Three of North Carolina's six wins in the NCAA Tournament have been walk-off victories.
“He's shown throughout his career that he enjoys the big moments,” North Carolina coach Scott Forbes said. “He invites the big moments.”
Virginia, which lost both CWS games last June, will play in the final against the loser of the Tennessee-Florida State game on Sunday at 2 p.m.
“It's very disappointing. It's frustrating because I don't think we played a good baseball game today,” Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. “I'm not blaming NC State, but their pitching was really good.”
Virginia entered Friday's game ranked second in the country with a .336 batting average, but the Cavaliers managed just five hits as NC State's relief pitchers struck out 12 of the last 13 batters they faced.
“It was close. They just did a few more little things than we did,” said O'Connor, who started the week averaging 9.4 points per game. “We left 10 runners on base and just didn't capitalize.”
With the game tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, University of North Carolina pinch hitter Jackson Van de Blake, who was batting .194 in the tournament, smashed a double down the right field line to lead off the inning.
He was on third base with two outs when Honeycutt, who hit a walk-off home run against West Virginia in the super regional in Chapel Hill, hit a game-winning liner to left field against Chase Hungate.
There aren't many secrets between the Cavaliers and Tar Heels, two of the four ACC teams competing, while the other four are from the SEC.
Virginia won two of three games against the Tar Heels during the regular season in early April. In the middle of that series, Cavs pitcher Evan Blanco struck out seven batters and Jason DeCarlo scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead Virginia to a 7-2 victory. Both pitchers were in Friday's starting rotation, but neither contributed to the outcome.
The Cavaliers had a chance to attack DeCarlo early after the freshman struggled with control after throwing 30 pitches in the first inning.
DeCarlo hit one batter with a pitch and walked two batters to load the bases with two outs. Harrison Diderwick made it 3-1, but DeCarlo came back and struck out the opposing team to save the day.
“I think the highlight of the game was the strikeout against Diderwick in the first inning,” Forbes said. “If they score there and have a big game, it's going to be a tough battle in this ballpark, but our pitchers did what they did. They kept us in striking range.”
North Carolina (48-14) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the inning on a Parks Harbor double to the left field corner followed by an RBI grounder by Anthony Donofrio.
DeCarlo didn't allow a hit until the Cavaliers scored three straight runs with one out in the third inning. Virginia (46-16) tied the game when Henry Ford looped a single to right to send Ethan Anderson home, but the Cavaliers again left a runner on third base. It was Ford's team-leading 69th RBI.
Virginia left seven runners on base against DeCarlo, who left the game after throwing 89 pitches in the fifth inning.
The Cavaliers took the lead in the sixth inning when Henry Godbout walked and then Eric Becker hit a double down the left field line in the opposite direction. Two batters later, O'Ferrall's fly to center field brought Godbout home.
North Carolina fought back against Blanco in the seventh inning. With a runner on second and one out, Blanco got Honeycutt to ground out on the ninth pitch, but Casey Cook followed with her third hit of the day, a single to left field that brought home Alex Madera.
That set the stage for Honeycutt to lead the Tar Heels to a victory in their first return to Omaha since 2018.
O'Connor, whose contract extension through 2031 was announced Thursday, has led Virginia to the CWS seven times in his 21 seasons as coach, but the team has now lost three straight in Omaha, all by one point.
O'Ferrall said the key Sunday will be not to make too much of the moment.
“I think the biggest thing is not to look at the next game,” the shortstop said. “The only thing we can control is winning the next game, so we just take it one thing at a time. Like coach said, it's all about taking care of the little things that got us here in the first place. If we can control the things we can control and take it one thing at a time, we have a chance to get back on track.”