Here's how North Carolina baseball toppled NC State to win 2022 ACC Tournament

Adam Smith, Times-News
·2 min read

There was no denying the North Carolina baseball team on Sunday afternoon.

The Tar Heels jumped on rival NC State early and won 9-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game, claiming the title convincingly behind Vance Honeycutt’s power and Max Carlson’s pitching at Truist Field in Charlotte.

The freshman standout Honeycutt hammered two home runs and supplied five RBIs before the second inning was finished, delivering his second two-homer game of the tournament to earn Most Valuable Player honors.

UNC quickly led 8-1, storming to the championship as the No. 8 seed and collecting its eighth ACC Tournament crown, while extending the Wolfpack’s 30-year drought in this event. After falling to Duke 1-0 last year in the ACC final, NC State remained in search of its first title since 1992.

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North Carolina (38-19) won its seventh straight game, part of a late-season surge of 15 victories across the last 17 games that has significantly improved its NCAA Tournament résumé. The Tar Heels are all but assured of hosting an NCAA regional. The 64-team bracket will be revealed Monday.

North Carolina celebrates with the ACC baseball tournament trophy after defeating N.C. State in the championship game Sunday at Truist Field in Charlotte.
North Carolina celebrates with the ACC baseball tournament trophy after defeating N.C. State in the championship game Sunday at Truist Field in Charlotte.

NC State (36-21) solidified a foothold in the NCAA field during the ACC Tournament. J.T. Jarrett’s two-run double in the top of the sixth inning moved the No. 10 seed Wolfpack within 9-3 of UNC.

Carlson pitched into the sixth inning on four days of rest, picking up his second victory in the tournament. He struck out six and scattered six hits on 88 pitches. Four relievers finished things for North Carolina.

North Carolina's Vance Honeycutt hits a two-run home run against NC State during the first inning in an NCAA college baseball game at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Charlotte, N.C.
North Carolina's Vance Honeycutt hits a two-run home run against NC State during the first inning in an NCAA college baseball game at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Charlotte, N.C.

Angel Zarate had a pair of hits, including a two-run single that helped fuel North Carolina’s six-run second inning.

The senior Zarate produced 10 hits in the tournament, as the Tar Heels went 4-0. UNC defeated Clemson 9-2 and Virginia Tech 10-0 in pool play, then disposed of Notre Dame 7-2 in Saturday’s semifinals and NC State in Sunday’s championship game.

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Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Times-News: Here's how UNC baseball toppled NC State to win 2022 ACC Tournament