By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

The North Carolina Tar Heels edged past the Virginia Cavaliers 3-2 on Friday afternoon when Vance Honeycutt slapped an RBI single through the left side in ninth inning for a game-winning hit in the opener of the Men’s College World Series.

Pitchers Jason DeCaro, Matt Poston and Dalton Pence combined to lead Tar Heels pitching that limited the Cavaliers to five hits. Offensively, Casey Cook went three for four, scored a run and produced an RBI.

Jason Van De Brake led off the bottom of the ninth with a double for the Tar Heels and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt. With two out, Honeycutt came to the plate without a hit in four at bats.

He and produced the RBI single, handing the Cavaliers their first loss in the NCAA tournament.

Records

North Carolina 48-14
Virginia 46-16

Coming up

Tennessee vs. Florida State, Friday at 6 p.m. The loser will face Virginia in an elimination game on Sunday at 1 p.m., while the winner will take on North Carolina in the winners bracket Sunday at 6 p.m.

Notable

In Saturday’s games, Kentucky will take on North Carolina State at 1 p.m. Texas A&M will play Florida at 6 p.m. Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle has named Justin Lamkin as his starting pitcher against the Gators.