By R.L. Bynum
DURHAM — In a battle of Omaha-quality teams with two of the best closers in the country, Coach Scott Forbes wasn’t about to let Vance Honeycutt’s lead-off single in the ninth inning get wasted in a tie game.
He gave Casey Cook the bunt sign for the first time this season. What it lacked in execution, it made up in the outcome as the No. 7 Tar Heels used a pair of ninth-inning runs to beat No. 11 Duke 6–4 to clinch the No. 1 seed in next week’s ACC tournament.
Honeycutt shook off an 0–of–11 skid with a single to left field to start the rally.
“I decided I’m just gonna bunt Casey right here after he took one swing and see if maybe with that can find a way to manufacture run against this closer,” Forbes said of fireballing graduate right-hander Charlie Beilenson. Cook was down 0–1 in the count and had struck out in his previous at-bat.
Just like when Cook was asked to bunt in the ACC tournament last season, the ball came off the bat hard toward the pitcher.
“We practice it, but it’s different in a game,” Cook said. “I know my stance didn’t look anything like it usually does. Vance is on first base; I was like don’t be too cute with it. Got it down. Not ideal, but it worked.”
Beilenson (loser, 6–3), who gave up two hits and two runs in ⅓ of an inning, fielded the bunt but threw the ball away trying to get Honeycutt at second. Honeycutt ended up at third and Cook at second on the error. First baseman Parks Harber’s sacrifice fly scored Honeycutt, and right fielder Anthony Donofrio doubled home Cook.
“I went from running down the first-base line thinking I screwed it up to being in a really good spot for the team,” said Cook, who was 2 for 4 and hit a two-run double in the three-run fifth inning. “It was a swing of emotions, but it worked out.”
Sophomore left-hander Dalton Pence (winner, 3–1) got the better of the battle of top closers, striking out the last two batters after giving up a leadoff single.
“It doesn’t change your mindset,” Pence said of entering a game in a high-leverage situation. “Just continuing to attack the hitter. Go after him. I know my stuff works best when I go right at guys, not nibble around.”
Pence came on with two on and two outs in the eighth, striking out left fielder Tyler Albright to end that threat.
It was a huge win after Duke’s pitchers held UNC (40–12, 21–8 ACC) to four hits in the Blue Devils’ 5–3 win in the opener on Thursday. Like in the opener, Carolina rallied from a deficit but was able to pull out the win this time.
“We didn’t do much [Thursday],” Forbes said. “Our guys stuck with it, found a way to beat a really good closer. Big win for us. It’s hard to do. I’ve been here a long time; it’s hard to win a division. It’s even harder to win the outright regular season.”
Duke (35–17, 16–13) only needed two pitchers on Thursday but went through seven on Friday. UNC still struck out 10 times but came up with enough big hits, with Harber, Donofrio and third baseman Gavin Gallaher all collecting two hits.
“Two really good teams,” Forbes said. “In my opinion — I’ve been doing this a while — two Omaha-caliber type teams. That’s what it’s supposed to be like Duke and North Carolina, and that’s a credit to [Duke coach] Chris Pollard and what he’s doing.”
Pollard congratulated UNC for the regular-season title.
‘They have had a great year,” Pollard said. “I told Scott before the game that I feel like they are the most complete club that we have played all year. We have played a bunch of really good clubs. Today was a really good baseball game. It was back and forth all day. I thought [Thursday] night, they made a couple of mistakes that gave us an offensive spark, and today we made a few mistakes to give them a spark.”
Junior transfer left-hander Shea Sprague had a pretty solid start, giving up five hits, four runs and one walk with three strikeouts in six innings.
Carolina took its first lead of the series in the second inning. Donofrio banged a double to left field, took third on designated hitter Alberto Osuna’s fly ball to the left-center field warning track and scored on second baseman Alex Madera’s groundout.
A double play helped Sprague escape the second inning after giving up two singles to start the inning. After issuing a walk and hitting a batter to start the third inning, he wasn’t as fortunate as second baseman Zac Morris blasted a three-run homer to left field.
UNC retook the lead in the third on Cook’s two-run, two-out double down the right field line and Harber’s single to center field.
Duke first baseman Logan Bravo, who drove in two runs in Duke’s 5–3 Thursday win, tied it with a solo home run to left in the sixth inning.
Senior right-hander Ben Peterson relieved Sprague and gave up only two hits and a walk while striking out one in 1⅔ innings.
NOTES — Weather permitting, the series concludes at noon Saturday (ESPN3) with right-hander Aidan Haugh (4–1, 3.95 ERA) on the mound for the Tar Heels. Duke will start left-hander Andrew Healy (2–1, 4.85 ERA) will start for the Blue Devils.… Duke moved its senior day pregame ceremony, originally slated for Saturday, to Friday. … Carolina leads the all-time series with Duke 193–108–3, including 74–45–1 in Durham. … Forbes is 7–4 against Duke. … UNC reached 40 wins for the second time in three seasons and the fifth time in seven seasons.
No. 7 UNC 6, No. 11 Duke 4
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 | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 14–15 | Fri.-Sat. | W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2 | vs. Texas Tech | 3–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 12–9 | vs. Kansas State | 4–0 |
| 22–24 | Sat.-Mon. | W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4 | vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville) | 7–0 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 7–4 | vs. VCU | 8–0 |
| 26 | Wednesday | W, 13–4 | vs. N.C. A&T | 9–0 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 16–2 | vs. Stony Brook | 10–0 |
| March | ||||
| 1–2 | Sat.-Sun. | W, 6–1; W, 9–5 | vs. Stony Brook | 12–0 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 6–4 (11) | vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina | 13–0 |
| 7–9 | Fri.-Sun. | L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0 | vs. Stanford | 14–2, 1–2 ACC |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 7–3 (10) | at UNCW | 15–2 |
| 14, 16 | Fri., Sun. | L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0 | at Louisville | 16–4, 2–4 |
| 19 | Wednesday | L, 5–1 | vs. UConn | 16–5 |
| 21–23 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7) | at Boston College | 18–6, 4–5 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 13–8 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 19–7 |
| 28–30 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2 | vs. Miami | 21–7, 6–6 |
| April | ||||
| 1 | Tuesday | W, 11–1 (7) | vs. Gardner-Webb | 22–7 |
| 3–5 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14) | vs. Duke | 24–8, 8–7 |
| 8 | Tuesday | W, 12–10 | at Elon | 25–8 |
| 11–13 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2 | vs. Wake Forest | 28–8, 11–7 |
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 14–4 (8) | vs. Charlotte | 29–8 |
| 18–20 | Fri-Sun. | W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5 | at Virginia Tech | 31–9, 13–8 |
| 25–27 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0 | at Pittsburgh | 33–10, 15–9 |
| 29 | Tuesday | W, 13–4 | vs. George Mason | 34–10 |
| 30 | Wednesday | W, 14–3 | vs. Queens | 35–10 |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | W, 10–1 | vs. Campbell | 36–10 |
| 8–9 | Thurs.-Fri. | W, 8–1; L, 8–5 | vs. N.C. State | 37–11, 16–10 |
| 15–17 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4 | at No. 7 Florida State | 39–12, 18–11 |
| ACC tournament | Durham | |||
| 23 | Friday | Quarterfinal: W, 7–3 | Boston College | 40–12 |
| 24 | Saturday | Semifinal: W, 7–5 | No. 7 Florida State | 41–12 |
| 25 | Sunday | Final: W, 14–4 | No. 14 Clemson | 42–12 |
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 30 | Friday | W, 4–0 | Holy Cross | 43–12 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 11–5 | Oklahoma | 44–12 |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | L, 9–5 | Oklahoma | 44–13 |
| 2 | Monday | W, 14–4 | Oklahoma | 45–13 |
| Chapel Hill Super Regional | Best-of-3 series | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 18–2 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–13 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 10–8 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–14 |
| 8 | Sunday | L, 4–3 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–15 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics by Ainsley Fauth
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