Chapel Hill, North Carolina – University of North Carolina junior Vance Honeycutt hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Tar Heels (46-14) to an 8-6 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers (36-23) on Friday night in Game 1 of the NCAA Tournament Super Regional.
West Virginia junior Kyle West gave the Mountaineers an early lead in the top of the third inning with a leadoff solo home run, his third of the season and first since May 3.
North Carolina struck back in the bottom of the inning. Senior Colby Wilkerson walked with one out and All-ACC First Team selection Vance Honeycutt singled to left field. All-ACC opponent redshirt sophomore Casey Cook walked to load the bases before Harbaugh singled with a bases-clearing single. Freshman Gavin Gallaher then smacked an RBI single off the shift to give the Tar Heels a 4-1 lead.
In the top of the fourth, West Virginia senior Reid Chumley batted first and singled to left field. With two outs, Kyle West hit a 1-2 ball to right field and Chumley ducked under the tag at home to score from first base, cutting the lead to two runs at 4-2.
Chumlee hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to tie the game at 4-4, then junior Grant Hussey singled through the left side to end junior left-hander Shea Sprague's game for the day. NC State head coach Scott Forbes called on right-hander Matthew Matteis of the bullpen.
The sophomore recorded the first out of the inning on a fly ball in foul territory near first base, then West hit the first pitch 425 feet over the right-field fence for his second home run of the night and a 6-4 lead for the Mountaineers.
Wilkerson hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to put the Tar Heels within one run, 6-5.
On the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth, Tar Heel freshman Luke Wilson hit a game-tying home run over center field.
After giving up a single with one out to Madera, Derek Clark finished with 144 pitches. The senior pitcher struck out eight in 8 1/3 innings. Head coach Randy Maisey called in the bullpen for junior Aidan Major. Then, with two outs, Honeycutt answered a 3-1 pitch with a two-run homer for an 8-6 walk-off win.
West Virginia and North Carolina will play the second game on Saturday at 8 p.m., and that game will be broadcast on ESPN2.