Baseball: Liberty wins at Duke; #12 UNC pulls away, defeats Longwood

Liberty goes deep three times in first win of 2023

Liberty rightfielder Camden Troyer, shortstop Jake Lazzaro and catcher Gray Betts each hit home runs as the Flames dropped the Duke Blue Devils, 8-6, Wednesday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Troyer, who had two hits in the contest, belted a three-run home run as part of a five-run third inning for the Flames. Lazzaro and Betts hit back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth inning. Betts also had two hits in the contest.

Liberty collects its first win of 2023 and moves to 1-3. Duke drops to 2-2 on the year.

#12 UNC pulls away late in 10-0 win over Longwood

Longwood hung around early, but #12 North Carolina plated six runs in their final three innings to win 10-0 on Wednesday.

Cole Taylor gave Longwood (0-4) a solid effort on the bump in his first appearance of the year, and he held the defending ACC champions scoreless for the first two innings.

The Tar Heels (3-1) broke through with a two-run home run by Casey Cook in the third.

The Lancers had an opportunity to answer in the fourth when Eliot Dix poked a leadoff single up the middle. Greg Ryan roped a line drive, but it was caught at third before Dix was doubled up at first on the play.

North Carolina extended the lead a few innings later, and the Tar Heels kept the Lancers from getting the timely hit to plate a run.

Jake Knapp (1-0) earned the win with 5.2 shutout innings for the Tar Heels. He struck out four while walking two and giving up two hits.

Taylor (0-1) took the loss for the Lancers. He struck out two against four hits and two walks in three innings while giving up two runs.