North Carolina belted six home runs and pounded out a season-high 22 hits to rout Pitt 13–5 on Saturday at Truist Park in Charlotte, sending the Tar Heels to the ACC Tournament championship game.
Rom Kellis V homered twice and drove in five runs, while shortstop Jake Schaffner went 4-for-6 with a double and a triple as North Carolina (45-10-1) never trailed after a three-run first inning. Gavin Gallaher, Colin Hynek, Cooper Nicholson and Erik Paulsen also went deep for the Tar Heels, who will face top-seeded Georgia Tech in Sunday’s title game at noon ET on ESPN2.
Reliever Walker McDuffie (7-2) earned the win for North Carolina, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts and a walk over 2 2/3 innings. Starter Ryan Lynch gave up three earned runs on nine hits in three innings, with three walks and two strikeouts.
Pitt starter Antonio Doganiero (6-5) lasted just one inning, tagged for five runs — three earned — on five hits with one strikeout.
The Panthers struck first in the top of the first when Trey Fenderson’s infield single plated Caden Dulin for a 1–0 lead, and Carter Dierdorf followed with an RBI single to right to make it 2–0.
North Carolina answered in the bottom half. After Schaffner reached, Gallaher launched a two-run homer to right to tie it 2–2. Later in the inning, Nicholson singled down the left-field line to score Macon Winslow and give the Tar Heels a 3–2 edge.
UNC stretched its lead in the second. Kellis belted a two-run homer to right, scoring Paulsen to make it 5–2. Owen Hull added an RBI single to center, driving in Gallaher for a 6–2 advantage.
Pitt (33-24) pulled within 6–3 in the third on Sebastian Pisacreta’s RBI double down the left-field line, scoring Dierdorf from first.
The Tar Heels broke the game open in the middle innings. Paulsen homered to left-center in the fifth to push the lead to 7–3, and Hull later singled to center to score Schaffner for an 8–3 cushion.
AJ Nessler cut the deficit to 8–4 with a solo homer to right in the top of the sixth, but UNC answered in the bottom half. Nicholson drilled a solo shot to left, and Kellis followed later with a three-run homer to right, scoring Tyler Howe and Hynek to extend the margin to 12–4.
Hynek added North Carolina’s final run with a solo homer to left-center in the eighth for a 13–4 lead.
Pitt scratched across its last run in the ninth on Fenderson’s RBI single down the right-field line, scoring Lorenzo Carrier from second.
North Carolina finished with six home runs and was never behind after its first-inning outburst.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC baseball: Tar Heels rout Pitt, advance to ACC championship