Carolina Starts Strong In Series-Opening Run-Rule Win Over Wake Forest

Friday, April 11

Chapel Hill

6 PM

North Carolina

26-8, 0

Wake Forest

24-11, 0

Wake Forest

North Carolina

Carolina Starts Strong In Series-Opening Run-Rule Win Over Wake Forest

April 11, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: William Soulé

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Fourteen hits and two home runs paired with shutdown pitching powered North Carolina to an 11-1 run-rule victory in seven innings over Wake Forest on Friday night.

The Tar Heels (26-8, 9-7 ACC ) rode a pair of big innings and yet another gem from captain Jake Knapp to a series-opening win over the Demon Deacons. Head coach Scott Forbes' team came out of the gates firing after having to wait an extra day to get back to play with game one of the series delayed from Thursday to Friday.

The offense got rolling in the bottom of the second when four straight Heels reached safely to start. In the end, RBIs from Alex Madera, Perry Hargett, Carter French, and Jackson Van De Brake put Carolina up 4-0. French in particular came up big, laying down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt to keep the momentum going in just his second start of the season.

Madera added to his tally with a double in the third that scored Gavin Gallaher before more North Carolina fireworks in the fourth. Kane Kepley led off with a solo shot smoked to right, his second home run of the season.

A Hunter Stokely double scored Van De Brake and then Gallaher pinged a first-pitch fastball off the scoreboard in left to make it 9-0 Tar Heels. It was the seventh long ball of the season for the standout sophomore and his fourth in the last four games.

The Demon Deacons, who scored 33 runs last weekend against No. 9 Florida State, plated their lone run in this contest on a sac fly in the sixth. Knapp kept the Wake Forest bats quiet, going 5.2 innings on 116 pitches and allowing just four hits. The only walks Carolina allowed on the night were the three he had in the top of the first that resulted ended up in damage done.

In relief, Tom Chmielewski and Cale Bolton continued the good work by logging just one hit and no runs between them. With a couple of injuries popping up in the Tar Heel bullpen in recent weeks, the duo have stepped up big time. In the last week, the pair have combined for 5.0 IP of shutout work with four Ks and just three hits.

Now holding an eight-run advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth, Carolina got an RBI single from Gallaher (who finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk) before three straight free passes and a wild pitch scored Kepley in the seventh to walk it off.

The Tar Heels will look to keep the momentum going tomorrow in game two of the series against the Demon Deacons. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET with coverage coming on ESPN2.