Friday, June 3
Chapel Hill
2 p.m.
North Carolina
vs
Hofstra
Diamond Heels Open Regional Against Hofstra
June 2, 2022 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL – Eleventh-ranked North Carolina faces Colonial Athletic Association champion Hofstra in the opening game of the 2022 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional on Friday, June 3, at 2 p.m. before Georgia and VCU square off in the nightcap.
Game one between Carolina and Hofstra will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the game in Chapel Hill on WCHL 97.9 FM or on any mobile device through the Varsity Network app.
The winner of Friday's matinee advances to play the winner of Georgia-VCU on Saturday, June 4 at 6 p.m. ET, while the loser will play at 1 p.m. ET earlier that same day. The winner of the NCAA Chapel Regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional against the winner of the NCAA Stillwater Regional.
Friday mark's the first meeting between the Tar Heel and Pride, champions of the Colonial Athletic Association. Carolina is 8-0 in NCAA regional play against members of the CAA since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1999.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Game one between Carolina and Hofstra will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the game in Chapel Hill on WCHL 97.9 FM or on any mobile device through the Varsity Network app.
The winner of Friday's matinee advances to play the winner of Georgia-VCU on Saturday, June 4 at 6 p.m. ET, while the loser will play at 1 p.m. ET earlier that same day. The winner of the NCAA Chapel Regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional against the winner of the NCAA Stillwater Regional.
Friday mark's the first meeting between the Tar Heel and Pride, champions of the Colonial Athletic Association. Carolina is 8-0 in NCAA regional play against members of the CAA since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1999.
PITCHING MATCHUP
| Friday | 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+) | |
|---|---|
| Hofstra | RHP Brad Camarda |
| North Carolina | RHP Max Carlson |
| Links | WATCH | LISTEN | STATS |
The Tar Heels posted a 29-6 record at home this season including a 19-1 record against non-conference opponents. They won 10 won their final 11 games at Boshamer Stadium, including the final three against Florida State.
COMING IN HOT
North Carolina enters the 2022 NCAA Baseball Regionals on a seven-game winning streak following its four-game run through the ACC Tournament and three-game sweep of Florida State.The Tar Heels have won 15 of their last 17 games since being swept at Virginia (April 22-24) and are 14-2 since the exam break. Carolina went 17-14 against teams in this year's NCAA Baseball Championship field and entered the tournament having won five straight over teams selected to the regionals and eight of their last nine. UNC posted 20 wins over Quad 1 opponents, tying Tennessee for the most such wins in the country. The Tar Heels'36 games against Quad 1 opponents were the most in the country.
REGIONAL HISTORY
The Tar Heels are hosting a regional for the 11th time in the Super Regional Era (2006, '07, '08, '09, '11, '12, '13, '17, '18, '19, '22). UNC has advanced to the Super Regional in eight of its previous 10 stints as host. This is its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and second straight under Coach Scott Forbes, who is in his second year leading the program. North Carolina is one of eight programs to appear in 20 or more NCAA Baseball Championships since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1999, compiling a 44-20 record regional record. The Tar Heels are 28-5 the regional round at Boshamer Stadium.
COMMON AND UNCOMMON OPPONENTS
UNC and VCU have met 27 times previously, most recently in 2020 with the Heels claiming an 8-3 victory on March 4, prior to the pandemic. The Tar Heels have won five of the six meetings against VCU since Coach Shawn Stiffler took over the Rams' program in 2013. Carolina's series against Georgia dates to 1899, but the Tar Heels and Bulldogs haven't played in more than 20 years with their most recent meeting occurring on Feb. 2, 2002 in Savannah with the Bulldogs posting a 10-8 win. They played once in the NCAA Tournament previously with the Bulldogs claiming a 1-0 win on their way to the 1990 national championship. The all-time series with UGA is tied at 19-19-2.
ACC CHAMPIONS
Eighth-seeded North Carolina defeated No. 1 seed Virginia Tech and fourth-seeded Notre Dame on consecutive days before finishing off NC State in the ACC Baseball Championship game Sunday, 9-5, to wins its second ACC crown in the last three seasons (not including 2020) and its eighth overall tournament title. In its four-game sweep of the ACC Baseball Championship, which included a victory over Clemson in pool play, Carolina outscored its opponents by a total of 26 runs (35-9). UNC became just the third No. 8 seed to win the tournament, joining Georgia Tech (2012) and Florida State (2017).
ACC HONORS
A trio of North Carolina players earned All-ACC honors with Danny Serrettii being named second team all-conference and Vance Honeycutt and Angel Zarate earning third team honors. Honeycutt was also named to the all-freshman team. Serretti and Zarate finished the regular season tied for fourth in the conference with 74 hits each. Honeycutt led all conference freshmen with 28 stolen bases and second overall.
CHAMPIONSHIP MVP
Freshman Vance Honeycutt was named ACC Baseball Championship MVP and the first freshman among five previous Tar Heel recipients to receive the award. He went 6-for-15 (.400) with four home runs, 10 RBIs, four walks and five runs with an OPS of 1.726 during the four-game run. Honeycutt hit a pair of home runs against No. 2 Virginia Tech in the Pool A title game and then blasted two more home runs in the championship game against NC State. Pitcher Brandon Schaeffer, shortstop Danny Serretti and outfielder Angel Zarate were named to the all-tournament team.
20/20
In the ACC Championship game, Vance Honeycutt hit his 20th and 21st home runs to become the first player in Carolina history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season. He is one of only two players in Division I this year to post a 20-20 season (Chris Alleyne of Maryland). Honeycutt's 21 home runs are the most by a freshman in school history while his 28 stolen bases are tied for second most.
A PERFORMANCE TO REMEMBER
Brandon Schaeffer tossed a complete-game, six-hit shutout against No. 2 Virginia Tech at the ACC Baseball Championship. It was the first complete-game shutout of his career and the first by a Tar Heel pitcher in the postseason since Kent Emanuel tossed an eight-inning shutout against Miami in the 2013 ACC Championship. It was also the first nine-inning complete game postseason shutout for UNC since Emanuel blanked Texas on June 20, 2011, in the College World Series.
HEELS DIG THE LONG BALL
UNC has hit 86 home runs so far this year, which is the most by any Carolina team since 2002 when that team clubbed a school record 102 homers. The Heels are on a historic pace as one of the best home run hitting teams in Carolina history. The Diamond Heels have hit 52 home runs during the second half of the season (last 28 games) with Vance Honeycutt belting 13 home runs while Mac Horvath and Alberto Osuna blasted 12 each. It is the first time since 1993, UNC has three players with 15 or more home runs: Honeycutt (21), Osuna (19) and Horvath (16). Their combined 56 home runs ranks as the third-most by a trio in the ACC this season behind threesomes from Georgia Tech (61) and Wake Forest (59).
Players Mentioned
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