OMAHA, Neb. – The leadoff hitter walked it off again.
Vance Honeycutt singled in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Jackson Van De Brake from third as fourth-seeded North Carolina edged No. 12 Virginia 3-2 in the opener of the 2024 College World Series.
Honeycutt had a walk-off home run in an 8-5 win over West Virginia in Game 1 of their Super Regional.
Van De Brake led off the ninth by taking a 2-2 pitch the other way down the right field line for a double for the Tar Heels (48-14).
“He’s one of our captains,” UNC head coach Scott Forbes said about Van De Brake. “There’s a reason this team is like it is. There’s a kid, all-ACC last year, hasn’t gone like he wanted it to, and he steps up there and hits a double.”
Alex Madera put down a sacrifice bunt to move Van De Brake to third. Colby Wilkerson hit a high foul popout to catcher Jacob Ference to set the stage for Honeycutt.
“You shouldn’t feel like he’s going to come through every time,” UNC left fielder Casey Cook said, “but that’s how I felt. And that’s just how it’s been going recently. Vance stepped up to the plate and I think everyone in the dugout know he was going to come through. And that’s what happened.”
The Cavs (46-16) loaded the bases in the top of the first without the benefit of a hit but stranded the trio as Jacon DeCaro struck out Harrison Didawick.
“The story of the game was the strikeout against Didawick,” Forbes said. “I think if they score right there, have a big inning, it would be tough in this ballpark.”
The Tar Heels responded in the bottom of the frame. Cook had a one-out single, went to third on a double by Parks Harber and came home on a groundout by Anthony Donofrio to put UNC up 1-0.
UVA did tie it in the third as Ethan Anderson had a one-out single, moved to third on a double by Casey Saucke and scored on a base hit by Henry Ford to level the score at 1-1.
The Cavs took the lead in the sixth. Henry Godbout drew a leadoff walk, took third on a double by Eric Becker and came home on a sacrifice fly to center by Griff O’Ferrall to give UVA a 2-1 advantage.
UNC tied it in the seventh. Madera had a leadoff single and was sacrificed to second by Wilkerson. With two away, Cooke singled to left to knock in Madera to make it a 2-2 contest.
Cook went 3 for 4 with a double, one run and one RBI. Harber reached three times with a double and a pair of walks.
Saucke had a double and a pair of walks for the Cavs.
Dalton Pence (5-1) tossed 3.1 hitless innings with no walks and two strikeouts to earn the win. He threw 29 pitches.
“Just commanding the strike zone,” Pence said, “and letting my stuff work from inside the strike zone to out of it and just attacking them. That’s really what I had going for me.”
Evan Blanco went 6.2 innings with seven hits, two runs, two walks and four strikeouts in his start for the Cavs.
“Really proud of Evan Blanco,” UVA head coach Brian O’Connor said. “I thought he pitched a terrific ball game. You can see why we started him in the opener. He had a fantastic day and was ready to pitch. He managed some situations and gave us an opportunity to win.”
Notes
This was Virginia’s first NCAA tourney loss this season.
Over the past two seasons, UVA is 0-3 in CWS games and all have been one-run losses.
This was North Carolina’s first walk-off win in 42 games in the CWS.
Vance Honeycutt’s father, Bobby Honeycutt, played on UNC’s 1989 CWS team. They are the 15th father/son combo to both appear in the CWS.