UNC baseball beats NC State, 9-5, to win ACC baseball tournament championship
The suspense surrounding the rare UNC-N.C. State ACC baseball title game matchup ended when Vance Honeycutt’s first home run landed on West 4th Street.
When his second home run landed in almost the same spot, it was celebration time for the Tar Heels, sadness for the Wolfpack.
North Carolina defeated N.C. State, 9-5, to win the 2022 ACC tournament title Sunday, the eighth title in school history and first for the Tar Heels since 2019. Carolina won three straight ACC tournament titles from 1982-84 and won it again in 1990 before adding championships in 2007 and 2019.
Scott Forbes, the Tar Heels’ second-year skipper, won a championship in his first attempt. The title still eludes N.C. State head coach Elliott Avent, in his 26th season.
“ACC champs,” Forbes said, tossing his hands in the air. “Our whole approach was we wanted to win an ACC championship for the University of North Carolina, we just happened to be playing N.C. State.”
N.C. State hasn’t won an ACC title since 1992. They are 0-8 in title games since then. Sunday’s showdown was the first time since 1990 that the Tar Heels and Wolfpack played in a title game. Carolina won that contest, 5-0.
With the win, Carolina owns a 14-11 advantage over the Pack in the ACC tournament. UNC is 3-1 against N.C. State this season.
Ninety minutes before the first pitch, fans in blue or red tops made their way through the concourse, eventually filling up the bleachers at Truist Field. In 2013, 11,392 fans packed the DPAC in Durham to watch the rivals play in the ACC tournament. Sunday, 10,500 made their way into Truist Field, setting a tournament record for the venue, with local Carolina fans still scooping up tickets late into the game.
N.C. State, the first double-digit seeded team to make the final, scored 28 runs in their previous three games this week. After being shut out last year against Duke in the title game, the Pack got on the board in the first inning. It was downhill from there.
Early fireworks
N.C. State’s Devonte Brown ripped a double on the second pitch of the game. He looked to the Wolfpack dugout and there was a brief celebration. Brown later scored on a controversial play. The umpires took a second look to see if Brown actually tagged third base on his way by. He had, and N.C. State grabbed the lead.
Then, UNC took the plate.
Honeycutt hit his 19th home run of the season, a two-run shot over the Piedmont Natural Gas picnic area. That homer put UNC ahead 2-1 after one inning. The Heels were just warming up.
In the bottom of the second, UNC opened the floodgates.
Tomas Frick and Hunter Stokely each got on with singles. Logan Whitaker hit Colby Wilkerson with a pitch, loading the bases with no outs. Angel Zarate hit a two-run single to make it 4-1. Mac Horvath popped out, but Danny Serretti drove in another run with a single. That ended Whitaker’s day, making way for Matt Willadsen.
On Willadsen’s first pitch of the day, Honeycutt ripped a three-run home run over the left field wall to make it 8-1.
“He’s a good hitter,” Avent said about Honeycutt. “He doesn’t chase much. When hitters are in and zone and he’s in a zone. He feels like every time he goes up he sees the ball as big as a beach ball. That’s a great feeling for a hitter.”
The Heels got six runs in the inning to pull away from the Pack, seemingly shutting the door on any hopes of an N.C. State title.
“That’s very disappointing to take in a game that was packed with so much emotion,” Avent said. “We were a little taxed in the pitching department. Proud of Whitaker and Willadsen trying to come back, but they were on fumes after pitching Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.”
It wasn’t just the UNC bats having a day. Starting pitcher Max Carlson held the Pack in check, striking out six batters in 5 innings of work.
“The story of the game was Carlson,” Forbes said. “I’m really proud of him.”
Carlson improved to 3-2 on the season with his performance on Sunday.
“I was texting back and forth with Coach Forbes last night,” Carlson said when asked when he knew he would start. “I told him I wanted the ball. Four days rest is a big league rotation, nothing I can’t do, I guess.”
The ‘other’ freshman
N.C. State’s Tommy White, the ACC Freshman of the Year, has been the talk of the season.
Honeycutt, another rookie, might have something to say about that.
The Salisbury native hit two home runs on Sunday, the second time this week he’s hit multiple home runs in one game. After the tournament he was named MVP. Avent told the media Honeycutt was in a zone this week. He described what that feels like.
“If you’re seeing it well you’re able to spin on pitchers pitches,” Honeycutt said. “You’re able to get your pitch and not chase. If you’re able to do that then you can find a barrow and good things happen.”
Honeycutt has 21 home runs this season. He also has 28 steals, putting him in rare company — he’s the first player in school history to have 20 homers and 20 steals. Earlier this week, Honeycutt set the school record for home runs by a freshman.
“To watch his growth in such a short amount of time has been really cool,” Forbes said. “What I see with Vance is he listens, he’s extremely coachable and he works. When you do that , you’re that talented, you’re going to have success.”
He finished the ACC tournament 6-for-15 at the plate with four home runs.
This story was originally published May 29, 2022 at 3:18 PM with the headline "UNC baseball beats NC State, 9-5, to win ACC baseball tournament championship."
