North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt began his first game in Omaha in the 2024 Men’s College World Series with an 0-for-4 mark at the plate. But he finished Friday’s opening game of the Men’s College World Series against Virginia with a 1-for-5 mark at the dish, with one single.
And what a single it was.
As he has done so many times before, Honeycutt delivered in the clutch for UNC. With the game knotted at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth and the winning run 90 away from home plate — and two outs on the scoreboard — Honeycutt ripped a breaking ball into left field, plating the game-winning run and advancing UNC into the winner’s side of Bracket 1 in Omaha.
Quite the start for UNC’s Mr. Clutch:
Or as they like to call him down in Chapel Hill, Vance Honey-clutch:
UNC now awaits the winner of tonight’s game between Tennessee and Florida State, two of the most potent lineups in all of college baseball. The Volunteers as a team posted an OPS of 1.029 this season, best for second in the nation, with the Seminoles not too far behind with a mark of .975 which placed them sixth. But the winner of that game will be facing something different in their second contest.
Mr. Honey-clutch himself.