Brandon Schaeffer, Vance Honeycutt help UNC beat Va. Tech in ACC tourney

Published 11:09 am Saturday, May 28, 2022

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Vance Honeycutt hit two of North Carolina’s four home runs, Brandon Schaeffer pitched his first career shutout and the Tar Heels beat top-seeded Virginia Tech 10-0 Friday night at the ACC Tournament.

No. 8 seed University of North Carolina (36-19), which has won five consecutive games, plays fourth-seeded Notre Dame in Saturday’s semifinals.

Honeycutt hit a two-run homer to right-center as part of University of North Carolina’s four-run first inning and after Angel Zarate led off the second with a home run, Honeycutt added a solo shot to make it 6-0.

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Schaeffer (7-2), a JUCO transfer, threw a season-high 102 pitches, scattering six hits and hitting a batter with six strikeouts.

Honeycutt, whose 19 home runs this season are a freshman record at UNC, finished 3-for-3 with two walks, three RBIs and three runs. Six other University of North Carolina players had two hits apiece.

Carson DeMartini and Nick Biddison had back-to-back two-out singles in the bottom of the sixth inning — the only time a Virginia Tech (41-12) player safely reached second base — before a groundout ended the threat.

The Hokies, ranked No. 2 nationally in the D1baseball.com poll, had their seven-game win streak snapped.

Danny Serenetti took an 0-2 pitch over the wall in left to give the Tar Heels a 7-1 lead in the fourth.

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