North Carolina baseball downs VCU 7-3 to win Chapel Hill Regional
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Mikey Madej capped a four-run first inning with a three-run homer and No. 11 overall seed North Carolina cruised to a 7-3 victory over VCU on Monday to win the Chapel Hill Regional and earn a berth in the super regionals.
The Tar Heels (42-20) had to work their way through the loser's bracket - falling 4-3 to VCU (42-20) after a 15-4 win over Hofstra in the opener. North Carolina eliminated Georgia 6-5 before routing the Rams 19-8 to force Monday's showdown.
Mac Horvath started the first-inning rally for the Tar Heels with a one-out single. Vance Honeycutt put runners on the corners with a two-out single. Alberto Osuna singled to drive in Danny Serretti - who reached base on a fielder's choice - sending Honeycutt to third and setting the stage for Madej's big blast.
Osuna had an RBI single in the third and Serretti hit a two-run shot in the fourth to cap the scoring for the Tar Heels.
Gage Gillian (3-3) got the win for UNC with 4 1/3 shutout innings in relief. He allowed one hit, walked three and struck out four.
Jacob Selden had an RBI single in a two-run fourth for the Rams. VCU's other runs were scored on ground outs.
Tyler Davis (5-3) lasted just one inning in a start for VCU, yielding four runs on five hits.
North Carolina will next host Arkansas (41-19).
