Bats awaken, but not enough for North Carolina baseball to overcome FSU in CWS

OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina baseball finally got the big inning it was looking for throughout the College World Series.

But it wasn’t enough for the Tar Heels to avoid elimination from its first CWS appearance since 2018.

Florida State’s high-powered lineup was simply too much for UNC, as the Seminoles pulled off a 9-5 win before 23,047 at Charles Schwab Field.

FSU took a 7-1 lead into the fifth inning before UNC battled back, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Three came on a three-run homer from UNC center fielder Vance Honeycutt, his 28th of the season and second of the postseason.

“We battled all year,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “Didn’t surprise me we made a run back there. Just didn’t get it done.”

Honeycutt went 3 for 5 with a homer, 3 RBIs and two runs scores in what will likely be his last game in a Tar Heel uniform, A junior, Honeycutt is projected as a first-round draft pick in next month’s MLB amateur draft.

“That’s how this team has been all year,” Honeycutt said. “There’s just no quit. That’s a credit to how we’re trained, how we’re coached and the character of the guys in the locker room.”

With UNC down 3-1, Forbes turned to closer Dalton Pence in the third inning in an attempt to limit the damage and keep the Tar Heels in the game. But Pence got touched up by FSU in the fifth inning, as the Seminoles rallied for four runs against him to take a 7-1 lead.

“He couldn’t get that cutter where he wanted to throw it,” Forbes said. “But man, like golly, talk about a kid, we wouldn’t be here without him, and he’s just human.”

Back-to-back home runs by FSU doom North Carolina in the ninth inning

North Carolina trailed 7-5 in the ninth inning. But with shifting winds gusting 21-38 miles per hour that started blowing out at the ballpark, FSU catcher Jaxson West belted a pitch from UNC reliever Cameron Padgett into wind which carried for an opposite field home run, extending FSU’s lead to 8-5.

FSU leadoff batter Max Williams followed with a towering shot to right field off Padgett, giving FSU a 9-5 lead.

“The first one I thought he got up in that jet stream,” Forbes said. “And then the next one, that guy hit a mistake, that’s what good hitters do. I thought that would have been out anywhere. Obviously, I felt like we were in striking distance.

“But this team, still, they came in talking about the getting the tying run to the plate. The word ‘belief’ is extremely important and having faith. There was no doubt in my mind we get the tying run (to the plate) something crazy was going to happen, unfortunately, it just didn’t.”

North Carolina (48-16) finished its fourth season under Forbes as ACC regular season champions and reached the CWS for the 12th time in program history.

“I’m proud to be the leader of this program,” Forbes said. “But man, these guys, just so thankful they took me along this ride with them.”

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