North Carolina secures final out to advance to College World Series, players celebrate with dog pile

It was time for the dog pile in Chapel Hill on Saturday evening as North Carolina baseball advanced to the College World Series. Tar Heels players jumped for joy and sprinted to join each other for the traditional celebration in preparation of a trip to Omaha after beating West Virginia by a score of 2-1 to win its Super Regional..

Tensions were high with the bases loaded as Ben Lumsden stepped up to the plate for WVU. He hit a ball to shallow right field that first baseman Parker Harber stepped away from the bag. After collecting the ball, Harber tossed it to a sprinting Dalton Pence who tagged the bag just before Lumsden reached.

Pence through his hands triumphantly in the air as he rushed to meet his teammates back on the mound. You can view the moment below.

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THE DIAMOND HEELS ARE HEADED TO OMAHA ✈️⚾️#RoadToOmaha x 🎥 ESPN2 / @DiamondHeels pic.twitter.com/johmXexFJD

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 9, 2024

This is the 12th College World Series appearance in school history for North Carolina as well as its first since 2018. Despite this, UNC has never won, though it finished runner up in 2006 and 2007. The Tar Heels join Florida State and Virginia as the third team from the ACC to advance this season.

UNC struck immediately in the first inning with a home run from leadoff hitter Vance Honeycutt. Although the next eight batters after him would go down, Honeycutt would get his chance to make another play in the third as he reached base on a bunt.

The Tar Heels defense held WVU scoreless through the six inning, and Honeycutt came away with a double play on a fly ball in the fourth. Kyle Fitt drove in the Mountaineers’ first run in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single that cut the North Carolina lead to 2-1.

That remained the score entering the bottom of the ninth with West Virginia have just three outs to save its season. Sam White reached on a single to start the inning, and then Pence walked a couple more batters to load the bases.

That set up the dramatic finish, where the pitcher was able to save the game with the final out. He finished with six strikeouts and allowed only two hits in 2.2 innings of work. Jason Decaro got the start and the win with five strikeouts and two hits allowed across the first 6.1 innings.

North Carolina will now look for its first national championship in program history. The College World Series will begin on June 14 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.