By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — Vance Honeycutt’s good arm and improved power stroke were just what No. 15 North Carolina needed to emerge from a terrific pitching battle with No. 11 East Carolina.

The junior center fielder led off the eighth inning by launching a 1–2 curveball high off the net over the left-field fence as the Tar Heels won the opener of a three-game series Friday over the Pirates 2–1 at Boshamer Stadium.

The 5–0 Tar Heels became the eighth program in NCAA history with 3,000 wins.

“Shout out to Vance,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “That’s why he’s so good. He can do that at any time.”

Honeycutt knew immediately that the ball was out, already clapping before he made it halfway to first base after swatting his fourth home run in five games, this one estimated to have gone 409 feet if not for the net.

“Just a little bit of weight taken off, going back to the top of the ninth, having a lead,” Honeycutt said. “It was just excitement; I was just pumped up.”

Honeycutt connected with shortstop Colby Wilkerson on a perfect throw in the fifth inning after a double from ECU’s Jacob Jenkins-Cowart to right center field.

“You get a ball in the gap just like that, pick up the ball and you try to get the ball to Colby whenever you can because he’s got that bazooka,” Forbes said. “Vance hit him right in the chest, and that’s something that doesn’t go into box score.”

Wilkerson relayed it to freshman catcher Luke Stevenson, who tagged out the runner at the plate to prevent what would have been the second ECU run and end the inning.

“That’s a big play in the game,” said Honeycutt, who has a 40-game on-base streak. “Colby threw a strike to home.”

That backed up outstanding pitching, as three relievers combined to pitch 3⅓ scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Matthew Matthijs (2–0), a Greenville native, got the win with two shutout innings and senior right-hander Matt Poston notched his first save with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning.

Honeycutt already has one-third of his total of 12 homers in 50 games last season, when his fourth home run didn’t come until the 12th game.

It’s a small sample size but Honeycutt might have rediscovered the power that helped him blast 25 home runs as a freshman. The power seems to come with strikeouts: he went from 90 strikeouts as a freshman to 51 as a sophomore, and has more strikeouts this season (8) than hits (5).

Neither Forbes nor Honeycutt are worried about the strikeouts. Forbes attributed last season’s drop in power to Honeycutt trying to cut down on strikeouts, adding that he doesn’t have to do that. Forbes is confident about his production at the leadoff spot as he has scored a team-high 10 runs.

“At some points last year, I was better with two strikes, but I wasn’t as good early in the counts,” said Honeycutt, who struck out twice Friday. “Just trying to find that balance of being aggressive early, also then utilizing a two-strike approach late in the count.”

In addition to UNC’s terrific pitching, it got superb defense other than first baseman Parks Harber’s seventh-inning fielding error. An inning-ending double play — Wilkerson to second baseman Alex Madera to Harber — erased that mistake, and that trio turned another one to end the ECU eighth.

It was a big win for Matthijs against the school he grew up rooting for and led to a bit of razzing from the Pirates fans, which he said he didn’t notice. He was effective with his fastball and cutter and was in command.

“Last fall, I was a little wild,” Matthijs said. “Just brought it back a little bit, getting in the zone some more this year. I’m feeling great; arm’s feeling good.”

Touted as the top MLB prospect in the American Athletic Conference, 6–4 junior right-hander Trey Yesavage, a likely first-round draft pick, subdued a UNC offense that flourished in the first four games. He struck out 11 before leaving after six innings with 96 pitches.

“When you’re facing a guy like Yesavage, you tell your hitters you can’t be afraid to go down looking,” Forbes said. “Sometimes, you’ve got to pick a pitch late in the count. What we were trying not to do with him, is to not chase out of the zone. And, for the most part, we did a good job with that. Late in the count, he threw some fastballs by us, made some great pitches.”

Two of the four hits Yesavage gave up were because left fielder Bristol Carter lost a pair of fly balls in the high sky, and Casey Cook’s double was the only hit from the top five Tar Heels in the order against Yesavage.

Carter lost a Stephenson fly ball that fell 50 feet away from him for a leadoff double in the second inning. After Alberto Osuna got hit by a pitch, Madera hit a drive near the left field wall, which Carter also lost. It fell for an RBI double, Carter moved to center field and UNC led 1–0.

UNC starter Folger Boaz (4⅔ innings, five hits, one run, two walks, one strikeout) retired 10 of the first 12 batters before ECU loaded the bases on a single and a pair of two-out walks in the fourth inning. Carter, with a chance for a reprieve, flied out to end the inning — of course, to left field.

“I thought Folger was in great control the whole time, and that’s a big environment,” Forbes said. “He really didn’t have his stuff from the standpoint his slider wasn’t moving left and right, it was moving more down. So, we didn’t think he was going to strike a lot of guys out; he was just going to have to pitch, which he did.”

Boaz, a left-handed freshman who beat Wagner in the opener 10–3, exited in the fifth after back-to-back one-out singles and Ryley Johnson getting thrown out at the plate on Jacob Starling’s bunt.

UNC closer Hunter Pence (1⅓ innings, one hit, one strikeout) took over and gave up the Jenkins-Cowart double.

ECU (3–2) has lost two in a row after falling 7–6 at Campbell on Tuesday.

NOTES — The three-city series continues at Fayetteville’s Segra Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. (no TV or streaming broadcast), with UNC right-hander Ben Peterson (0–0, 10.80 ERA) opposing ECU left-hander Zach Root (1–0, 0.00 ERA). Two right-handers will face off in Sunday’s 2 p.m. series finale in Greenville (ESPN+): UNC’s Olin Johnson (0–0, 3.37 ERA) and ECU’s Jake Hunter (1–0, 0.00 ERA). … Carolina won its second straight one-run game after beating Elon 8–7 on Tuesday. … UNC and ECU played their fourth consecutive one-run game, and the Tar Heels won their second straight over the Pirates. … Cook extended his season-opening hitting streak to five games, while Madera hit safely in his fourth straight game after sitting out the season opener. … Saturday’s game will be the fourth meeting in a minor-league park after previous games at Zebulon’s Five County Stadium, Kinston’s Grainger Stadium and Durham Bulls Athletic Park. … The ECU series accounts for three of 17 UNC regular-season games against teams ranked in at least one preseason poll. … Evidence of the influx of talent for UNC this season is the fact that Hunter Stokely and Johnny Castagnozzi combined to start 96 games last season but have combined for only five at-bats through five games. Castagnozzi pinch-ran for Parks Harber in the eighth inning. … UNC leads the all-time series with ECU 60–34. … Wagner, which Carolina swept in a three-game season-opening series last weekend, fell to 0–4 Friday after a 17–2 loss at No. 8 Texas A&M. … Elon, which UNC beat 8–7 Tuesday, dropped to 1–4 with Friday’s 5–4 10-inning home loss to New Jersey Institute of Technology.

No. 15 UNC 2, No. 11 ECU 1

Date	Day/ month	Time/ score	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	February
16	Friday	W, 10–3	vs. Wagner	1–0
17	Saturday	W, 16–5	vs. Wagner	2–0
18	Sunday	W, 20–6	vs. Wagner	3–0
20	Tuesday	W, 8–7	vs. Elon	4–0
23	Friday	W, 2–1	vs. No. 7 East Carolina	5–0
24	Saturday	L, 7–4	vs. No. 7 East Carolina in Fayetteville	5–1
25	Sunday	L, 10–9	at No. 7 East Carolina	5–2
27	Tuesday	W, 8–2	vs. VCU	6–2
28	Wednesday	W, 12–3	vs. Longwood	7–2
	March
1	Friday	W, 12–2	vs. Princeton	8–2
2	Saturday	W, 11–2	vs. Princeton	9–2
3	Sunday	W, 13–6	vs. Princeton	10–2
5	Tuesday	W, 7–3	at Campbell	11–2
8	Friday	W, 2–1	vs. Pittsburgh	12–2, 1–0 ACC
9	Saturday	W, 7–3	vs. Pittsburgh	13–2, 2–0 ACC
10	Sunday	W, 6–5, 10 innings	vs. Pittsburgh	14–2, 3–0 ACC
12	Tuesday	W, 13–7	vs. Rutgers	15–2
13	Wednesday	W, 9–8	vs. Rutgers	16–2
15	Friday	L, 14–1	at Miami	16–3, 3–1 ACC
16	Saturday	L, 2–1	at Miami	16–4, 3–2 ACC
17	Sunday	W, 18–6	at Miami	17–4, 4–2 ACC
19	Tuesday	W, 11–0, 7 innings	vs. UNCW	18–4
22	Friday	W, 5–4	vs. Georgia Tech	19–4, 5–2 ACC
23	Saturday	W, 11–5	vs. Georgia Tech	20–4, 6–2 ACC
24	Sunday	W, 9–2	vs. Georgia Tech	21–4, 7–2 ACC
26	Tuesday	W, 10–8	vs. N.C. A&T	22–4
29	Friday	W, 6–5	at No. 8 Wake Forest	23–4, 8–2 ACC
30	Saturday	W, 10–6	at No. 8 Wake Forest	24–4, 9–2 ACC
31	Sunday	W, 14–10	at No. 8 Wake Forest	25–4, 10–2 ACC
	April
4	Thursday	L, 14–11	at No. 14 Virginia	25–5, 10–3 ACC
5	Friday	L, 7–2	at No. 14 Virginia	25–6, 10–4 ACC
6	Saturday	W, 12–7	at No. 14 Virginia	26–6, 11–4 ACC
9	Tuesday	L, 2–1	vs. No. 24 South Carolina in Charlotte	26–7
12	Friday	W, 13–0, 6½ innings	vs. Notre Dame	27–7, 12–4 ACC
13	Saturday	W, 7–2	vs. Notre Dame	28–7, 13–4 ACC
14	Sunday	W, 10–3	vs. Notre Dame	29–7, 14–4 ACC
16	Tuesday	L, 5–4	vs. No. 13 Coastal Carolina	29–8
18	Thursday	L, 9–8	at No. 21 N.C. State	29–9, 14–5 ACC
19	Friday	L, 5–4	at No. 21 N.C. State	29–10, 14–6 ACC
20	Saturday	W, 14–3	at No. 21 N.C. State	30–10, 15–6 ACC
23	Tuesday	W, 5–2	vs. Gardner-Webb	31–10
26	Friday	W, 8–1	vs. Virginia Tech	32–10, 16–6 ACC
27	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN3
28	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN3
30	Tuesday	6 p.m.	vs. Charlotte	ACCN
	May
1	Wednesday	6 p.m.	vs. William & Mary	ESPN3
7	Tuesday	6 p.m.	vs. Campbell	ESPN3
10	Friday	6 p.m.	vs. Louisville	ESPN3
11	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Louisville	ESPN3
12	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. Louisville	ACCN
14	Tuesday	6 p.m.	at UNCW	FloSports
16	Thursday	6 p.m.	at No. 6 Duke	ACCN
17	Friday	6 p.m.	at No. 6 Duke	ESPN3
18	Saturday	1 p.m.	at No. 6 Duke	ESPN3
21–26	Tuesday- Sunday	TBA	ACC tournament in Charlotte	ACCN
31	Friday	TBA	NCAA Regional	TBA
	June
1–3	Saturday- Monday	TBA	NCAA Regional	TBA
7–10	Friday- Monday	TBA	NCAA Super Regional	TBA
14–24	Friday- Monday	TBA	College World Series in Omaha, Neb.	TBA