By R.L. Bynum
OMAHA, Neb. — Baseball is designed to break your heart, and Omaha delivers a unique version of emotional pain to all but one team.
When many of the elements that get a team there fail to come together at the Men’s College World Series, teams leave frustrated but proud that they got to the big stage.
That was the case for No. 4-seed North Carolina, which finished with 48 wins, the eighth-most in program history.
“I told the guys in the locker room, the word that came to my mind was proud, just because they should be proud of what they’ve done this entire season,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “They’ve worked since August. They stayed together. They pulled hard for one another. They gave our fans so much to be passionate about, so much to look forward to.”
The Bosh Magic didn’t transfer to “The Chuck” — as locals affectionately call the spacious Charles Schwab Field Omaha — except for Vance Honeycutt’s game-ending RBI single to beat Virginia 3–2 in Friday’s opener.
“We said day one, the goal was to win a national championship,” said Honeycutt, a likely first-round draft pick in the July 14 draft. “It starts with getting out here in Omaha. You don’t want it to end. But if it does, you want it to be out here. We’re very fortunate to have had that.”
UNC won the ACC regular-season title with a prolific offense with power and speed, outstanding defense, solid starting pitching and a deep bullpen. That combination didn’t come together playing some of the best teams in the country.
“We didn’t get what we wanted,” said junior left fielder Casey Cook, who is expected to be drafted and could turn pro. “I have zero regrets, and I know this team has zero regrets because we wanted it. We all did. Nothing to hang your head on because we gave it all we had and did everything in our power to win. And it just didn’t work out.”
The Tar Heels only won the opening-game game over Virginia, as they endured their biggest offensive struggles of the season.
After never scoring three or fewer runs in more than two straight games (held to one run in successive mid-March games at Miami), they had done so for three consecutive games before the four-run fifth inning Tuesday. But the bats went silent after that in a 9–5 season-ending loss to Florida State.
For most of the season, the talented bullpen either held a lead or gave the Tar Heels a chance to rally. The trio of Matthew Matthijs, Matt Poston and Dalton Pence were rock solid so many times this season. But couldn’t find the rhythm against the Seminoles.
With the usually devastating Pence cutter not working, the 14⅓-inning scoreless streak ended. A typical Pence outing of the last couple of weeks would have extended UNC’s stay in Omaha another day.
But it was one of the toughest games of his career, and that happens to the best pitchers. He gave up eight hits and four runs, both career-highs, in 2⅓ innings. Florida State’s offense was too much of a challenge.
“No offense to any of the teams we played all year,” Forbes said, “I thought top to bottom, that was the most balanced offense, left, right, right, left, speed, power. They made Dalton pay for some mistakes. But he sure was getting after it, and they just got some hits.”
The constant throughout the season was Honeycutt, who continued to show he was one of the best players in the country and program history. He went 3 for 5 and was a triple short of the cycle in the loss to the Seminoles.
Forbes said the one word that describes Honeycutt is “electric.”
“He is the definition of a leader,” Forbes said. “He has integrity. He works. He puts winning first.”
Casey Cook played alongside Honeycutt in right field last season and left field this season and says he’s selfless.
“You never hear him talk about himself because he’s not concerned about that,” Cook said. “He’s concerned about winning, and it’s contagious. And playing outfield next to him makes my job easy. I didn’t have to cover much ground. So that was nice.”
The run to Omaha was also nice even if the finish was hard for the Tar Heels to accept. It will still go down as one of the best teams in program history.
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 |
Men’s College World Series
At Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
Bracket 1
No. 1 Tennessee (3–0), No. 8 Florida State (2–2), No. 4 North Carolina (1–2), No. 12 Virginia (0–2)
Bracket 2
No. 3 Texas A&M (3–0), Florida (2–2), No. 2 Kentucky (1–2), No. 10 N.C. State (0–2)
Pool play
(All listed times are EDT)
Friday’s results
Game 1: No. 4 North Carolina 3, No. 12 Virginia 2
Game 2: No. 1 Tennessee 12, No. 8 Florida State 11
Saturday’s results
Game 3: No. 2 Kentucky 5, No. 10 N.C. State 4, 10 innings
Game 4: No. 3 Texas A&M 3, Florida 2
Sunday’s results
Game 5: No. 8 Florida State 7, No. 12 Virginia 3; Virginia eliminated
Game 6: No. 1 Tennessee 6, No. 4 North Carolina 1
Monday’s results
Game 7: Florida 5, No. 10 N.C. State 4; N.C. State eliminated
Game 8: No. 3 Texas A&M 5, No. 2 Kentucky 1
Tuesday’s result
Game 9: No. 8 Florida State 9, No. 4 North Carolina 5; North Carolina eliminated
Wednesday’s results
Game 10: Florida 15, No. 2 Kentucky 4; Kentucky eliminated
Game 11: No. 1 Tennessee 7, No. 8 Florida State 2; Florida State eliminated
Game 12: No. 3 Texas A&M 6, Florida 0; Florida eliminated
MCWS Finals
(Best-of-3 series)
No. 1 Tennessee (60–13) vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (53–15)
Game 1: Texas A&M 9, Tennessee 5
Game 2 Tennessee, 4, Texas A&M 1
Game 3: Tennessee 6, Texas A&M 5; Tennessee wins national champinship
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
tarheeltribune.com 