NC State baseball came up short in yet another ACC championship game as the North Carolina Tar Heels won their eighth tournament title in school history with a 9-5 win on Sunday, May 29 at Truist Field in Charlotte.
The Tar Heels (38-19, 15-15 ACC) scored eight runs in the first two innings, including two multi-run homers by Vance Honeycutt, and the Wolfpack (36-21, 14-15 ACC) just couldn’t keep up.
For the Pack, it is the second straight year the team has lost in the ACC championship game, and the team has not won an ACC championship since 1992, which was before Elliott Avent became head coach in 1997.
NC State scored one run off an RBI single by redshirt junior shortstop Josh Hood in the top of the first, but Carolina quickly asserted its dominance as Honeycutt smashed a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame to go up 2-1.
An inning later, the Heels scored three more runs, prompting an NC State pitching change from redshirt sophomore right-hander Logan Whitaker to sophomore righty Matt Willadsen. Unfortunately, Willadsen also fell victim to Honeycutt, who hit a three-run shot to give the Heels a commanding 8-1 lead.
Willadsen, who pitched six innings in a win earlier in the week against Miami, lasted just over one more inning before allowing another run on a wild pitch and being taken out for sophomore left-hander Chris Villaman in the fourth.
Meanwhile, NC State struggled to come up with anything against UNC pitcher Max Carlson between the second and fifth innings, but the Pack got back on the board in the top of the sixth with a two-RBI double by senior second baseman J.T. Jarrett.
The UNC bullpen held NC State in check in the seventh and eighth, and while the Pack attempted a ninth-inning rally with RBIs by senior center fielder Devonte Brown and sophomore first baseman LuJames Groover III, it was not enough as the Heels held on for the ACC title.
The win caps off what has been an outstanding second half of the season for the Heels, who have gone 15-2 over their last 17 games, including two wins over NC State earlier this month. The Heels will now likely host a regional round of the NCAA Tournament, and with the way they’ve been playing, have an outside chance of making a run at the College World Series.
For the Pack, it’s a disappointing end to a promising tournament run, but the team has a lot to be proud of. After entering the week on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, the Pack has solidified a spot in the tournament field and will now await to see where and who it will be playing next weekend.
The NCAA baseball tournament selection show is on Monday, May 30 at noon and will be televised on ESPN2. The regional round of the tournament begins Friday, June 3 and runs until Monday, June 6.
