By R.L. Bynum
This Carolina-Duke battle won’t be in Cameron Indoor Stadium but in an even older venue a short walk away, with the stakes and caliber typical of the rivals’ basketball battles.
The No. 7 Tar Heels (39–11, 20–7 ACC) and No. 11 Blue Devils (36–16, 15–12) will meet in baseball at Jack Coombs Field — which opened in 1931, nine years before Cameron — for the first time in 10 years.
With a lot on the line in the big three-game series, freshmen will start Thursday’s 7 p.m. opener (ACC Network): UNC right-hander Jason DeCaro (4–1, 3,98 ERA) will oppose Duke left-hander Kyle Johnson (3–1, 4.46 ERA).
Duke will be without ace left-handed junior pitcher Jonathan Santucci, who is fourth in the ACC in ERA (3.54) and third in strikeouts (86). He suffered a rib injury on Friday and will miss as much as two weeks.
The teams are tied for second in the ACC with 96 home runs and ranked in the top five in the conference in batting average (Duke third at .316; UNC fourth at .315), ERA (UNC first at 4.17; Duke third at .455), runs (UNC second 457; Duke fifth 433) and slugging percentage (Duke fourth .554; UNC fifth .551).
UNC, which has won six straight games and already has clinched the ACC Coastal Division title, can lock up the No. 1 seed in next week’s ACC tournament with a win or a Clemson loss to Boston College. The tournament starts Tuesday at Charlotte’s Truist Field,
The Tar Heels likely have already clinched at least a top-16 NCAA tournament seed, which means hosting the regional round. A series victory probably puts away a national top 8 seed, which means also hosting a Super Regional if they advance past the regional.
D1 Baseball’s NCAA projection entering the weekend has UNC as the No. 5 overall seed, hosting Alabama, UNC Wilmington and Fairfield in the Chapel Hill Region.
It’s a big series for Duke, which was ranked higher than UNC all season until Monday’s latest poll. The shift came after the Blue Devils dropped two of three games last weekend at Georgia Tech after losing two of three at home to No. 10 Florida State the weekend before that.
The Blue Devils were previously projected to be regional hosts, but D1 Baseball now predicts Duke will play in the Greenville Regional with East Carolina as the host.
Sensational UNC junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt is hitting .333 and has scored an ACC-high 72 runs, is one away from becoming the fourth player in ACC history to hit 60 career home runs. He is second in the ACC in home runs (22) and steals (27). Florida State junior right fielder James Tibbs III, Honeycutt’s prime competition for ACC Player of the Year, is hitting .387, and leads the league with an .848 slugging percentage, 23 homers and 76 RBI.
Freshman third baseman Gavin Gallaher leads UNC in hitting and is ninth in the ACC at .367, followed by senior first baseman Parks Harber, 10th in the ACC, at .364. Honeycutt is one of five Tar Heels with at least 12 home runs, followed by Harber with 18, redshirt sophomore left fielder Casey Cook with 15, senior designated hitter Alberto Osuna with 13 and freshman catcher Luke Stevenson with 12.
Duke graduate third baseman Ben Miller is second in the ACC in hitting at .410 and is one of six Blue Devils with double-digit home runs. Miller has 13 homers, with graduate second baseman Zac Morris and graduate first baseman Logan Bravo tied for the team lead with 14.
Duke starts a mix of experience and youth, with three graduates, one senior, two juniors and three freshmen in its usual starting lineup.
NOTES — UNC is No. 5 in the RPI and Duke is No. 23. The Tar Heels are 6–7 against top 25 RPI teams and 7–9 away from Chapel Hill. … The D1 Baseball staff picked UNC by an 8–3 margin. … Honeycutt leads the ACC with 31.9% of his flyballs resulting in home runs, with Harber second at 31.6%. … Carolina leads the all-time series with Duke 192–107–3, including 73–44–1 in Durham, after the Tar Heels won two of three in Chapel Hill last season. UNC has won nine of the last 12 meetings and the last four series. … UNC is the only major conference Division I team with over 90 home runs (96) and more than 70 steals (78) this season. Honeycutt and right fielder Anthony Donofrio (who leads the ACC with seven triples) are two of four players since the start of the 2022 season with 25 homers and 60 steals. … After losing three straight games, all by one run, Carolina has won 10 of its last 11 games while outscoring opponents 120–41 with 22 home runs and 113 RBI in that span. … Duke played every home game in Jack Coombs Field this season after playing most of its home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in recent years. … Carolina will start left-hander Shea Sprague (3–1, 3.81 ERA) at 2 p.m. Friday and right-hander Aidan Haugh (4–1, 3.95 ERA) at 1 p.m. Saturday. Duke hasn’t named its starters for those games. … Mike Ferrin and Gaby Sanchez will be on the ACC Network call of the opener. Friday’s 6 p.m. game and Saturday’s 1 p.m. game will stream on ESPN3.
UNC season statistics
Duke season statistics
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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