CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Luke Stevenson homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score, Vance Honeycutt followed with a two-out, two-run shot and No. 4 national seed North Carolina rallied behind three no-hit innings from reliever Matt Poston to beat West Virginia 8-6 on Friday night in the opener of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.
North Carolina (46-14) can wrap up the best-of-three series and earn a spot in its 12th College World Series with a victory on Saturday. West Virginia (36-23), playing this far in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, must win twice to advance to its first CWS.
Kyle West, who homered in the third to drive in West Virginia’s first run, added a two-out run-scoring single in the fourth to get the Mountaineers within 4-2.
Reed Chumley homered after Sam White reached on an error leading off the sixth and West followed with a two-run shot to give West Virginia a 6-4 lead. West is the third Mountaineer in school history to hit two home runs in a postseason game. Chumley’s homer was his team-high 16th.
Advertisement
Colby Wilkerson, the No. 9 batter in the order, hit a one-out solo shot in the seventh to get the Tar Heels within a run.
Honeycutt’s home run was his 25th of the season and the 62nd of his career, a school record.
Derek Clark (8-3) nearly went the distance for West Virginia. He left with one out in the ninth and a runner on first after throwing 144 pitches. Aidan Major surrendered Honeycutt’s homer after striking out Wilkerson for the second out.
Poston (5-2) retired all nine batters he faced, striking out four. North Carolina improves to 36-3 at home this season.
North Carolina has made 11 CWS appearances but never won it. The Tar Heels were the runners-up to Oregon State twice, in 2006 and ’07.
MONONGALIA COUNTY, W.Va (WDTV) – Over 100,000 deaths a year in the United States are related to drug overdoses, according to the CDC. In an attempt to lower that number, West Virginia and other states around the country (most east of the Mississippi) took Thursday, September 26th to help make a difference. ‘Free Naloxone Day’ also known as ‘Save a Life Day’ started in Kanawha County, West Virginia in 2020. The yearly event invites volunteers with non-profits to distribute free Narcan/Naloxone kits (Nasal spray that treats opioid overdoses) to communities. Since 2020, the initiative has spread to 31 states. It has sites in all counties across West Virginia. In Monongalia County, volunteers with ‘Mon County’s Quick Response Team’ (QRT) have set up the ‘West Virginia Sober Living’ tent in Hazel Ruby Park, one of 12 locations handing out Narcan kits in the county. One of the volunteers, Joe Klass, Chief of Operations at Mon County Health Department, explains how life-changing the usage of Narcan could be for the area and even the country.
“substance use disorder is a big issue throughout the United States, but West Virginia has been hit particularly hard in all 55 counties,” said Klass. “We have sadly had a lot of overdose fatalities. One of the ways we are trying to counter that is through giving out Naloxone or Narcan to the public because it is one of the best ways to save the life of someone who overdoses from opioids.”
At another tent, in front of the Monongalia County Courthouse, the same sentiment rings true; Naloxone can save lives, something Teisha Prim, Supervisor with WV Sober Living, has personal experience with.
“I’m a person in long-term recovery for close to six years and I have a lot of friends that are really important to me that wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Naloxone,” said Prim.
Advertisement
Free Naloxone was from 10 AM to 6 PM and by 3 PM. almost 2,500 doses of Narcan were handed out across the county.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Strong upper level winds are expected to keep rain totals in West Virginia on the lower side from the moisture produced by Hurricane Helene.
National Weather Meteorologist John Peck said the rain and wind will arrive Friday morning and strong winds will hit the mountains and squeeze out a lot of moisture keeping rainfall totals at moderate levels.
“You’ll basically have downslope winds coming off the mountains and that kind of eat the rain as it tries to fall through the columns,” Peck told MetroNews.
The lowlands will probably pick up an inch of rain or maybe a little more. The rain will begin in the pre-dawn hours Friday. The strong winds aloft will be between 50-70 mph with gusts between 30-40 mph at ground level.
Advertisement
The main part of what’s left of Helene will pass over West Virginia Friday afternoon.
Peck said this week’s rain has been good but way short of what’s needed to break the drought.
“To get the groundwater recharged we need about 10 inches or so and this time of year or don’t have those big systems coming in,” Peck said.
Some areas of the southern coalfields have received 3 to 5 inches of rain since Tuesday while other areas were closer to an inch.
“We’re just going to need just a long period of relatively light rain,” Peck said.
Advertisement
Next week’s weather pattern has a few more opportunities for rain but not a lot, Peck said.
“It’s going to be relatively dry outside any tropical influence,” he said.