Tag: Tar Heels Baseball

Diamond Heels season ends with loss to Florida State

North Carolina’s season is over at the hands of the Florida State Seminoles in Omaha.

The North Carolina Tar Heels saw their 2024 baseball season come to an end in disappointing fashion on Tuesday.

Facing an uphill battle to make it to the final series, North Carolina had the task of winning three games in three days. But they couldn’t get past Florida State on Tuesday, falling to the Seminoles 9-5.

Florida State struck early, plating a run in the top of the second inning to grab a 1-0 lead. They extended that lead to 3-0 after walks plagued the Tar Heels in the top of the third. As the Seminoles were finding ways to get on base, UNC’s offense struggled which was a common theme in Omaha the past four or so days.

UNC finally scored in the bottom of the third inning on a Casey Cook double that brought in Vance Honeycutt with two outs. But after a scoreless fourth, the Seminoles plated four runs off of reliever Dalton Pence to grab a 7-1 lead.

The Tar Heels rallied again with Vance Honeycutt hitting a three-run home run and Jason Van De Brake getting an RBI single. That was all UNC could muster, however.

Florida State capped off the scoring with two runs in the ninth for some extra cushion as UNC couldn’t take advantage with runners on base in the late innings. When UNC needed their bats the most in the postseason, they struggled in the three games in Omaha.

The Seminoles advance to take on Tennessee on Wednesday.

North Carolina finished the 2024 season as ACC regular season champs and a 48-16 record overall with a trip to Omaha.

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WATCH: Phil Elson calls Arkansas’ Omaha-clinching walk-off single

Here’s how Brady Slavens’ walk-off single sounded from the voice of Arkansas Baseball

“And you can call them the Omahogs!”

Those words were exclaimed by Phil Elson, the radio voice of Arkansas Baseball, following [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag]’ walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th inning that lifted Arkansas over North Carolina on Sunday afternoon to clinch a spot in the College World Series for the 11th time in program history.

North Carolina broke the 2-2 tie in the top of the 9th inning on an RBI single to take the 3-2 lead, hoping that it would be enough to beat Arkansas and force a winner-take-all game three on Monday.

As they have proven all postseason, the Razorbacks were not going to go away that easily.

The inning started with back to back singles by [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag] and [autotag]Peyton Stovall[/autotag]. In the next at-bat, [autotag]Kendall Diggs[/autotag] would reach on a walk, loading the bases for [autotag]Braydon Webb[/autotag]. Webb hit a grounder that resulted in a fielder’s choice, allowing Battles to score from 3rd base to tie the game again at 3-3.

With two on and no outs, Slavens delivered the game winning hit that would send Arkansas to Omaha.

Here is how the walk-off sounded from the voice of Elson:

Arkansas will face the winner of Monday’s Stanford Super Regional between Stanford and UConn in the College World Series later this week at Charles Schawb Field in Omaha, Nebraska. Official dates and times will be released at a later time.

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Arkansas Baseball plays “the right way”

Despite his team ending their season on Sunday to Arkansas, North Carolina head coach Scott Forbes was complimentary of the Razorbacks style of play.

Arkansas Baseball claimed a spot in the College World Series for the 11th time in program history on Sunday by defeating North Carolina, 4-3 on a walk-off single by [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag] in the bottom of the 9th inning.

The Razorbacks swept the Tar Heels in two games at the Chapel Hill Super Regional. In addition to Sunday’s win, Arkansas defeated North Carolina in game one of the best-of-three series, 4-1 on Saturday behind a strong outing from [autotag]Connor Noland[/autotag] on the mound.

North Carolina, who came into the Super Regional as winners of 11 of their previous 12 games, was obviously disappointed in dropping their final game of the year in heartbreaking fashion. However, that did not stop Tar Heels head coach Scott Forbes from being complimentary of the Razorbacks led by [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag].

In his postgame press conference, Forbes congratulated the Razorbacks for their Super Regional victory, and says that he sees a lot of his team in Arkansas. 

“What a battle. Two great teams. I want to congratulate Arkansas. (They are) a heck of a team, what a heck of a season that they have had. Coach Van Horn and his coaches all do a tremendous job, and they have always done a tremendous job. It’s like watching our own team across the field. They play the right way. They play hard. They don’t showboat. They keep their mouth shut and play how baseball is supposed to be played. Congrats to Arkansas.” 

Arkansas’ season continues later this week in Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series. The next game for the Razorbacks, as well as their opponent, will be revealed at a later time.

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Know Your Enemy: Hogs vs. Heels preview with Tar Heels Wire’s Zack Pearson

Tar Heels Wire’s Zack Pearson joins this week’s edition of “Know Your Enemy” to provide a more in-depth look into Arkansas’ Super Regional opponent

Arkansas escaped Oklahoma last weekend in what was one of the most electrifying and most viewed, regionals of the weekend.

After opening the Stillwater Regional with a win over a feisty Grand Canyon team last Friday, Arkansas went 2-1 over the host Oklahoma State Cowboys to claim the regional, and move on to their fourth consecutive Super Regional.

Arkansas’ next stop on the road to Omaha is Chapel Hill, N.C., home of the North Carolina Tar Heels, where they will do battle with the winners of the Chapel Hill regional beginning Saturday morning.

The Atlantic Coast Conference champions had a similar road to a regional title, as they had to dig themselves out of the loser’s bracket. After falling to Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday night, the Tar Heels would get revenge by beating the Rams twice to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

That’s not the only similarity that Arkansas and North Carolina share. Both teams also overcame slumps during the season, and are now playing their best baseball when it matters most.

Arkansas ended the regular season by dropping their final two SEC series of the season to Vanderbilt and Alabama respectively, before bowing out of the SEC Tournament after two games. Arkansas seems to have found their spark again, as they were able to post 37 runs in the final three games of the Stillwater Regional.

North Carolina’s struggles began in the last week of March, and basically lasted all through April. The Tar Heels were swept by Miami during their series March 25-27 in Coral Gables, and would go on to drop four straight ACC series before regaining their footing against rival NC State during the first weekend in May. The Tar Heels would end the season by winning their final three ACC series, and going a perfect 4-0 in the ACC Tournament.

Need more information on this weekend’s Super Regional foe? Well, you have come to the right place. Zack Pearson of Tar Heels Wire has had his finger on the pulse of North Carolina baseball all season long, and was nice enough to provide insight on the Tar Heels from a local’s prospective.

Here’s the next installment of “Know Your Enemy” from Razorbacks Wire: