WVU Baseball’s historic NCAA Tournament run continues Friday at the Chapel Hill Super Regional, but in uncharted territory for the Mountaineers, they will take on their toughest opponent yet.
North Carolina, who entered the tournament as the fourth overall seed, hosts WVU in the super regional round, where the two will play a best-of-three series. Each game, including the potential third, will be broadcasted on ESPN2, starting with Friday’s game one at 6 p.m. ET.
The Tar Heels will be West Virginia’s toughest opponent yet in the postseason on paper, both by tournament seed and season win percentage. At 45-14, UNC beats out now 45-15 Dallas Baptist, who WVU defeated 4-1 in the regionals, for that honor.
West Virginia will also be taking on its first seeded opponent in the NCAA Tournament at the super regional, as it avoided matching up against No. 13 host Arizona in the Tucson Regional. The Mountaineers instead took on the region’s second seed, Dallas Baptist, and fourth seed Grand Canyon twice to go 3-0 in the region.
Similarly, North Carolina played just two of its three region opponents in its Chapel Hill Regional, those being LIU and LSU. Unlike the Mountaineers, though, UNC fell in its second game against LSU, 8-4, forcing a third. North Carolina took down the reigning Men’s College World Series champions 4-3 in that final game, going to 10 innings.
As such, when including UNC’s 12-inning loss to Wake Forest in the second game of the ACC Championship, the Mountaineers arguably will be entering with more upward momentum than the Tar Heels. Both teams, however, boast top-level talent.
For WVU, the headliner, as always, is 2023 Big 12 Player of the Year JJ Wetherholt, who is projected to go top 10 in the MLB Draft this July. The shortstop has had a decent postseason campaign thus far, tallying three hits and three runs in the Tucson Regional along with several highlights in the field.
Senior pitcher Derek Clark is also a name to watch from the Mountaineers this weekend. Clark made noise in Tucson by holding Conference USA offensive powerhouse Dallas Baptist to just one run in the Tucson Regional opener.
Clark pitched all nine innings against the Patriots to finish with eight strikeouts on four hits and a run allowed.
“Right when I woke up this morning, I knew I was going to be ready,” Clark said postgame.
Though projected starters remain unannounced for either team in game one in Chapel Hill, N.C., the Tar Heels will have to be more than ready to see Clark in the super regional.
North Carolina’s biggest name is easily junior outfielder Vance Honeycutt, who is projected to go 20th in this year’s MLB Draft according to MLB.com. Honeycutt had an up-and-down start to the postseason, as despite hitting two home runs in UNC’s 6-2 victory in its first meeting with LSU, he finished three-for-17 for the regional and swung eight strikeouts.
Honeycutt’s real claim to fame, though, is in the outfield, where he earned the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year award this season. He headlined North Carolina’s eight appearances on the All-ACC teams, as he was named to the first team along with fellow junior outfielder Casey Cook.
If Honeycutt cannot get the job done, North Carolina can just as easily rely on Casey Cook against WVU. Cook, the 172nd draft prospect by MLB.com, was 6-for-18 in the regional, matching well with his .345 season average. Cook led the Tar Heels in total hits this season with 82, including 18 homers. He also led the team in RBIs with 76.
Between the stars on both rosters and the coaching matchup between ACC Coach of the Year Scott Forbes and WVU’s Randy Mazey, who is coaching his last season for the Mountaineers, the Chapel Hill Super Regional will be one to watch, despite North Carolina’s on-paper advantage.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
