Tar Heels in Familiar Spot After Super Regional Loss to Arkansas
UNC will look to keep its season alive at 1 p.m. Sunday
Even with what could be his last collegiate game staring him down, Danny Serretti couldn’t help but find some humor in the difficult situation North Carolina’s now in after losing to Arkansas, 4-1, in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional on Saturday.
One week after falling into the losers bracket of the Chapel Hill Regional, UNC again finds itself facing elimination. This time, the Tar Heels will need to win back-to-back games against the red-hot Razorbacks to keep their season alive. But for a squad that went from five straight series losses to earning the No. 10 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the task isn’t too daunting.
“We were kind of joking about it, like, ‘Nothing has been easy this year,’” Serretti said. “It was probably always going to be three games. It’s baseball. You can’t win every day, and today they beat us. We’ll go back out there tomorrow and try to get a win.”
Since the NCAA adopted its current tournament format in 1999, the Tar Heels have never advanced out of a Super without winning the first game of a series. Seven times they won the opener and reached the College World Series. But in 2003 and 2019, they dropped Game 1 and eventually the series to South Carolina and Auburn, respectively.
This UNC team has already shown an ability to make history, becoming the first in school history to advance to a Super out of a regional losers bracket. Now it hopes to create some more.
“I feel like we’ve been playing with our backs against the wall for as long as I can remember,” Serretti said. “We’re ready for it. If any team's going to do it, it’s going to be this one.”
Can’t crack Connor
The Tar Heels seemed primed to take an early lead against Arkansas and ace Connor Noland, loading the bases with one out in the first inning. Alberto Osuna, however, struck out, and Mikey Madej hit a line drive off Noland’s right leg that the pitcher somehow recovered to get the final out of the inning at first.
That proved to be UNC’s only threat against Noland, as the righty retired 19 of the last 23 batters he faced without allowing another past first. Showing great control of his slider, he struck out six and walked one while giving up six hits over 6 2/3 shutout innings.
“Sometimes the pitcher can be the equalizer, and I really thought he was,” said second-year head coach Scott Forbes. “I was over there in the third-base box just hoping he would lose feel for that slider because if you can throw that type of pitch that’s that elite in any count, it’s hard to manufacture runs.”
Honeycutt’s historic feat
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Vance Honeycutt made history, crushing a solo home run over the left-center-field wall for what proved to be UNC’s only run. The homer marked the freshman’s 25th of the season, breaking a tie with Devy Bell (1986) for the most homers in a single season in program history.
“It’s unbelievable,” Forbes said. “Obviously, to know he’s only a freshman and that all you guys and fans get to watch him more in his Carolina career. What makes Vance so special is not necessarily those 25 home runs. … He’s just a great kid. He’s extremely humble. So I’m really happy for him.”
In going 2-for-3 with the homer, a single and a walk, Honeycutt also moved into a tie for the 10th-most extra-base hits (39) by a Tar Heel in a season and a tie for the eighth-most total bases (166).
O’Brien’s strong outing
Down 3-0 with runners on first and second and no outs in the seventh, Forbes turned to Caden O’Brien with hopes of the lefty keeping the game from getting out hand. Not only did he do that, but he delivered a performance that will only grow in value should UNC force a winner-take-all game on Monday.
O’Brien promptly gave up a weak RBI single on his first pitch, but that was his only blemish in an otherwise stellar outing in which he struck out three and walked one while allowing three hits over three shutout innings. He’s now given up four runs (three earned) while striking out 12 and walking three in his last 10 2/3 innings.
“This time of year, you’ve got some guys nicked up a little bit, and he’s not,” Forbes said. “For him to bridge that gap and not have to go to (Davis) Palermo, not have to go to (Connor) Bovair, I thought that was huge for us. If it would have gotten a little bit closer, we might have considered Davis. But when you’re behind, you don’t want to use your closer unless you absolutely have to. I thought he was outstanding today.”
O’Brien’s appearance marked the 111th of his career. That moved him out of a tie with Rob Wooten (2005-08) for the fifth most in school history.
What’s next?
The Tar Heels will look to force a winner-take-all game on Monday when they face the Razorbacks at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2. Left-hander Brandon Schaeffer (7-3, 3.73 ERA) will start for UNC. Over his last five starts, the WVU Potomac State transfer has notched a 2.81 ERA in 32 innings. Arkansas hasn’t named a starter.