Virginia Baseball Drops Game 3 to North Carolina 12-7, UNC Avoids Sweep

The Comeback Cavaliers nearly did it again, erasing a six-run deficit for the second time in the last three games, but the Tar Heels had another late run left in the tank and managed to finally put UVA away to avoid the sweep. No. 15 Virginia (25-7, 9-6 ACC) had already clinched the series win, its second over a top 10 opponent this season, but No. 10 North Carolina (26-6, 11-4 ACC) escaped Charlottesville with a 12-7 decision in the series finale on Saturday afternoon at Disharoon Park.

UNC dealt the first blow of the game, as Casey Cook hit a two-run single in the top of the first before Virginia starter Kevin Jaxel had even recorded an out. The Tar Heels added four more runs in the top of the second on a two-run blast by Anthony Donofrio and a pair of RBI base hits to make it 6-0.

Virginia got one back in the bottom of the second as Henry Ford hit a leadoff single, moved to third on a ground-rule double by Jacob Ference, and scored on a groundout by Ethan Anderson. By the end of the third, UVA had cut that initial six-run deficit in half thanks to a couple of unearned runs in the bottom of the third.

After scoreless fourth and fifth innings, Virginia squared things up at 6-6 on an Eric Becker RBI groundout, a Griff O'Ferrall RBI double, and a Bobby Whalen RBI single.

The tie game didn't last for long, though, as Aidan Teel gave up a solo home run to Parks Harber and a two-run homer to Luke Stevenson in the top of the seventh to put the Tar Heels back in front. Blake Barker issued back-to-back walks to start the eighth and then Jay Woolfolk was unable to limit the damage, allowing a run to score on an error and then giving up a two-run single to Harber, restoring North Carolina's lead to six runs.

Casey Saucke hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, but there would be no further rallies from the never say die Cavalier offense, as North Carolina avoided the sweep with a 12-7 win.

After hitting a combined eight home runs in the first two games of the series, the UVA offense didn't have a single long ball in the finale, but still got multi-hit games from five different players. The pitching was the bigger problem, as Virginia surrendered 12 runs, 11 of them earned, on 13 hits and issued seven walks.

The weekend was still a success for the Cavaliers, as they took two out of three games off a top 10 team in the country and top ACC rival, an important result as we march closer to postseason play. Up next, Virginia wraps up the homestand with a game against VCU on Tuesday at 6pm at Disharoon Park.

Note: UVA previously had a game scheduled against Towson on Wednesday, but that game has been canceled due to "scheduling conflicts."