Freiday hits 15th career home run in loss at North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Senior Joe Freiday, Jr. hit his fourth home run of the season in the third inning to cut into an early Virginia Tech deficit, but sixth-ranked North Carolina outscored the Hokies 8-1 after the blast to cruise to an 11-2 victory Friday afternoon in the second game of a three-game ACC series at Boshamer Stadium.

North Carolina (36-17, 21-8 ACC) opened the game with three runs in the first, using three straight singles and a sacrifice fly to plate one. With two outs, Ashton McGee double home two more to make it a 3-0 contest.

Tech (21-32, 8-21 ACC) responded in the top of the second with a walk and single, but a double play and an out at home ended that threat. In the third, Freiday hit a two-out home run down the left field line to cut the UNC lead to 3-1.

However, the Tar Heels scored the next six runs – two in the home half of the third and four in the fourth when they sent 10 men to the plate – to increase its lead to 9-1.

The Hokies had another opportunity to put multiple runs on the board in the top of the fifth as they started the inning with a hit-by-pitch, a walk and an error that loaded the bases. It was another double play and a strikeout that limited the damage to just a single Nick Menken run.

North Carolina finished off the scoring with single runs in the fifth and seventh.

Inside the Box

• Zach Brzykcy – one scoreless inning pitched, three total thrown this season; two strikeouts, third appearance this season with at least two strikeouts.
• Freiday – home run, fourth of the year, 15th of his career.
• Zach Kokoska – pinch hit single in the ninth, his second pinch hit of the season, tying for the team high.
• Ryan Okuda – two scoreless innings pitched, 22 thrown this year; three strikeouts, seventh appearance this season with at least three strikeouts.
• Jack Owens – singled in the sixth to extend his consecutive reached base streak to 17 straight games, a team-season high; his career high is 21 set in 2017.
• Ian Seymour – one scoreless inning pitched, a team-high 55 this season.

Up Next

• The Hokies will conclude their 2018 season with the final game of the three-game ACC series at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday. First pitch against the Tar Heels is scheduled for 2 p.m.