UNC Expected to Face NCAA Champ UConn in Jimmy V Classic

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — At this point in the season, winning is the only thing that matters. North Carolina (30-17, 11-11 in the ACC) head coach Scott Forbes likes to say he’s never seen a bad win and, while that’s true, Tuesday night’s 6-5 victory over Gardner-Webb was another ugly, but imperative win, for his Diamond Heels.

The Bulldogs manned the driver’s seat late, leading 4-3, when Grant Vera struck out Jackson Van De Brake to end the seventh inning. Vera then proceeded to tell the junior second baseman and the rest of Boshamer Stadium to, in printable language, sit down and shut up. Things did not go well for the visitors from that point on.

“I think they were awake from the get go,” Forbes said of the resulting bench-clearing situation. “I think it was a game they expected to roll through and then you are in a barnburner.

“So I won’t say it woke them up, but they were a little bit on their heels and it put them on their toes.”

Kevin Eaise silenced the visiting dugout in the eighth, setting up what Forbes described as ‘karma’ in the bottom of the inning. A lost fly ball led to a bases loaded jam for pitcher Phil Fox. Fox then botched an easy double play on a comeback to the mound, throwing wide of catcher Humberto Torres as Vance Honeycutt tied the score at four. With the game in balance and the home crowd fully alive, Fox balked in the winning run. Matt Poston pitched a clean ninth, striking out shortstop Pete Capobianco to earn the save.

“I believe what you allow is what you encourage,” said Forbes. “I’m going to let our guys play with emotion… but we are not going to yell at the other team, we are not going to showboat, we aren’t going to bat flip at the other team. It’s just not the way you play the game.

“We talk about all the time that we have five pillars here and one of them is humility. At the end of the day, if you’re not humble over the course of time, you’re going to get a big old piece of humble pie.”

Things getting a bit heated in Chapel Hill as Gardner-Webb heads to the top of the eighth with a 4-3 lead. pic.twitter.com/4U0FQvS1hs

— Pat James (@patjames24) May 10, 2023

Piling Up the Numbers

Mac Horvath continued his impressive junior season on Tuesday night. Less than two weeks from perhaps the most productive hitting week in program history, Horvath’s third inning home run etched his name on another line of the Tar Heel record book as he became the second Tar Heel in as many seasons to join the 20 home run, 20 steal club on a season. Honeycutt’s 25 and 29 in 2022 remains the standard, but is within reach with seven games remaining in the regular season.

Horvath’s 43rd career homer moved him into third all time at UNC behind Devy Bell (57) and Chris Cox (49).

“It was a goal of mine coming into the season because I was short of it last year,” Horvath said. “But honestly, I’m just glad we won today because if I got it and…