Shea Sprague has emphatic reaction to UNC double play during in-game interview

North Carolina pitcher Shea Sprague couldn’t contain his excitement as a double play occurred during an in-game interview on Saturday. Sprague was answering questions in the fourth inning of a Super Regional matchup against West Virginia when a ball was hit toward center field.

The Tar Heels star paused in the middle of his answer to watch the action as Vance Honeycutt secured the fly ball. He then noticed that the Mountaineers’ Sam White had already started making his way to second, throwing a dart back to first base just in time to get him out on a double play.

The sequence led to an emphatic on-camera reaction from Sprague, who cheered his teammate on.

“How ’bout that kid!” he repeated as he clapped his hands.

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How about that kid!!!! pic.twitter.com/S9btfSc9GS

— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) June 9, 2024

Honeycutt has been a key piece for North Carolina in the outfield this season with a 98.3% fielding percentage and 168 outs recorded. His stellar play hasn’t just been limited to defense though, as he also leads the Tar Heels with 25 home runs to go with a .311 batting average.

Still in awe of the play that just occurred, Sprague had high praise for what Honeycutt means to UNC.

“He’s a black hole,” he said. “Everything gets caught. You take away what he does with the bat and he’s still an insane player. You take away what he does with the glove and he’s one of the best players in the country. He’s nothing shorth of incredible.”

The double play recorded the first two outs of the inning before North Carolina went on to close it out with another fly out, this time to right field. The Tar Heels held a 2-0 lead heading into the fifth inning.

North Carolina hangs on to punch ticket to CWS

Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth, the Tar Heels got out of a bases loaded situation to escape with the win and secure their spot in Omaha.

Ben Lumsden stepped up to the plate for WVU hoping to bring in the tying run. 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 for the final out.

Pence 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.

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.