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Heels Break Out Brooms Against Fighting Irish
The Diamond Heels swept the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in dramatic fashion this weekend in South Bend. The Tar Heels were yet again forced to rely on some late-game heroics more than once to secure their first sweep of a ranked team on the year. Big performances from Jason Deccaro, Jake Schaffner, and Caden Glauber were key in securing the Tar Heels’ victory.
Game 1
The Tar Heels and the Fighting Irish both drove in single runs to open the scoring in the first inning. Jake Schaffner was driven home in the 1st thanks to a wild pitch. Coper Nicholson broke the 1-1 deadlock with a solo shot over the right field wall to give Carolina the 2-1 lead. This set off an impromptu homerun derby. Notre Dame picked up another solo homerun in the 4th to tie it up again at 2. Tyler Howe would send another ball deep out to right field to retake the lead for the Heels. The Irish added a run in the 6th and two more in the 7th to take a 5-3 lead. UNC took the lead back for good with 3 runs in the 8th as Caden Glauber came in to make the save. Decaro got the start, however, Matthjijs is credited with the win.
Game 2
Once again, the Heels opened scoring with a 1-run single by Erik Paulsen in the 1st. Notre Dame responded with 3 runs of their own in the 1st to take a 3-1 lead. However, the Diamond Heels added 1 run each in the 2nd and 3rd inning to tie us back up at 3. The Heels would add 2 more in the 4th to make it a 5-3 ballgame. Notre Dame responded with 2 more in the 5th, and then the Heels broke it open. Carolina plated 6 runs in the 6th and 2 in the 7th to take an 11-5 lead. Notre Dame would get 2 more in the 8th but Camron Seagraves came in and closed it out. Ryan Lynch got the start, and Walker Mcduffie got the win. Mcduffie moved to 6-1 overall on the season.
Game 3
Game 3 was nuts. That’s about as accurate as I can possibly be using the english languagae. The game began on a lead off homerun by Jake Schaffner on the opening pitch. Notre Dame plated 3 of their own in the 1st inning, but then the Diamond Heels added on 3 runs in the 2nd. The Fighting Irish picked up one more run in the 3rd to take a 7-4 lead that held until the 5th inning. Carolina drove in an eye-watering 8 runs in the 5th. The Heels had four RBI singles, an RBI double, and a score on a failed pick off attempt. Notre Dame got 1 run in the 6th and 2 more in the 8th to make it 12-10. The Tar Heels put this one out of reach with 3 more runs in the 9th and Caden Glauber shut the door.
Diamond Heels Moving Forward
This sweep is a huge result for Coach Forbes and the Diamond Heels. This is the first time since 2013 Carolina has swept their first 2 ACC road series to start conference play. This is also the first time since 2017 that the Heels have gotten 2 or more ACC sweeps in the same season. The Tar Hels moved to 24-4-1 overall on the season, and 9-3 in conference play. Carolina also moved into 2nd place in the ACC standings thanks to a tiebreaker advantage over Georgia Tech. Up next, the Tar Heels face the Campbell Camels at 8pm EST on ACCNX in Chapel Hill on Tuesday night.
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