Category: College World Series

Where is the UNC Baseball team ranked in the 2025 Way-Too-Early Top 25?

Four rising sophomores have the Diamond Heels ranked pretty highly in these 2025 Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings.

It’ll be tough to forget the North Carolina Tar Heels’ run to the 2024 College World Series.

UNC compiled one of its best teams in recent memory, headlined by 5-tool center fielder Vance Honeycutt and the ACC’s top recruiting class. As the year progressed, North Carolina learned it had one of the country’s most dangerous batting orders – thank you, Casey Cook and Parks Harber – plus an exceptional bullpen led by Matthew Matthijs and Dalton Pence.

The Diamond Heels faced plenty of drama in the NCAA Tournament: almost losing the first game of their Regional, then facing elimination against LSU heading into the Regional Final. UNC also trailed West Virginia late in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional, plus ACC rival Virginia late in both teams’ CWS opener, but came back to win all four contests – on walk-offs.

North Carolina lost a lot of talent from its 2024 run. Honeycutt, Cook, Pence, Anthony Donofrio, Shea Sprague and Aidan Haugh – all starters – were picked in the 2024 MLB Draft, while bullpen arm Cameron Padgett and starting first baseman Park Harber signed free agent deals.

Despite all this, UNC returns a lot of young talent from. That’s why the Diamond Heels are ranked 12th in Baseball America’s 2025 “Way Too Early” Top 25 rankings.

“UNC, this spring, won the ACC and advanced to the College World Series,” Baseball America’s Tommy Cahill wrote. “It has a solid core returning, built around Freshmen All-Americans Jason DeCaro and Luke Stevenson. Third baseman Gavin Gallaher is also back and getting starter Folger Boaz back to full health would be big. But UNC also has a lot to replace. Vance Honeycutt was arguably the best player in program history and must be replaced. UNC also lost All-American closer Dalton Pence, starter Shea Sprague and outfielder Casey Cook, its leading hitter.”

When an April elbow injury forced Boaz to miss the rest of his freshman season, Jason DeCaro became the pitching staff’s ace, finishing his freshman campaign with a 6-1 win-loss record, 3.81 earned run average and a team-best 78 strikeouts.

Power-hitting catcher Luke Stevenson returns a .281 batting average, 14 home runs and 58 RBIs, while Gavin Gallaher – best known for his walk-off in the North Carolina-Long Island University clash during the Chapel Hill Regional – hit .314, mashed eight home runs and drove in 38 runners last season.

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UNC highlights ACC dominance across the entire 2023-2024 college sports season

If you include all athletic programs, the ACC is the best conference in college sports.

It seems like whatever sport you talk about last year, the North Carolina Tar Heels enjoyed plenty of sustained success.

UNC’s lone national championship last season came from the field hockey team, which came back to beat Northwestern in a shootout, for its NCAA-leading 11th national title. Women’s tennis, men’s track and field, fencing and men’s golf also won ACC titles – in addition to field hockey.

North Carolina returned to men’s basketball glory during the 2023-2024 campaign, winning its first ACC Regular Season Title since 2018 and making the NCAA Tournament after a year’s absence. Most recently, the Diamond Heels won the ACC Regular Season Championship and made the College World Series.

UNC made its athletic presence felt in the ACC once again, but it wasn’t the conference’s only school to dominate in athletics last season.

To get an idea of the ACC’s dominance, just take a look at this graphic below:

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ACC is quietly one of the top conferences in women’s basketball, thanks in particular to NC State and Virginia Tech. For people saying the ACC had a “down” year in men’s basketball, five schools – North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, NC State and Virginia all made the NCAA Tournament, all but Virginia won a game and the Wolfpack enjoyed a run to the Final Four.

Every ACC football program but Virginia, Pitt and Wake Forest made a bowl game last year. Florida State was the most successful – despite entering bowl season a perfect 13-0, it didn’t make the College Football Playoff.

With the College Football Playoff being expanded to 12 teams this coming fall, will multiple ACC teams make it?

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Mack Brown wishes the UNC baseball team good luck for CWS elimination game

Mack Brown extended well wishes to the UNC baseball program on Monday afternoon.

UNC head football coach Mack Brown has a lot on his plate this summer, especially given we’re just over two months away from North Carolina’s season-opener at Minnesota on Thursday, Aug. 29.

Most importantly, Brown has to figure out who his starting quarterback is going to be. Tar Heel Nation thought Duke’s Mayo Bowl starter Conner Harrell was the answer, then Max Johnson transferred in from Texas A&M.

To add another wrinkle into the mix, Jacolby Criswell transferred back to UNC after a year at Arkansas. Criswell, an Arkansas native, didn’t get much playing time before now-UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson.

Even with a busy offseason, Brown still has time to cheer on other North Carolina team.

With the Tar Heels’ baseball squad currently playing in the College World Series, facing an elimination game against fellow ACC rival Florida State on Tuesday, Brown delivered a good luck message to the UNC baseball program.

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North Carolina started its CWS run with a 3-2, come-from-behind win over ACC rival Virginia, but fell victim to Tennessee’s hot bats in a 6-1 defeat on Father’s Day.

Who knows – if the Diamond Heels are lucky, Brown might just show up to Tuesday afternoon’s game. Country music star and avid UNC fan Eric Church already did, so Brown wouldn’t be the first.

Regardless of what Brown does, it’s nice to know North Carolina baseball has support from Brown.

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UNC head baseball coach Scott Forbes delivers beautiful Father’s Day tribute to his dad

There’s no bond like one between a father and son. For Father’s Day, UNC head baseball coach Scott Forbes will lead the Diamond Heels against top-ranked Tennessee with his dad in attendance.

For plenty of baseball players and coaches, their first exposure to the game comes from their fathers.

That first exposure can be from watching baseball on the couch, going to see your first live game or – simply – discussing the box scores in Sunday morning’s newspaper.

On the UNC baseball team, star center fielder Vance Honeycutt is one of the many whose father game him his initial exposure to baseball. Honeycutt highlighted the early knowledge he gained from his dad, Bob, who used to be a Diamond Heel himself.

But Honeycutt isn’t the only one in North Carolina’s baseball program who has a special bond with his dad.

Scott Forbes, who took over as head coach in 2021 from longtime skipper Mike Fox, delivered a special message to his dad, Harvey, earlier on Father’s Day. Later today – Sunday, June 16 – Harvey will get to watch his ACC Coach of the Year son lead UNC into a College World Series battle with top-ranked Tennessee.

On Friday, June 14, the younger Forbes coached the Diamond Heels to a 3-2 comeback, CWS-opening win over ACC rival Virginia. This game ended with walk-off heroics from – who else – Honeycutt.

Will the younger Forbes deliver his dad the gift of a lifetime on Sunday?

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Diamond Heels praise Jackson Van De Brake for late pinch-hit double in CWS opener

Check out the love Jackson Van De Brake receives from his UNC baseball teammates after his heroics in Friday’s College World Series opener.

The UNC and University of Virginia baseball teams entered the ninth inning of yesterday’s College World Series opener deadlocked at two.

Dalton Pence, North Carolina’s star closer, mowed through Cavalier batters in the top half of the inning. This would set the stage, once again, for a potential dramatic walk-off.

Facing a 2-1 count with 2 outs, Diamond Heels star center fielder Vance Honeycutt did what he’s done so many time this year already – deliver a clutch hit. Honeycutt lined a hard single into left field, just past the outstretched glove of UVA shortstop Griff O’Ferrall, delivering UNC a 3-2 victory that kept it in the CWS winners’ bracket.

While Honeycutt’s heroics can be seen on virtually any media platform, it’s the lead-off double from North Carolina captain/pinch-hitter Jackson Van De Brake, that set the stage for more ninth-inning heroics.

Van De Brake’s teammates can be seen hyping him up in postgame interviews – just watch what starting left fielder Casey Cook and read what starting third baseman Gavin Gallaher said.

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“He’s a great teammate,” Cook said in postgame interviews. “He’s all we can ask for. He’s there for us. He’s cheering us on when we’re out there playing, so it makes us extremely happy to see him come through. You don’t want it for anyone else other than Jackson. He’s out captain and we love it for him. We have full confidence in him, so that’s great to see out of him.”

You can watch Cook speak by scrolling over to the second slide. There’s also a quote from Gallaher on the fourth slide.

With designated hitter Roberto Osuna striking out three times in Game 1, coupled with Van De Brake’s heroics, you have to wonder if Van De Brake gets the start for Sunday’s Game 2.

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Scott Forbes thanks the UNC fans in College World Series crowd

Friday’s College World Series crowd caught the attention of UNC head baseball coach Scott Forbes.

Before the College World Series even started, we wondered how many UNC baseball fans would make the trip to Omaha.

Given the amount of fans who lined the Boshamer Stadium concourse for North Carolina’s send-off this past week, I liked the chances of Charles Schwab Stadium having a lot of Carolina Blue.

Those Diamond Heel fans who made the trip were treated to quite the show on Friday, June 14, as Vance Honeycutt blasted a walk-off single and delivered UNC a clutch, 3-2 victory over ACC rival Virginia.

North Carolina  – once again – trailed in the late innings. They tied Friday’s game at two on a seventh-inning Casey Cook single, then walked it off on Honeycutt’s ninth-inning single.

As you can imagine, the Tar Heel Faithful loved Friday’s result. The stands weren’t entirely packed, as the Diamond Heels and Cavaliers played in the early (2 p.m. ET) game, but just packed (and loud) enough to catch the attention of UNC head coach Scott Forbes.

“I was really excited for our players,” Forbes said in postgame interviews. “When I looked up there and saw all of our fans that have traveled. Our chancellor is out here, some of our biggest alumni, some of the former players, a ton of former players, our athletic director. Coach (Mike) Fox was here, which obviously was really special to me. People that have really given a ton to our program got out here to support these guys.”

I have no doubt the Sunday night crowd will be just as large – if not larger – when North Carolina takes on top overall seed Tennessee at 7 p.m. ET.

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College World Series makes tournament history on Day One

Two walk-off singles on Day One of the College World Series provided a pair of exciting endings. Did you know those singles also made history?

At this point, anyone in the college baseball world should come to expect late-game heroics from UNC star Vance Honeycutt.

Facing a 2-out, 2-1 count against Virginia pitcher Chase Hungate, Honeycutt lined a single past the outstretched right arm of Griff O’Ferrell. Pinch-hitter Jackson Van De Brake jogged home from third base, crossing home plate and delivering North Carolina a 3-2 victory in the College World Series’ opening game.

Several hours later, ACC power Florida State and overall top seed Tennessee faced off in the nightcap. The Volunteers were well on their way to a win, taking a 4-1 lead after the second inning and showing no signs of slowing down, only for the Seminoles to score the next eight runs and take a 9-4 lead.

Game 2 had all the offense Game 1 didn’t, ending in a 12-11 Tennessee win. FSU later carried an 11-7 advantage into the eighth inning, only for Dylan Dreiling’s walk-off single to cap a furious, ninth-inning rally.

Despite the different game directions on Day One of the College World Series, they both made history.

For the first time in the CWS’ 77-year history, yesterday was the first time Games 1 and 2 ended in walk-offs.

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It’ll take a lot for Day Two to top yesterday. NC State and Kentucky are facing off at 2 p.m. ET, while last year’s CWS runner-up Florida and Texas A&M kick off at 7 p.m. ET.

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Legendary UNC basketball coach Roy Williams spotted at College World Series

Hall of Fame basketball coach Roy Williams, who led the UNC men’s basketball team to three National Championships, was treated to quite the College World Series game on Friday afternoon.

The North Carolina Tar Heels’ quest for their first College World Series title started with a major win Friday afternoon.

UNC faced off against the University of Virginia, an ACC rival which won two of three regular-season matchups, in the CWS’ opening game. This game pitted a pair of teams with very similar playing styles against each other – clutch hitting, power bats and stellar pitching.

It was the Diamond Heels who emerged victorious in the end, with star center fielder Vance Honeycutt delivering more walk-off heroics, this time a 2-out single in a 3-2 North Carolina victory.

The Tar Heel faithful were expected to travel in droves to Nebraska, especially with how many fans showed up at the Boshamer Stadium send-off this week. From watching (and listening) to North Carolina-UVA, I saw several Carolina blue shirts scattered throughout the stands at Charles Schwab Field.

You might not recognize every – or any – fan in the stands. I don’t blame you – even though the stands weren’t full Friday afternoon, Charles Schwab Field still holds 24,000 spectators.

There’s one fan you might recognize, though – former UNC head basketball coach Roy Williams, who helped the Tar Heels capture the 2005, 2009 and 2017 National Championships.

Williams continues to enjoyed the retired life since stepping down in 2021. He cheered on the Diamond Heels in the Chapel Hill Regional, but was more widely-seen at the Final Four, actively rooting against NC State.

Will we see Williams in the stands on Sunday, too?

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UNC baseball reserve Jackson Van De Brake delivers clutch pinch-hit double in CWS opener

Jackson Van De Brake defined what it means to be a pinch-hitter on Friday afternoon, mashing a ninth-inning, leadoff double in UNC’s 3-2 win over UVA to open the College World Series.

In the postseason, when base hits are tougher to come by, teams need their best bats to deliver.

Alberto Osuna, the UNC baseball team’s designated hitter, typically is one of the more reliable bats in the lineup. He was one of five Diamond Heels to finish the regular season with double-digit home run totals, plus one of six to reach the 50-RBI plateau.

With the exception of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill Regional opener vs. Long Island University, Osuna hasn’t found that same production at the plate. He’s an ice-cold 2-for-22, with both hits in that span coming during the 6-2 Regional loss against reigning CWS champion LSU.

Osuna’s struggles continued into UNC’s College World Series opener against ACC rival Virginia on Friday, June 14, with strikeouts in each of his three plate appearances.

That’s why, with the Diamond Heels entering the bottom of the ninth and tied at two with UVA, head coach Scott Forbes opted for a pinch-hitter ahead of Osuna’s fourth at-bat.

That pinch-hitter was Jackson Van De Brake, North Carolina’s 2023 starting second baseman.

Van De Brake proceeded to deliver his most important hit of the season, a lead-off double on a 2-2 count, that eventually led to UNC’s game-winning run.

Van De Brake is a reserve this season, primarily due to the emergence of Division-III transfer Alex Madera.

With big moments like Friday’s, coupled with Osuna’s continued struggles, Van De Brake may have just opened the door to more playing time in Omaha.

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UNC star closer Dalton Pence delivers again…this time in College World Series debut

Few pitchers have been more dominant in the NCAA Tournament than UNC closer Dalton Pence.

Dalton Pence was a major reason the UNC baseball team got to the College World Series in the first place.

Pence, typically a closing pitcher, led North Carolina with eight saves in the regular season. He led all Diamond Heels pitchers in earned run average, which has since improved to 2.04 since the NCAA Tournament started.

Despite all his regular-season success, Pence started the postseason on a rocky note. He gave up two runs on two hits – across 1 1/3 innings – in UNC’s ACC Tournament-exiting loss against Wake Forest, then gave up two runs on two hits, this time through two innings, in North Carolina’s NCAA Tournament opener against Long Island University.

Since then, Pence has played nearly perfect baseball, giving up just three hits through 12 1/3 shutout innings.

Pence’s latest big outing came in the Diamond Heels’ 3-2, CWS-opening win over ACC rival Virginia on Friday, June 14, as he struck out two Cavaliers across 3 1/3 perfect innings.

If Pence is fatigued, he certainly doesn’t show it. He’s pitched in five of UNC’s seven NCAA Tournament games, going at least two innings in each outing, with today easily his best.

Not only has Pence been North Carolina’s best reliever in the postseason, but North Carolina’s best overall pitcher.

How long can Pence keep up his hot streak?

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