UNC baseball’s postseason perfection ends with loss to VCU in NCAA Tournament regional
CHAPEL HILL — Postseason perfection ran out and coach Scott Forbes was ejected for North Carolina baseball on Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament.
VCU topped the Tar Heels 4-3 in the winners bracket of the Chapel Hill Regional at Boshamer Stadium, the red-hot Rams stopping UNC’s eight-game winning streak and shrinking North Carolina’s margin for advancing beyond this weekend’s double-elimination format.
Connor Hujsak’s pair of solo homers and Cooper Benzin’s two-run double were enough as VCU (42-18) secured its 17th straight victory. The Rams have won 25 of their last 28 games, and moved one victory shy of clinching the regional.
Forbes was tossed in the third inning, a moment that served to encapsulate the frustration for UNC (39-20), the No. 10 overall seed in the NCAA field. Now facing elimination, North Carolina must defeat Georgia at 1 p.m. Sunday to set up another meeting with VCU at 6 p.m., and win that game to force a winner-take-all matchup Monday for the regional title.
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“It stings a little bit, for sure,” North Carolina starting pitcher Brandon Schaeffer said. “But we’re not done, and I think everybody knows that. VCU is a good team and they came out and they played a good game tonight, but I think it speaks to this team, the fact that we were able to come back the way we did and make it a game there at the end.
“I know there’s a lot of fight in this team and a lot of grit in these guys, and these coaches for that matter. So I’m excited to see what we’re going to do tomorrow.”
Vance Honeycutt cranked his 23rd home run of the season in the top of the eighth inning, the solo shot getting the Tar Heels on the board.
Danny Serretti’s two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning pulled UNC within 4-3. VCU reliever Nolan Wilson issued walks to Honeycutt and Alberto Osuna, but Mikey Madej popped out in foul territory to end the Tar Heels’ threat in the ninth. UNC stranded 12 runners on the night.
“We’ve been through a lot of difficult games and situations and circumstances over the course of the year, so I felt like our guys did a really good job responding to all of that,” UNC assistant coach Bryant Gaines said. “I think that’s why we made it really close at the end, because we’ve been through those situations before. I felt like, and I know our players felt like, we were still going to win the game until the last out was made.”
Gaines took over for the Tar Heels after Forbes was ejected. North Carolina, which swept through the ACC Tournament unbeaten and dominated Hofstra on Friday to begin this regional, had gone 16-2 across its previous 18 games and hadn’t lost since May 15.
Schaeffer left to a standing ovation from Tar Heels supporters in the bottom of the sixth inning, with VCU ahead 1-0. The lefty Schaeffer’s scoreless streak ended at 11 2/3 innings when Hujsak homered in the second inning. Later, Hujsak’s solo blast in the eighth inning gave the Rams a 4-1 lead, and marked his fourth homer here in two regional games.
Home plate umpire Jeff Henrich tossed Forbes in the third inning. Forbes argued what he believed should’ve constituted an infield fly that would’ve benefited North Carolina, after the Tar Heels missed an opportunity.
Serretti’s one-out pop-up with runners at first base and second base wasn’t caught by VCU second baseman Marcus O’Malley, sliding on the infield grass behind the pitcher’s mound.
The Rams then got Mac Horvath out at second base and Colby Wilkerson out at third base. Both the UNC runners had frozen under the assumption that O’Malley would make the sliding catch. The double play ended the top of the third, with Forbes objecting that O’Malley intentionally dropped the pop-up to give VCU a chance at the double play.
In the bottom of the second inning, North Carolina loaded the bases, but Johnny Castagnozzi grounded into an inning-ending double play. Tar Heels runner Tomas Frick was ruled to have committed interference with Hujsak as the VCU shortstop tried to turn the potential double play, allowing the Rams to escape and denying UNC a run in the form of Osuna coming home from third base.
Frick took a knee from Hujsak in the side of the head during the collision at second base. Castagnozzi would’ve beaten Hujsak’s throw to first base.
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Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC baseball win streak runs out with loss to VCU in NCAA Tournament
