By R.L. Bynum
RALEIGH — After three consecutive one-run losses, No. 11 North Carolina wasn’t leaving anything to chance, particularly Vance Honeycutt and Colby Wilkerson.
The Tar Heels backed outstanding pitching with plenty of offense, rolling to a 14–3 victory Saturday at Doak Field to salvage a game from the three-game weekend series and clinch their third straight 30-win season as Honeycutt made more history.
They did it with the only power coming at the bottom of the order as Alex Madera (2 for 3) and Wilkerson (top photo, who drove in four) each hit their second home runs of the season.
For the third time this season, Carolina (30–10, 15–6 ACC) avoided a road sweep with a huge win in a series finale after doing it earlier at Virginia and Miami, two other challenging places to win.
“Three times we’ve had our backs against the wall, and that’s not the position you want to be in,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “I wasn’t surprised with what I saw today. Our offense obviously answered the bell today.”
Making history seems routine for Honeycutt, who swiped more of it Saturday. Two steals gave him 70, making him the first player in ACC history with at least 50 home runs (he has 53) and at least 70 steals.
The Wolfpack (22–15, 12–9 ACC) snapped Honeycutt’s five-game home run streak, but the speedy center fielder scored two runs and tied his career-high with four hits, including a two-run triple in the sixth inning.
“People pick the kid apart, and that’s what they are going to do because he’s so talented,” said Forbes, marveling at Honeycutt setting another ACC standard. “He’s the most talented, best all-around player I’ve ever coached and been around.”
Wilkerson tied his career high with four hits.
“We’ve had a bunch of guys do it this year and today was my day,” Wilkerson said. “It was some other guys’ game, too. We just played a good game.”
Aidan Hough (winner, 3–0) escaped trouble in the first two innings, scattering six hits and giving up only two Jacob Cozart solo home runs while striking out three.
“I thought Aidan Hough was huge for us and set the tone,” Forbes said.
Connor Bovair was dominant in finishing the game with three shutout innings, yielding one hit and three walks to earn his first save of the season. He gives Forbes another good bullpen option and the ability to rest his top relievers.
Bovair said the changeup was his best pitch against the Wolfpack.
“With them being a lefty-heavy lineup, I threw a lot of changeups and was able to get them where I wanted them,” the right-hander said. “I felt like that allowed me to have a lot of success.”
Left fielder Casey Cook keyed the five-run third inning with a two-run single and made a spectacular diving catch near the right-field line to save a run in the fifth inning on right fielder Josh Hogue’s liner.
Haugh left two runners stranded in scoring position in the first two innings. He elicited a lineout from Cozart on a nice play by right fielder Anthony Donofrio to end the first.
In the second, he struck out center fielder Eli Serrano III swinging after being behind 3–0 in the count.
Carolina didn’t miss its chance in the third when it took a 5–0 lead, in the Tar Heels’ 12th inning with at least five runs this season. Thanks to the Wolfpack’s adventures on defense that produced two errors, UNC needed only two hits, with Cook’s the key one, as N.C. State starter Cooper Consiglio (loser, 1–4) walked four in the inning.
Madera’s solo shot to left to lead off the fourth made it 6–0 and ended Consiglio’s day.
Wilkerson shoved the lead to eight in the seventh inning with an RBI double down the left-field line to score Madera from first after he walked.
Matt Poston relieved Haugh to start the seventh inning. After Poston walked the first two batters on 12 pitches, Bovair struck out the next two. Hogue drove in a run when his short fly ball to left field fell between fielders for the only hit off Bovair.
UNC added a run on Parks Harber’s RBI groundout in the eighth, and Wilkerson’s three-run homer in the ninth inning made it 14–3.
NOTES — Carolina returns home Tuesday for a 6 p.m. game against Gardner-Webb before playing host to Virginia Tech in a weekend series starting at 6 p.m. Friday. … The Bulldogs (15–24) swept a Saturday doubleheader from Longwood 8–5 and 2–0. … The Hokies (25–11, 12–8) beat Duke 8–7 in 11 innings on Saturday. … Cook has 55 RBI. … Kaleb Cost, a defensive player for the UNC football team, was with the baseball team and not at the spring football game. … UNC leads the all-time series against N.C. State 176–141–1, but the Wolfpack has won 12 of the last 23 games at Doak Field.
No. 11 UNC 14, N.C. State 3
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Georgia Tech | 19–11 | — | 39–16 |
| No. 6 Florida State | 17–10 | ½ | 37–13 |
| No. 3 North Carolina | 18–11 | ½ | 39–12 |
| No. 22 N.C. State | 17–11 | 1 | 33–18 |
| No. 14 Clemson | 18–12 | 1 | 41–15 |
| Virginia | 16–11 | 1½ | 32–17 |
| Duke | 17–13 | 2 | 36–18 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 3 | 36–19 |
| Miami | 15–14 | 3½ | 31–23 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 15–15 | 4 | 35–20 |
| Notre Dame | 14–16 | 5 | 32–20 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–18 | 7 | 30–24 |
| Boston College | 11–19 | 8 | 26–28 |
| Stanford | 11–19 | 8 | 27–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–20 | 9 | 27–26 |
| California | 9–21 | 10½ | 22–30 |
Thursday-Saturday series
No. 16 Georgia Tech at Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 14 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 22 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 3 North Carolina at No. 6 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–3, 10 innings
UNC schedule
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times | Opponent (current rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | |||
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sat. | 4, noon, 1 | vs. Indiana |
| 17 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Richmond |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Longwood |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 4 (Greenville; ESPN+), 2 (DBAP), 2 (CH) | vs. East Carolina |
| 24 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. N.C. A&T |
| 25 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. VCU |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | 4 p.m., 2 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| March | |||
| 1 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| 3 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Elon |
| 6–8 | Fri.-Sun. | 4, 2, 1 | vs. Virginia |
| 10 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Bucknell |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | 9, 5, 4 | at California |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. UNCG |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 8, 2, 1 Friday on ACCN | vs. No. 8 Louisville |
| 24 | Tuesday | 6:30 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte |
| 27–29 | Fri.-Sun. | 6:30, 3, 1 | at Notre Dame |
| 31 | Tuesday | 8 p.m., ACCN | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m., ACCN | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 (Sunday on ACCN) | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 (Saturday, Sunday on ACCN) | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Thu.-Sat. | 7, 6, 3 (Thursday on ACCN) | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m., ACCN | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m., ACCN (non-conference game) | vs. Duke |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 (Thursday on ACCN) | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament (ACCN, ESPN2 for final) | Charlotte |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites |
| June | |||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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