By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — There’s been no place like home for No. 11 North Carolina, which makes a possible top-eight seed in the NCAA tournament golden for the Tar Heels.
With a three-game sweep of Louisville after winning Sunday’s finale 16–7, UNC finished 32–2 at Boshamer Stadium for the most regular-season home wins in five years, and a program-record 14 ACC home wins.
On senior day, Carolina again brought out the power stroke with four home runs, including junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt’s 59th. Freshman catcher Luke Stevenson had a big day with two home runs, his second multi-homer game, and eight RBI, the most by a Tar Heel this season.
Given the Tar Heels’ (39–11, 20–7 ACC) home dominance, a path to Omaha with Regionals and Super Regionals at The Bosh — which would come with a top-eight seed — looks appealing. It’s particularly important considering that UNC is 7–9 away from Chapel Hill.
UNC coach Scott Forbes said dominance at home accelerated after his team swept a series at Wake Forest in late March. The Heels swept two of three home league series after that.
“If we lose that series, who knows what our confidence level is like, because winning does help. It’s contagious,” said Forbes, whose team has won six straight games. “We play well at home, but to win there and sweep there? Our guys are human beings. We’ve won a lot of games in North Carolina. And I think they felt like we are better than people think we are. Since that day, they’ve played with that chip like we want to show everybody that. They just work their ever-loving tail off.”
Combined with No. 2 Clemson’s 13–3 loss Sunday at No. 12 Wake Forest, UNC has clinched no worse than a tie for the best record in the ACC and put away the outright ACC Coastal Division title.
“Awesome weekend,” Forbes said. “We played really well. To get sweeps like that is really hard to do, which has amazed me the most about this team. We’re not done yet. So obviously we want to keep playing well.”
Carolina had its best home regular-season record since the 2019 team went 31–6 and hosted a Super Regional. The Tar Heels became the first team to sweep Louisville (29–22, 13–14) in a league series this season, and the Heels got their third home sweep of an ACC series.
On an otherwise big day for hitters, senior right-hander Ben Peterson (top photo) remained dominant out of the bullpen to pick up his first save. He struck out a career-high eight in 3⅓ one-hit innings, reaching the high 90s on his fastball, which is up a couple of miles per hour since last year.
Peterson had some lucrative pro baseball offers but decided to return for his senior season for many reasons, including being excited about the newcomers and the returning players.
“I thought we were gonna have a really solid team,” Peterson said. “But I didn’t think that my time at UNC was done after last year. I wasn’t happy with how I finished up. I thought that there was more that we could do here, and I wanted to do something special with this group.”
He’s been special out of the bullpen of late and has 15 strikeouts in the last 10⅔ innings.
“Lord have mercy, he looked like a second-rounder today,” Forbes said. “He’s older. He believes in the team, believes in what we’re doing. He’s being rewarded for it.”
Stevenson marvels at the recent performances of Peterson.
“He’s phenomenal, and he’s worked his tail off,” Stevenson said. “The last couple of outings, he’s deserved it. He’s stayed with the process. We’re going to use him a lot, and he’s going to be really big for us.”
UNC sent 14 batters to the plate in the 32-minute bottom of the second inning, scoring eight runs, with Stevenson hitting a three-run homer and an RBI single and Honeycutt launching a 447-foot shot over the scoreboard beyond left field for a two-run homer.
The Tar Heels shot the ERA of Louisville starter Colton Hartman (loser, 0–2) from 5.09 to 7.12 after getting five hits, six runs and three walks off of him.
(Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics by Ainsley Fauth)
Stevenson said he couldn’t recall ever driving in eight runs during his career at Wake Forest High School.
Casey Cook ballooned the lead to 11–0 with a 407-foot shot over the right-center field fence in fourth inning for a three-run homer, his second home run in as many games.
Carolina starter Aidan Hough (winner, 4–1) didn’t have to deal with final exam break rust since he pitched two innings Tuesday against Campbell. He allowed the leadoff runner on base in each of his first three innings — including two doubles — but battled out of trouble each time.
It came apart for Haugh in the fifth, as Louisville home runs from J.T. Benson and Eddie King Jr., the latter a three-run shot, highlighted a six-run inning. Haugh gave up seven hits, six runs (four earned) with three walks and two strikeouts.
Stevenson’s sacrifice fly to left in the fifth inning for his fifth RBI notched another UNC run, but Louisville matched it with an unearned run in the sixth.
Stevenson’s second homer highlighted a four-run eighth inning.
NOTES — Carolina plays its final road game of the season on Tuesday (FloSports) at 6 p.m. against UNCW, although rain is forecast. The Seahawks (35–17), who lost to UNC in Chapel Hill 11–0 in a 7-inning 10-run-rule game on March 19, has won eight of its last nine games after beating Hofstra 14–3 on Sunday. … Stevenson’s eight RBI are the most by a Tar Heel since Mac Horvath drove in eight against UNCW on April 25, 2023. … Carolina hit 12 homers in the series, the third time with at least 10 in an ACC series after belting 14 March 29–31 at Wake Forest and 10 April 18–20 at N.C. State. … UNC has 96 home runs on the season, chasing the school record of 108 set in 2002. … Carolina left 16 runners on base, tying a season-high set in a 20–6 Feb. 18 win over Wagner. … Honored in senior day ceremonies were Harber, Bovair, Peterson, Alex Madera, Colby Wilkerson, Anthony Donofrio, Jackson Van De Brake, Patrick Alvarez, Elliot Dix, Johnny Castagnozzi, Alberto Osuna, Matt Poston, Jake Knapp, Hunter Stokely, Ryan Fischer and Parker Haskin. The moms of those players threw out ceremonial first pitches to their sons in front of the UNC dugout. … During the series, Louisville combined to leave eight players on base in the first inning and failed to score each time. … UNC, which is 33–2 at home and has won 36 of its last 38 home games, leads the all-time series with Louisville 12–7, including 9–2 in Chapel Hill.
No. 11 UNC 16, Louisville 7
UNC career home run leaders
| Player | Seasons | Games | Homers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vance Honeycutt | 2022–24 | 176 | 65 |
| Devy Bell | 1984–87 | 205 | 57 |
| Chris Cox | 1990–93 | 192 | 49 |
| Mac Horvath | 2021–23 | 160 | 47 |
| Alberto Osuna | 2022–24 | 176 | 45 |
| Chad Flack | 2005–08 | 267 | 42 |
| Sean Farrell | 2000–03 | 240 | 40 |
| Jarrett Shearin | 1996–99 | 241 | 40 |
| Cookie Massey | 1993–94 | 108 | 40 |
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 scores
| 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), 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 | 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. | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Fri.-Sun. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (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 | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | 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 by Ainsley Fauth
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