Diamond Heels Claim Eighth ACC Championship – University of North Carolina Athletics

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Freshman Vance Honeycutt homered twice and drove in 5 runs to steer eighth-seeded North Carolina to a 9-5 win over No. 10 seed NC State in Sunday’s ACC Baseball Championship title recreation. A sellout crowd of 10,500 packed Truist Subject to observe the battle between long-time rivals, setting the report for the most important title-game attendance in league historical past.
 
The Tar Heels (38-19) gained for the fifteenth time of their final 17 video games whereas capturing the twelfth ACC baseball title in program historical past general and the eighth for the reason that convention started holding a event to find out its champion in 1973.

With the victory, the Diamond Heels earn the convention’s automated bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship. Pairings for the event will likely be introduced Monday at 12 p.m. on ESPN2.
 
The ACC championship is UNC’s first below second-year head coach Scott Forbes, who stepped as much as take the reins following veteran Mike Fox’s retirement in the summertime of 2020.
 
Honeycutt, who was voted the event MVP, related for a two-run homer within the backside of the primary inning, after which adopted with a three-run shot to cap the large second inning on the Tar Heels constructed a fast 8-1 lead.
 
The house runs have been Honeycutt’s twentieth and twenty first of the season, including to what was already a college freshman report. The Salisbury, N.C., native turned solely the second participant in NCAA Division I this season and the primary participant in UNC historical past with no less than 20 dwelling runs and 20 stolen bases in the identical 12 months.
 
Angel Zarate completed 2-for-5 on the plate for the Tar Heels and contributed a two-run single to the second-inning rebellion. Danny Serretti added a pair of hits, together with an RBI double.

Honeycutt, Serretti and Zarate have been all named to all-tournament workforce together with junior pitcher Brandon Schaeffer, who tossed an entire recreation shut out of No. 2 Virginia Tech on Friday evening.
 
UNC starter Max Carlson (3-2) labored 5 innings to choose up his second win of the event. The sophomore righthander allowed six hits and three runs whereas strolling one batter and hanging out six.
 
UNC led 9-1 earlier than the Wolfpack (36-21) scrapped for 2 runs within the seventh and two extra within the ninth for the ultimate 9-5 margin. NC State outhit the Tar Heels 11-8 as Devonte Brown and LuJames Groover III every went 3-for-5 from the highest of the order.