CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Interstat) — Erik Paulsen homered twice and drove in three runs, and Jake Schaffner added three doubles and three RBIs as North Carolina overpowered VCU 13-3 in a nonconference baseball game Wednesday afternoon at Boshamer Stadium.

The Tar Heels, improving to 8-1-1, pounded out 13 hits and capitalized on a pivotal third-inning rally to pull away from the Rams, who fell to .500 at 4-4.

North Carolina starter Boston Flannery struggled with command early, walking two in a scoreless first inning. The Tar Heels quickly answered in the bottom half against VCU starter Fenix DiGiacomo. After two quick outs, Paulsen launched a solo home run to deep right field, his third of the season. Macon Winslow followed with a double and scored on Owen Hull’s single to shortstop, tying the game.

The game’s decisive turn came in the bottom of the third. With the score still tied, Paulsen led off with a single, chasing DiGiacomo. Reliever Caleb Clover immediately encountered control issues, walking two batters to load the bases. Sawyer Black drew another walk to force in the go-ahead run. Carter French then delivered a two-run single up the middle, and Schaffner capped the four-run inning with an RBI double, giving North Carolina a 6-2 lead.

VCU scratched back in the fourth. Alec Warden and Ethan Acevedo executed a double steal, and Quinn Maher drove them both in with a two-run single up the middle off reliever Walker McDuffie, cutting the deficit to 6-4.

Any momentum for the Rams was extinguished in the bottom of the fourth by Paulsen. After a leadoff walk, the first baseman crushed his second homer of the afternoon, a two-run shot to deep center for his fourth of the year. Two batters later, designated hitter Colin Hynek connected for a solo homer to left, stretching the Tar Heels’ lead to 9-4.

North Carolina added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. In the seventh, Schaffner’s third double of the game drove in a run, and he later scored on a two-run fielding error by VCU center fielder Michael Petite to provide the final margin.

Jackson Rose, the third of four North Carolina pitchers, earned the win with two perfect innings of relief, striking out one. The Tar Heels’ bullpen of McDuffie, Rose and Walker McDuffie combined for 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits.

VCU managed only four hits total, with Maher’s two-run single accounting for the only significant damage. The Rams’ pitchers issued nine walks and hit a batter.

The result defied the pregame projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a high-scoring 8-6 victory for VCU. However, the system’s ELO rating gave North Carolina an 87.2% probability to win, which proved accurate.

The most critical sequence of the game was North Carolina’s four-run third inning. It transformed a tight contest into a multi-run lead, established control for the Tar Heels’ bullpen and set the tone for the offensive onslaught that followed, including the back-to-back fourth-inning homers that effectively put the game out of reach.

VCU travels to face Virginia for a three-game series starting Friday. North Carolina opens a three-game home set with Le Moyne on Friday.