North Carolina
Baseball Pulls Away From Wagner With Six-Run Sixth – University of North Carolina Athletics
Freshman Folger Boaz (1-0) earned the victory while making his Tar Heel debut, surrendering one run with five strikeouts against one walk in 5.0 innings pitched. Senior Matt Poston struck out a pair on one inning of relief before Aidan Haugh struck out the side in the ninth to close the game.
UNC (1-0) collected 11 hits, seven off the bats of four newcomers. Georgia transfer Parks Harber went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and graduate transfer Anthony Donofrio was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Freshmen Gavin Gallaher and Luke Stevenson recorded their first hits, donning Carolina Blue.
Colby Wilkerson, who collected two hits and a pair of RBIs, ignited the sixth inning with a double inside the right field line, which plated Stevenson and Gallaher, pushing the Tar Heels to a four-run lead. Vance Honeycutt followed with a two-run homer.
Donofrio tripled to center field to bring home Harber in the sixth before scoring on a fielding error to cap the outburst.
Carolina tacked on an additional run in the seventh.
Wagner starter Frankie Wright (0-1) took the loss after he allowed three runs in five innings pitched.
The series resumes Saturday, Feb. 17, at noon inside Boshamer Stadium, with UNC senior right-hander Ben Peterson slated to face off against Wagner junior right-hander Connor Hayden.
NOTABLES:
• Boaz became the first Tar Heel to make his Carolina debut as the opening-day starting pitcher since Ryan Snare in 1998.
• Honeycutt homered on opening day for the second time in his career. He hit two home runs as a freshman against Seton Hall in the first game of the 2022 season. He hit his 38th career home run and is two home runs shy of becoming the fourth member of UNC’s career 40-40 club.
• Honeycutt made his third consecutive opening-day start, while Wilkerson and Casey Cook made their second straight.
• Eight players made their Tar Heel debuts: Boaz, Eliot Dix, Donofrio, Gallaher, Harber, Aidan Haugh, Parker Haskin, and Stevenson.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Cook scored the game’s first run on a base hit to left field by Donofrio in the bottom of the first. Jackson Van De Brake drove home the second run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the inning (UNC, 2-0).
• Connor Roche plated Xavier Baker in the top of the fifth with a base hit to right field (UNC, 2-1).
• Honeycutt scored on a sac fly by Harber in the bottom of the fifth inning (UNC, 3-1).
• Gallaher and Stevenson scored on a double to right field by Wilkerson in the sixth inning (UNC, 5-1).
• Wilkerson scored on Honeycutt’s sixth-inning two-run homer (UNC, 7-1).
• Donofrio tripled to center field, scoring Harber from first base (UNC, 8-1).
• Donofrio scored on a fielding error for the Tar Heels’ final run of the sixth inning (UNC, 9-1).
• Roche homered for the Seahawks in the seventh (UNC, 9-2).
• After being hit by a pitch and stealing second, Honeycutt scored on a fielding error in the eighth inning (UNC, 10-2).
• Wagner’s David Melfi homered in the top half of the eighth inning to score the game’s final run (UNC, 10-3).
Friends and family members gathered in Washington state on Saturday, remembering former Miss North Carolina Carrie Everett, who died on Easter Sunday. Another memorial service is planned in North Carolina next month.
Web Editor : Sydney Ross
Posted
Virginia 3, North Carolina 0 | First Quarter
Virginia 3, North Carolina 0 | Q1 8:19
After a faceoff win by Henry Metz, Brendan Millon finds Truitt Sunderland to give the Hoos a 3-0 lead. Timeout North Carolina.
Virginia 2, North Carolina 0 | Q1 9:00
Brendan Millon gets the scoring started for the Cavaliers with a question mark style goal. On the defensive end, Jake Marek opens the game with three early saves with his third save setting up a transition goal by Tommy Snyder.
Virginia vs North Carolina pregame notes
UVA owns a 59-33 advantage since the series began in 1938.
The 59 wins are UVA’s most against any opponent in program history (followed by 51 against Duke).
In Chapel Hill last year, the Tar Heels defeated the Cavaliers 18-9, snapping UVA’s six-game series win streak.
UVA has won nine of the last 11 meetings, dating back to 2018.
The Hoos have won the last two meetings with Carolina at Klöckner Stadium, 11-4 in 2022 and 14-6 in 2024.
The Tar Heels’ four goals in 2022 marked the fewest goals in a game under Joe Breschi, who was named UNC’s head coach in 2006.
The last time the Tar Heels knocked off the Cavaliers at Klöckner was a 16-13 decision during the first of three games between the two teams in 2021.
Later that year, UVA claimed back-to-back meetings against the Heels, including in the NCAA semifinals on the way to capturing the 2021 national title over Maryland.
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HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Fire crews are responding to a brush fire near Howard Gap Road in Hendersonville on Friday evening.
The fire is across the street from the Ebenezer Baptist Church and near the Highlands Square Shopping Center.
Henderson County Fire Marshal Glen Gillette said crews are fighting “blowdown from Helene.”
NEW WILDFIRES IGNITE IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA FOREST AMID WORSENING DROUGHT
Around 11 p.m., the fire appears larger than it did an hour ago because crews are backburning, which refers to using fire to help control the wildfire.
Dana Fire Department Chief Jimmy Womack said that what was a 3-acre fire an hour ago will be an 8-acre fire due to back burning. He said the fire is 80% contained.
Womack said the cause of the fire is unknown, but one of the conditions contributing to the blaze is the Helene blowdown.
“There’s a lot of blowdown in these woods behind us. That’s what creates most of the problem,” said Womack.
Womack said there has been no property damage and no injuries have been reported for this fire in the woods that 24 personnel are fighting. They got the call to arrive at 6:05 p.m.
LOCAL NEWS
Dana Fire and Rescue and Henderson County Fire Department are supporting the U.S. Forest Service with this fire.
Glen said no structures are threatened at this time and Howard Gap Road is closed.
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This story will be updated as new information is discovered.
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