CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Receiving a stellar pitching performance from graduate right-hander Jake Knapp on Saturday, No. 4 North Carolina (14-1, 1-1 ACC) evened a three-game conference series with an 11-1 victory over Stanford (11-3, 1-1 ACC) from Boshamer Stadium.
Knapp went the distance in the seven-inning, run-rule victory, allowing just four hits and one run with one walk while striking out seven to move to 2-0 on the season.
The lone blemish on his line came on a solo home run from Ethan Hott leading off the top of the third inning.
Hott’s blast, the first of his career, tied the game at one run apiece and came as part of a 2-for-3 day at the plate.
The Tar Heels immediately answered the Hott home run with a run in the third before tacking on four in the fourth, one in the fifth, one in the sixth and three in the seventh. The final run came on an RBI-single from Gavin Gallaher to invoke the run-rule and a walk-off victory.
North Carolina hit four home runs in the game, including a pair from Luke Stevenson. The second hitter in the Tar Heel lineup, Stevenson finished 4-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs.
The two teams will decide the three-game ACC series on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT. Sophomore Joey Volchko is scheduled to take the mound opposite right-hander Aidan Haugh for North Carolina.
GAME NOTES:
- The Cardinal managed just four hits in the loss – it’s lowest output of the season – and was held to single-digit hits for the fifth time this year … allowed the 11 runs on a season-high 12 hits and four home runs … had allowed just five home runs through the first 13 games of the year
- The run-rule loss was the first suffered by the Cardinal since a 12-1 defeat in eight innings against Arizona on April 8, 2024
- Christian Lim (L, 3.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, K) was saddled with the loss and fell to 1-2 on the season
- JJ Moran (0-for-3) made his first career start, earning the nod at third base
- Brady Reynolds (0-for-3) had a six-game hitting streak and an eight-game string of reaching base safely snapped on Saturday
- Rintaro Sasaki (0-for-2, BB) had a seven-game hitting streak snapped, but has reached base in all 14 games this season