University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Joe Bray
Baseball Season Review
June 28, 2024 | Baseball
Record: 48-16, 22-8 ACC (First Coastal Division)
Final Rankings: No. 4 Baseball America; No. 5 D1 Baseball & USA Today Sports Coaches Poll; No. 6 NCBWA & Perfect Game
Postseason: College World Series (T-5th Place)
Team Captains: Jake Knapp, Jackson Van De Brake
Special Features (coming soon):
By The Numbers
Top Moments
Year in Pictures
North Carolina returned to the College World Series for the first time in six years, sweeping West Virginia in the NCAA Chapel Hill Super Regional to earn its 12th trip to Omaha. The Tar Heels posted their most wins, 48, since 2017 and registered an ACC-high 22 victories en route to their eighth Coastal Division title.
UNC went 37-3 at Boshamer Stadium with an astonishing 14-1 record in ACC games. Carolina swept six of its seven weekend home series, plus earned a road sweep over Wake Forest and took two of three from Duke in Durham to clinch the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
Four players were honored with All-America accolades, including unanimous selection Vance Honeycutt, who became just the third Tar Heel to be named to six All-America teams. Scott Forbes was named ACC and ABCA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for the first time. Overall, 11 players earned All-ACC honors with Honeycutt and Casey Cook landing on the first team.
Carolina closed the season with a program record 115 home runs, scoring 541 runs, the second-most in program history while leading the ACC with a 4.30 earned run average.
Team Highlights
Back Home: Tar Heels Return To Omaha
The Tar Heels returned to the College World Series for the first time since 2018, making their eighth appearance in the past 17 seasons, second-most during that span behind Florida's nine. UNC has won at least one game in each of its last 10 appearances in Omaha, walking off Virginia 3-2 this season in the tournament's opening game.
Cardiac Carolina: Four Last At-Bat Wins In Postseason
Four of the Tar Heels' wins during the NCAA Tournament came in their last at-bat with three different players (Gavin Gallaher, Alex Madera, Honeycutt twice) driving home the game-winning run. They became the first team in postseason history with a walk-off win in their opening game of a regional, Super Regional and College World Series.
Another Coastal Championship: UNC Captures Eighth Division Title
North Carolina won its eighth ACC Coastal Division championship on the regular season's penultimate weekend with its three-game sweep of Louisville. UNC (22-8) finished four games ahead of preseason Coastal Division favorite Virginia (18-12) to win its first title in six years. Carolina claimed the conference's overall best record by two games over Clemson (20-10), capturing the ACC's unofficial regular season championship. UNC's eight division titles are twice as many as the second-closet team, Miami (4).
No Place Like The Bosh: Tar Heels Win 27 Straight At Home
UNC boasted a 37-3 record at Boshamer Stadium this season, winning a program record 92.5 percent of its home games, highlighted by a 27-game winning streak that dated back to the final four games of the 2023 campaign. The Tar Heels won their first 23 games at The Bosh before suffering defeat and registered a 14-1 record against ACC opponents, sweeping four of five series.
Milestone Win
Carolina became the eighth team in NCAA history with 3,000 program victories with its 2-1 win over East Carolina on February 23. UNC (3,043) is one of three ACC teams with more than 3,000 wins, along with Florida State (3,073) and Clemson (3,039). The Tar Heels completed the 2024 campaign with the sixth-most wins in NCAA history.
Individual Highlights
Honeycutt Breaks, Re-Sets Records
Vance Honeycutt hit two home runs in the series opener against Louisville to tie and break the school's career record of 57, set by Devy Bell during the mid-1980s (1984-87). He finished his career with 65 home runs, fourth-most in ACC history. He belted 28 home runs during the season, breaking his previous program record of 25 as a freshman.
Cookin' Up Runs
Casey Cook drove in 78 runs during 64 games after collecting 23 RBIs in 60 games a year ago. It was the fifth-most RBIs in a season in program history and most by a Tar Heel since Colin Moran collected a program-record 91 RBIs in 2013. Cook finished the season ranked third in the ACC and 11th among all NCAA Division I players in total RBIs.
Harber Docks The Deacons
Parks Harber hit three home runs in the second game of the Wake Forest series, going deep in three consecutive at-bats. He became just the 14th Tar Heel in the past 40 years to blast three homers in a game and first since 2002.
Stevenson Delivers Division Title
Luke Stevenson hit two home runs and drove in eight in the series finale against Louisville to clinch the ACC Coastal Division championship with a 16-7 victory. He drove in four runs in the second inning with a three-run homer and an RBI single. Stevenson lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth and smashed another three-run home run in the eighth.
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Sprague Pitches Eight Innings Against The Yellow Jackets
Shea Sprague scattered five hits over eight innings while striking out five and allowing two runs-one earned-to record his first win as a Tar Heel. He retired the side in order in the first, fifth, sixth, and eighth innings. It was the longest outing by a UNC pitcher since Brandon Shaeffer threw a complete game against Virginia Tech in the 2022 ACC Tournament.
Pence Pitches Superbly In Postseason
In four consecutive appearances against LSU, West Virginia and Virginia during the NCAA Tournament, Dalton Pence pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed a mere three hits with 14 strikeouts. He earned the win in the regional championship game against LSU and the College World Series opener against Virginia while picking up the save in the Super Regional title game versus West Virginia.
Honors and Awards
All-America
First Team: Vance Honeycutt (ABCA, College Baseball Foundation, D1 Baseball, Perfect Game)
Second Team: Parks Harber (NCBWA); Vance Honeycutt (Baseball America, NCBWA); Dalton Pence (Baseball America, College Baseball Foundation, D1 Baseball, Perfect Game)
Third Team: Matthew Matthijs (NCBWA)
Freshman: Jason DeCaro (D1, Perfect Game, first team); Gavin Gallaher (Perfect Game, second team); Luke Stevenson (D1, Perfect Game, first team; NCBWA, second team)
All-ABCA Atlantic Region
First Team: Vance Honeycutt
Coach of the Year: Scott Forbes
ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team
Vance Honeycutt
All-ACC
Defensive Player of the Year: Vance Honeycutt
Coach of the Year: Scott Forbes
First Team: Casey Cook, Vance Honeycutt
Second Team: Jason DeCaro, Parks Harber, Shea Sprague
Third Team: Matthew Matthijs, Dalton Pence, Luke Stevenson
Freshman Team: Jason DeCaro, Gavin Gallaher, Luke Stevenson
All-ACC Academic
Casey Cook - Exercise and Sport Science
Gavin Gallaher - Exercise and Sport ScienceÂ
Vance Honeycutt - Communication Studies
Matthew Matthijs - Communication Studies
Kyle Percival - Exercise and Sport ScienceÂ
Luke Stevenson - Exercise and Sport Science
ACC Player of the Week
Vance Honeycutt (Feb. 26)
Parks Harber (April 1)
ACC Pitcher of the Week
Jason DeCaro (April 29)
National Player of the Week
Parks Harber (April 1 - D1 Baseball, NCBWA, Perfect Game)
CSC Academic All-America
Vance Honeycutt
CSC Academic All-District
Vance Honeycutt
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Players Mentioned
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