home run in the sixth and a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 10-7 before UNC put up four runs in the eighth.
Grintz laced a single inside the third base line that rolled into the left field corner and plated two runs. Van De Brake then put the game away with a two-run home run to make it 14-8.
VCU (2-6) got two runs in the ninth to set the final score.
The Tar Heels used a season-high eight pitchers with Kevin Eaise (1-1) earning the win, pitching 2.1 innings. Justin Walton (0-1) took the loss, giving up three runs on three hits in one-third of an inning.
UNC returns to the diamond on Friday, March 3, when it opens a three-game weekend series against Stony Brook. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eaise, Kevin (1-1)
L: Walton, Justin (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Bean, William 1 ; Carlone, Will 1
HR: Mathis, AJ 1 ; Amiss, Logan 1 ; O'Bryan, Scottie 1
RBI: Mathis, AJ 1 ; Carlone, Will 3 ; Amiss, Logan 3 ; O'Bryan, Scottie 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Mathis, AJ 1 ; Benzin, Cooper 2 ; Bean, William 2 ; Carlone, Will 2 ; Amiss, Logan 1 ; Boone, Griffin 1 ; O'Bryan, Scottie 1
SB: Mathis, AJ 1 ; Eike, Brandon 1 ; Boone, Griffin 1
HBP: Gibbs, Casey 1
Batting:
2B: Horvath, Mac 1 ; Grintz, Eric 1 ; Wilkerson, Colby 1
HR: Honeycutt, Vance 1 ; Van De Brake, Jackson 2
RBI: Honeycutt, Vance 2 ; Osuna, Alberto 1 ; Grintz, Eric 2 ; Van De Brake, Jackson 5 ; Alvarez, Patrick 1 ; Wilkerson, Colby 2
SF: Honeycutt, Vance 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Honeycutt, Vance 1 ; Horvath, Mac 2 ; Cook, Casey 1 ; Osuna, Alberto 2 ; French, Carter 1 ; Grintz, Eric 3 ; Van De Brake, Jackson 3 ; Alvarez, Patrick 1
SB: Horvath, Mac 1
HBP: Grintz, Eric 1 ; Van De Brake, Jackson 1
