WVU Baseball’s longest NCAA Tournament run in program history is over.
The North Carolina Tar Heels took down the Mountaineers for the second night in a row on Saturday, winning 2-1 to advance to the Men’s College World Series. The loss was West Virginia’s second of the series and of the NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina’s top prospect in the upcoming MLB Draft set the tone as early as possible in the night. Junior outfielder Vance Honeycutt, MLB.com’s projected 20th overall pick and the 2024 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, hit a home run on Tyler Switalski’s first pitch of the day.
Honeycutt would score again two innings later after bunting down the first base line and advancing on singles by teammates Casey Cook and Parks Harber for the run.
Tyler Switalski, WVU’s junior starter for the evening, pitched well in the loss. He allowed just one hit aside from those contributing to UNC runs, finishing with five hits and two runs total with four strikeouts and a walk.
Sophomore Carson Estridge relieved Switalski at the mound after one out in the seventh. In his 2.2 innings, Estridge allowed no runs and no hits, throwing six strikeouts, a walk, and a pitch that hit the batter.
Facing WVU at the mound were Tar Heels freshman starter Jason Decaro and redshirt sophomore reliever Dalton Pence. Decaro finished 6.1 innings with five strikeouts and two walks while allowing a run and two hits. Pence pitched two hits, three walks, and six strikeouts as the closer.
West Virginia’s run came in the bottom of the seventh. Junior Kyle West, who took the helm of WVU’s offense in game one of the series, hit the RBI to send Reed Chumley home.
Chumley got on base after hitting a grounder to third, which was missed by third baseman Gavin Gallaher and bobbled behind him by shortstop Colby Wilkerson. Before West’s hit, Chumley advanced to second on a walk by freshman Spencer Barnett, who filled in at second base after Brodie Kresser’s left hand injury from stealing in the second inning.
With the loss, not only is WVU’s season over, but so are the collegiate careers of several noteworthy Mountaineers, namely head coach Randy Mazey, who is now officially retired after 12 seasons, and junior shortstop JJ Wetherholt, who is projected to go in the top 10 of July’s MLB Draft.
WVU Baseball finished the season with a 36-24 record that includes a first-time regional victory at the Tucson Regional and a 17-6 record in home games. UNC will move on to the Men’s College World Series, which begins Friday, June 14.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
