No. 12 North Carolina (30-9, 12-8 ACC) couldn't keep up with Virginia Tech (25-14, 10-10 ACC) in game two on Saturday, falling, 10-6, at English Field in Blacksburg, Va.
After the Hokies lost game one, they came out swinging in the bottom of the first inning. Henry Cooke opened the scoring early with a two-run homer to left field. Ben Watson shortly followed with a single, setting up Sam Tackett, who launched a two-run homer of his own. The home run barrage continued as David McCann quickly sent another solo homer to cap off a powerful stretch of three home runs in four batters.
Although Tar Heel pitcher Aidan Haugh recorded two strikeouts in the frame, Virginia Tech’s bats did serious damage early, finishing the inning with five hits, five runs and one left on base.
The Tar Heels responded as junior center fielder Kane Kepley hit a double to left field, tightening the score to 5-3 at the top of the second. However, the Hokies responded with a home run from Ben Watson, stretching their lead once again to 7-3. The Tar Heels made a pitching change, going from Haugh to sophomore Olin Johnson.
UNC sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson broke the scoring drought in the top of the fifth, decreasing the deficit to 7-4. The Hokies made a pitching change.
After a leadoff walk and a groundout moved a runner into scoring position, Stevenson once again delivered — this time with a sacrifice fly to right, trimming the Hokies’ lead to 7-5. A throwing error on the Tar Heels' end gave Cooke the opportunity to advance to second base in the bottom of the seventh. Tackett hit a single through the left side and Cooke ran it home, advancing the Hokies to a lead of 8-5.
The eighth inning delivered both drama and fireworks. The Tar Heels trimmed the deficit to one after Gavin Gallaher led off with a double and later scored on an RBI single from Alex Madera to make it 8-6. With two runners on and one out, the Tar Heels had a chance to tie things up, but Grant Manning worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.
In the bottom half, Virginia Tech quickly flipped the momentum. Pinch hitter Jared Davis stepped in and launched a two-run homer to left field, extending the Hokies’ lead to 10-6. Emotions erupted following the blast, leading to Davis being ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. The situation escalated further, with VT players No. 11 and No. 3, as well as both head coaches — UNC’s Scott Forbes and Virginia Tech’s — being ejected after the inning ended.
Hokies pitcher Grant Manning came out hot in the top of the ninth striking out three hitters and closing out the game with a VT win and evening out the series.
