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OMAHA, Neb. — The lineup will look drastically different when North Carolina opens the 2025 baseball season in February. Coach Scott Forbes must replenish his roster with transfers and freshmen for the Tar Heels to return to Omaha because most of his 2024 lineup will be gone. Even before UNC’s first Men’s College World Series opener, Forbes said that he had already secured a couple of transfer commitments and was working to get more.
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 you there fail to come together at the Men’s College World Series, teams leave frustrated but proud that they got to the big stage.
OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina showed plenty of heart after falling behind by six runs and shook off its offensive funk, but it wasn’t enough to extend the Tar Heels’ stay in Omaha. In likely his career-finale, center fielder Vance Honeycutt had three hits — including a two-run homer that gave UNC life — in a 9–5 loss to Florida State at Charles Schwab Field Omaha to end the Heels’ Men’s College World Series run.
OMAHA, Neb. — The mission for No. 4-seed North Carolina is daunting: Win three games in as many days — including two against No. 1 Tennessee — to make the Men’s College World Series Finals or go home. Coach Scott Forbes’s mission is to get his Tar Heels (48–15) to focus on beating No. 8-seed Florida State (48–16) at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPN) and proceed from there with the knowledge that the program has met a similar challenge before
OMAHA, Neb. — For most of the season, Carolina’s prolific scoring made it tough for anybody to beat the Tar Heels. They haven’t been able to replicate that recently in the NCAA tournament against top-level pitching, and it finally caught up with them against No. 1 Tennessee’s explosive hitting.
OMAHA, Neb. — The Shea Sprague that No. 1-seed Tennessee will face is a dramatically different pitcher than the one who struggled to get his North Carolina teammates out during preseason practice.
OMAHA, Neb. — After spending most of the season watching from the dugout, the college baseball world watched Jackson Van De Brake come through with a huge hit on the sport’s biggest stage. And Vance Honeycutt added yet another.
OMAHA, Neb. — Another day, another national honor for North Carolina star junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt. The American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings named him Friday to their Division I First Team All-America team. Earlier, Perfect Game named him First Team All-America, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named him to its second team.
OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina coach Scott Forbes got his fourth Tar Heels team to the Men’s College World Series, thanks in no small part to working the transfer portal. Three of his regular position players and two of his starting pitchers transferred to UNC last offseason. Knowing that up to seven regular starters will finish their careers in Omaha, Forbes has already begun luring another talented transfer class while trying to win a national championship.
OMAHA, Neb. — Charles Schwab Field Omaha’s spacious dimensions can turn long drives into long outs that might be home runs in other venues. When No. 4-seed North Carolina (47–14) gets a rematch with No. 12 Virginia (45–15) in Friday’s 2 p.m. Men’s College World Series opener (ESPN), the dynamics will be a lot different from when the Cavaliers won two of three in Charlottesville, Va., in early April.
OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina’s already deep bullpen will get even deeper for the Men’s College World Series. With days off between games worked into the schedule, junior right-hander Aidan Haugh (4–2, 4.54 ERA), the No. 3 starter since early April, will be back in the bullpen.
UNC head coach Scott Forbes, pitcher Jason DeCaro, first baseman Parks Harber and center field Vance Honeycutt addressed the media at a Men’s College World Series press conference in Omaha on Thursday.
Dynamic UNC junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt made the Perfect Game First Team All-America team on Wednesday and was one of two Tar Heels picked by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association as Second Team All-American.
It’s tough for a team to earn a spot in the Men’s College World Series, and it might be even tougher for fans of No. 4-seed North Carolina to get tickets if you want to make sure you are sitting with Tar Heels fans.
No. 4-seed North Carolina and No. 12 Virginia are familiar with each other heading into their College World Series game this weekend, but a lot has changed since they played an early-April series in Charlottesville.
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