By R.L. Bynum
On the plus side, they’ll be able to watch him in the College World Series after No. 4-seed UNC rode outstanding pitching to a 2–1 victory over West Virginia before a record crowd of 4,491 Saturday for a two-game sweep of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.
The team dogpiled in the infield and the smiles on all of the Tar Heels as well as their fans never went away, including through the entire postgame press conference.
“If this is the last one, then this was an awesome game,” said Honeycutt, who is expected to be a first-round draft pick in the draft later this month. “So many guys in this locker room besides me have just put us in a good spot and so far this season. To see the look on everybody’s faces was priceless. It’s what we’ve worked for since August. That’s very rewarding.”
It’s UNC’s first trip to Omaha since 2018 and the 12th in program history. UNC will face No. 12 overall seed Virginia (46–15) in a CWS opener either Friday or Saturday. The Cavaliers swept Kansas State in the Charlottesville Regional.
“The two words really that we talked about were love and unity,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said, “because we were going to have some talented players and they may work their way in the lineup and some guys that have played a lot may not be in the lineup. And the only chance we had to make it was if everybody was selfless and they sure were.”
Freshman right-hander Jason DeCaro (winner, 6–1) pitched a career-high 7⅓ innings for his sixth quality start and Dalton Pence threw 2⅔ shutout innings with two hits, three walks and six strikeouts for his eighth save, but only after some anxious moments in the ninth inning.
“I was trying to take it pitch by pitch, and you make more mistakes and put more pressure on yourself when you start thinking about the bigger picture, thinking if they’re gonna take you out or if you’re gonna leave you in,” Pence said.
Pence gave up a leadoff single in the ninth inning, but stuck out Reed Chumley — who had homered the night before — before walking Grant Hussey. He struck out pinch hitter Ellis Garcia before walking Kyle West on a 3–2 pitch to load the bases before Ben Lumsden grounded out to end the game.
Pence sprinted to first base to take the throw from first baseman Parks Harber and put his foot on the bag moments before Lumsden got there. That secured the Super Regional title and a wild celebration.
“I told the team [Friday] night,” Forbes said, “I said, ‘Hey, if you guys want to bridge the gap a little bit and make it a little bit easier on us coaches, go ahead.’ But it didn’t surprise me we were in that burner, and I just have to say like I’ve never seen it that good of an atmosphere.”
(Photo by Smith Hardy)
Honeycutt hit home runs on consecutive pitches. After his two-run shot ended Friday’s Carolina win, he lined a 338-foot drive over the left-field wall on the game’s first pitch to break his program record for homers in a season with 26 with his UNC-record 63rd career home run.
Honeycutt’s speed gave UNC a 2–0 lead in the third inning when he laid down a perfect bunt with two outs on the first pitch and beat the throw at first base. He took third on Casey Cook’s single up the middle and scored on Harber’s RBI single to left.
In the fourth inning, Honeycutt caught a line drive from Reed Chumley, and his bullet throw doubled up Sam White at first base. In the eighth inning, Honeycutt sped well to his left to track down Skylar King’s liner.
“That just shows he changes the game,” said Forbes, saying Honeycutt is the best player in the country. “Obviously the unbelievable catch, but he just threw a BB to first base. Not many people can make that play, and starts us off with that home run. I’m just gonna keep jumping on hiss back while we head to Omaha.”
DeCaro had everything going, giving up two hits, two walks and no runs while striking out five.
“Here’s a kid that gave up a senior year in high school, trusted us and his family,” Forbes said. “We thought doing that would give us a better chance to get him here. Little do we know that it will get even more drafted attention because he pitched so well.”
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After DeCaro gave up a one-out single to Chumley in the seventh inning, Pence relieved him. After striking out Grant Hussey, he walked Spencer Barnett on a 3–2 pitch before West’s RBI single to left field cut UNC’s lead to 2–1. He struck out Lumsden to prevent further damage.
West Virginia starter Tyler Switalski (loser, 5–3) nearly matched DeCaro, giving up five hits, two runs and walking one with four strikeouts. He came out after Luke Stevenson walked and Alberto Osuna singled with one out in the seventh inning.
His relief, Carson Estridge, loaded the bases by hitting Colby Wilkerson with a two-out out pitch but struck out Honeycutt swinging on an inside 2–2 pitch to get out of the inning.
NOTES — Carolina is 8–3 all-time in Super Regionals with 17 wins, the ninth most all-time. It was UNC’s sixth Super Regional sweep (also in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2018) … Honeycutt’s eight NCAA tournament home runs are a program record. … UNC is 16–2 when allowing two runs or fewer. … Pence’s eight saves are tied for the 13th-most in a season in program history. … West Virginia second baseman Brodie Kessler, whose second-inning single was its only hit in the first six innings, came out in the third inning after injuring a finger on his glove hand while stealing second base. … Virginia won two of three in an early-April series in Charlottesville. … Carolina finished 37–3 at Boshamer Stadium, the highest winning percentage in stadium history at 92.5%. … UNC is 10–2 all-time against West Virginia, with every game at Boshamer Stadium. … Carolina’s 47 wins are the most wins since the 59–12 Tar Heels in 2013 went to the College World Series. … UNC is 7–4 in Game 2s of Super Regionals. … The crowd included former UNC chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, Coby White, RJ Davis, Elliot Cadeau, Zayden High, Seth Trimble, Jalen Washington, Alyssa Ustby and Indya Nivar.
UNC 2, West Virginia 1
Chapel Hill Super Regional
No. 4-ranked and No. 5-seed North Carolina (50–12–1) vs. Southern Cal (48–18)
Best-of-3 series
Boshamer Stadium
Game 1: USC 9, UNC 5
Game 2: UNC 4, USC 0
Game 3: UNC 4, USC 3; UNC wins series 2-1
UNC opens the College World Series on Friday or Saturday against No. 18 and unseeded Ole Miss (41–21), which swept No. 5 Auburn in the Auburn Super Regional, winning 6–4 on Friday and 5–3 on Saturday. The other two teams in the double-elimination four-team field on the left side of the bracket are Troy (38–30) and No. 16-seed West Virginia (45–15).
College World Series
At Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
Sunday, June 21, game on ABC, all other games on ESPN
Bracket 1
No. 5-seed and No. 4-ranked North Carolina (50–12–1), No. 16-seed and No. 9-ranked West Virginia (48–15), Troy (38–30) and No. 23-ranked Ole Miss (41–21)
Bracket 2
No. 3-seed and No. 3-ranked Georgia (51–12), No. 6-seed and No. 6-ranked Texas (45–13), No. 7-seed and No. 16-ranked Alabama (42–19) and Oklahoma (38–22)
Pool play
(All listed times are ET)
Friday’s games
Game 1: Troy vs. West Virginia, 2:06 p.m.
Game 2: North Carolina vs. Ole Miss, 7:06 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Game 3: Oklahoma vs. Alabama, 3:06 p.m.
Game 4: Georgia vs. Texas, 8:06 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Game 5: Friday losers, 2:06 p.m.
Game 6: Friday winners, 7:06 p.m.
Monday’s games
Game 7: Saturday losers, 2:06 p.m.
Game 8: Saturday winners, 7 p.m.
Tuesday’s games
Game 9: Sunday morning winner vs. Sunday night loser 2:06 p.m.
Game 10: Tuesday morning winner vs. Sunday night winner, 7:06 p.m.
Wednesday’s games
Game 11: Monday morning winner vs. Monday night loser, 2:06 p.m.
Game 12: Wednesday morning winner vs. Monday night winner, 7:06 p.m.
Thursday’s games
Deciding Bracket 1 game if Game 9 winner also wins Game 11
Deciding Bracket 2 game if Game 10 winner also wins Game 12
CWS Finals
(Best-of-3 series)
Game 1: Saturday, June 20, 8:06 p.m.
Game 2 Sunday, June 21, 1:36 p.m.
Game 3: Monday, June 22, (if needed) 8:06 p.m.
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 |
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record/ TV * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 13–14 | Fri., Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11) | vs. Indiana | 3–0 |
| 17 | Tuesday | W, 10–0 (7) | vs. Richmond | 4–0 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 5–3 | vs. Longwood | 5–0 |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun | W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3 | vs. East Carolina | 6–1–1 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. N.C. A&T | 7–1–1 |
| 25 | Wednesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. VCU | 8–1–1 |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 10–1–1 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 21–1 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 11–1–1 |
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 5–1 | vs. Elon | 12–1–1 |
| 6–7 | Fri., Sat | L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12) | vs. Virginia | 13–3–1, 1–2 ACC |
| 10 | Tuesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. Bucknell | 14–3–1 |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2 | at California | 17–3–1, 4–2 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 8–2 | vs. UNCG | 18–3–1 |
| 20–22 | Fri.–Sun. | W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6 | vs. Louisville | 20–4–1, 6–3 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 21–4–1 |
| 28, 29 | Sat., Sun | W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10 | at Notre Dame | 24–4–1, 9–3 |
| 31 | Tuesday | W, 5–4 (14) | vs. Campbell | 25–4–1 |
| April | ||||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | L, 6–1; W, 5–2; W, 8–7 | vs. Boston College | 27–5–1, 11–4 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 8–4 | vs. Charlotte | 28–5–1 |
| 10–12 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 6–4 (14); W, 12–5 | at Clemson | 30–6–1, 13–5 |
| 14 | Tuesday | W, 14–5 | vs. UNCW | 31–6–1 |
| 17–19 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–2; W, 14–4 (8); L, 5–2 | vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech | 33–7–1, 15–6 |
| 21 | Tuesday | W, 9–2 | vs. High Point | 34–7–1 |
| 23–25 | Thur.–Sat. | W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7) | at Duke | 36–8–1, 17–7 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 12–2 | vs. Coastal Carolina | 36–9–1 |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | 37–9–1 |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3 | vs. Pittsburgh | 40–9–1, 20–7 |
| 12 | Tuesday | W, 13–7 | at UNCW | 41–9–1 |
| 14–16 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2 | at N.C. State | 43–10–1, 22–8 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | W, 10–4 | Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech | 44–10–1 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 13–5 | Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh | 45–10–1 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 13–6 | Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech | 45–11–1 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 8–0 | VCU | 46–11–1 |
| 30–31 | Sat.–Sun. | W, 7–5, W, 9–3 | East Carolina | 48–11–1 |
| June | ||||
| Chapel Hill Super Regionals | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5, W, 4–0, W, 4–3 | Southern Cal | 50–12–1 |
| College World Series | Omaha, Neb. | |||
| 12 | Friday | 7:06 p.m. | No. 18 Ole Miss | ESPN |
| 14 | Sunday | 2:06 p.m. (with loss) or 7:06 p.m. (with win) | Troy or No. 9 West Virginia | ESPN |
Photos by Smith Hardy
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