Cavassinni lifts Tar Heels past Cavaliers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—One of the smallest players in the stadium delivered one of the biggest swings of his career Friday night.
With a steady rain falling, North Carolina center fielder Mike Cavassinni delivered a two-run triple to the base of the wall in left field in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting the Tar Heels past Virginia 4-3 at Boshamer Stadium.

UNC, ranked fifth in the country, improved to 19-5 overall and 6-3 in the ACC with the win. Virginia (21-3, 5-3 ACC) reliever Tyler Wilson took the loss for the Cavaliers.
Cavassini, who entered the game with two extra-base hits this season, connected on a 1-0 pitch off Wilson that burned left fielder John Barr.

“[UNC Coach Mike Fox] told me that was the farthest the kid has hit the ball in his career,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “We had our outfield really shallow and in, taking the chance that we didn’t want a hit to drop in the outfield and [Cavassinni] got it good.
“You commend a kid for stepping up in the clutch like that.”

Late-game heroics from both offenses spoiled the chance for two of the league’s premier starting pitchers to record a victory in contest.

UNC’s Alex White went 7.1 innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs. The right-hander, who entered 4-0, fanned nine batters and walked a pair.

Virginia’s Danny Hultzen was equally impressive, allowing six hits and two runs (one earned) in seven full innings. The rookie struck out eight and walked five.

“It was a great college baseball game,” O’Connor said. “Those are two pretty special pitchers in this league.
“I thought Danny Hultzen threw the ball very, very well for a young freshman in this environment, against a very good club.”

With a handful of relievers limited by recent work, Hultzen pitched out of a jam in the seventh inning after he had thrown his 100th pitch in the previous frame.

“The key for him was that seventh inning,” O’Connor said. “Four of the next five were left-handed hitters and he needed to figure out a way to grind through the inning and he did his job.

“We found a way to get a run and, unfortunately, we couldn’t hold on in the eighth inning.”
The Cavaliers took an early lead as Jarrett Parker hit an opposite field homer on the game’s first pitch.
Virginia second baseman Phil Gosselin added a solo homer in the sixth and gave the Cavaliers a short-lived lead in the eighth with a one-run double that plated Parker from first.

The teams will play the second game of the series today at 1 p.m., earlier than originally scheduled, in hopes of beating rainfall that is expected early in the evening.