UNC Baseball beats LSU to move to Regional Final

For the second weekend in a row, the Tar Heels stared down an opposing pitcher that many feel will be a high pick in the MLB Draft. This time, the Tar Heels came out on top.

One week after a parade of strikeouts against Wake Forest’s Chase Burns, the Diamond Heels tried to show some more patience against top LSU pitcher Luke Holman. Holman pitched shutout ball with a nasty arsenal that made it so the only base runners Carolina could get were on balls that wouldn’t leave the infield.

Holman was also helped by a Boshamer Stadium that, while lively on Friday, appeared to want to keep balls inside the park on Saturday. Multiple batters would manage to rake the ball, only to see it die in the outfield. Unlike last weekend, though, Carolina was able to figure out how to get to the star pitcher.

With one out in the fifth inning, Alex Madera placed a perfect bunt down the third base line to where Tommy White couldn’t throw him out, and then Colby Wilkerson laced a ball to first that just clipped the glove of LSU’s Jared Jones. He was in the right spot, and had the ball stayed in the glove it would have been an easy double play. Instead, Madera and Wilkerson were on second and third when Vance Honeycutt strode to the plate.

Honeycutt hadn’t made much of a mark in the Chapel Hill Regional so far. He did come across the plate for a run on Friday thanks to being hit by a pitch, but otherwise he was 0 for 6, including two strikeouts versus Holman up to this point. On his third try, though, he tattooed a ball deep to left field for the game’s first home run, sending the Carolina fans into delirium, and giving the Tar Heels an important 3-0 lead.

UNC pitchers had held LSU in check thus far, thanks to 4 ¹⁄₃ solid innings by Shea Sprague—again up to the challenge when faced against a team’s top pitcher. Then, Ben Petersen cleaned up what Sprague left by inducing a double play to end the fifth with one pitch. He had a clean sixth, but ran into trouble in the seventh. LSU’s power had also been cut short, but they managed to get singles from three of the first four batters to load the bases, then Petersen walked Jones to give LSU their first run.

Forbes then lifted Petersen, handing the ball over to Dalton Pence to try and minimize the damage. Pence issued a walk to Ethan Frey, getting LSU to within one, but then got Hayden Travinski to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Honeycutt would blount any momentum LSU had by ending Holman’s night with another left field blast—this one a solo shot—with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Pence then went on to record six straight outs while the Tar Heels manufactured two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to advance to Sunday’s Regional Final.

As expected, the crowd at Boshamer was lively, with a standing room crowd filling the concourse, right field foul area, and the top of Karen Shelton Stadium. Plenty of LSU fans made their presence known, but Carolina fans were also there and ready to fight back. It was an electric atmosphere on an amazing evening in Chapel Hill.

LSU now faces a rematch against Wofford at noon to see who will face Carolina in the 6 PM game and who will be leaving town. Wofford will certainly be champing at the bit to get another shot at the Tigers, having lost by a walk-off on Friday. They’ll do so being able to use Camden Wicker, their usual series second starter, since Wofford had to juggle their rotation due to the grueling nature of the Southern Conference Tournament. With the shorter turn around for the Tigers, they’ll be in a fight just to get to the 6 PM game.

The Tar Heels know a win this evening not only keeps them in Chapel Hill next weekend, but that they will face a team that has upset their way out of the Tucson region, thanks to Dallas Baptist beating Arizona in an Elimination game on Saturday. Knowing this, they’ll sit back and wait to find out who they’ll have to face while Wofford and LSU battle through their pitchers to stay alive.