North Carolina punches ticket to Omaha for the College World Series

North Carolina takes down West Virginia in the Chapel Hill Super Regional to advance to the College World Series.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are headed to Omaha for the College World Series for the first time since 2018.

North Carolina swept the Chapel Hill Super Regional on Saturday night with a nail-biting 2-1 win over West Virginia. The Tar Heels got the big win as the road team, just a day after Vance Honeycutt provided the fireworks with a walk-off home run.

But on Saturday, it was Honeycutt’s bat that got the Tar Heels started early.

On the very first pitch of the game Honeycutt sent a ball over the left field fence to give the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead. They would add another run in the third inning from Parks Harber to go up 2-0. And that was really all they needed with freshman Jason Decaro on the mound.

DeCaro went 6.1 innings, giving up two hits and just one earned run while striking out five batters. The pitcher was pulled with runners on but the Tar Heels turned it over to Dalton Pence.

The reliever pitched 2.2 innings and struck out six to help the Tar Heels get the win. But it was rocky.

The Mountaineers had the tying run on second with one out in the ninth inning and then loaded the bases with two outs. But Pence got the batter to ground out to first in a close play that clinched the game.

North Carolina will now face off against Virginia in the first game of the College World Series. The full schedule for the College World Series will be released this week.

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