Virginia lost two one-run games in Omaha in the 2023 College World Series. Make it three in a row.
Vance Honeycutt lined a 2-1 slider into left field for the walk-off to lift #4 seed North Carolina to a 3-2 win over UVA in the opener of the 2024 CWS.
It’s not exactly clear here as I write the recap as to why ‘Hoos coach Brian O’Connor had reliever Chase Hungate (7-2, 3.74 ERA) pitch to Honeycutt, who led the Tar Heels with a 1.111 OPS and 26 homers coming into the game.
Honeycutt had been 0-for-4 in the game going into that at bat, which came with two outs and a runner, Jackson Van De Brake, a pinch-hitter who had led off the bottom of the ninth with a slicing liner down the rightfield line that turned into a double, at third.
Hungate started off the sequence with two sliders off the plate, making it appear that he was pitching around Honeycutt, before getting a swing-and-miss on a 2-0 slider.
Virginia starter Evan Blanco took a 2-1 lead into the seventh, before giving up a two-out RBI single to Casey Cook, who had a 3-for-4 day at the plate for UNC.
Blanco gave up two runs on seven hits in six and two-thirds innings, striking out four and walking two.
Virginia had runners on base all game long, but left 10 on base, going 3-for-17 with runners on base and 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
UNC closer Dalton Pence (5-1, 1.92 ERA) got the win in relief, retiring 10 of the 11 batters that he faced in three and a third scoreless innings.
Virginia, for the second straight year, falls into the loser’s bracket. The Cavaliers will face the loser of the Florida State-Tennessee game at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.
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Chris Graham
