Embracing a role: How NC State’s Matt Heavner has emerged as the NCAA’s sacrifice bunts leader

With runners on the corners and one out in the top of the second inning at Duke last month, NC State junior infielder Matt Heavner was the exact player the Wolfpack wanted in the batter’s box. He strode in and immediately showed bunt. 

On the first pitch he saw, Heavner pulled it back for a ball. The next one, however? It was exactly what he was looking for as Heavner made contact with a bunt, sending the ball into the infield with so much force that it ended up as a high chopper to Blue Devils lefty Andrew Healy, who threw him out at first. 

Brayden Fraasman scored from third, handing NC State a 3-2 lead in a crucial Saturday game in Durham. Small ball put the Wolfpack in front and it never looked back from there in a 14-6 win on that March afternoon. 

Mission accomplished. 

Heavner, who drove in another run on a sacrifice bunt in the eighth at Duke, has carved out a role as NC State’s go-to sacrifice bunt artist this season. He leads the country with 14 — nearly double the next-closest ACC hitter (Stanford’s Temo Becerra has eight) — in his first 32 appearances this spring. 

It’s not a glamorous statistic to lead the NCAA in, but it’s a crucial skill set that the Wolfpack has used to its advantage. Heavner, who routinely bats in the eight or nine spot in the Pack’s order, brings a spark with his small ball prowess.

Elliott Avent, NC State’s 29th-year skipper, admires the way Heavner does his job within the Wolfpack offense.

“He’s that player that every ball club wants in their ball club,” Avent said. “He’s so steady and knows who he is. He does what he needs to do and stays within himself most of the time. … Everybody needs to understand what their role is and what they need to do to help the team win, and he knows that very well.”

Heavner is well on his way to shattering the Wolfpack’s current single-season record for sacrifice bunts, dating back to the 2011 campaign. He trails current NC State Director of Player and Program Development J.T. Jarrett, who logged 20 as a freshman in 2018.

It’s a role Heavner takes pride in. One that has proven to be helpful in Wolfpack wins as NC State looks to find any competitive advantage in the ultra-competitive ACC baseball league.

What makes a successful sacrifice bunt

Mastering a bunt, especially the sacrifice variety, comes through constant practice. Jarrett’s father, Link, the current head coach at Florida State, made him begin every round of batting practice with a few bunts before he could swing for the fences. 

That seemed to pay off as he logged 43 total sacrifice bunts in his five-year career at NC State, including his illustrious freshman campaign. While Heavner didn’t grow up with a longtime collegiate skipper for a father, he seems to have spent just as much time working on his craft. 

Heavner personally doesn’t believe he does anything special with his bunting, rather he is just trying to execute the signs sent down to the batter’s box from third base coach Chris Hart. 

“I just focus on trying to get the job done,” Heavner said. “Whenever I have an opportunity to help the team, there’s nothing that’s going to stop me from trying to do that.”

Although Heavner may not see it, Jarrett has noticed what makes the Wolfpack’s utility infielder so comfortable with small ball. It’s simple, but it comes down to a pair of key traits: elite hand-eye coordination to help with putting the ball exactly where it needs to go off the barrel, while he’s also unafraid of being hit by a pitch. 

On each bunt attempt, Heavner keeps his head down near the barrel to help guide the ball to an open spot on the field. It’s a fundamental piece of bunting that can go unnoticed at times, but it’s a part of the game that Hart stresses. And Heavner rises to the occasion, allowing the pitch to travel to the aluminum stick in his hands before putting it where it needs to go. 

What if it’s a low, but gettable pitch? Heavner is able to use his 5-foot-10 frame to get down near the ground without losing his balance. Pitchers may try to avoid allowing Heavner a pitch to get a solid bunt attempt with, but his ability to not tip over with his upper body has allowed him to find immense success. 

Avent wasn’t afraid to compare Heavner’s bat control to that of his predecessor within the Wolfpack program. 

“JT Jarrett was a master at it for five years here,” Avent said, “and Heavner’s in that realm. ”

How it has helped

Avent has preached for his players to not worry about their personal statistics this spring. If each person did their job within the team, both wins and personal success would follow. Heavner took it to heart, not only with his sacrifice bunts, but in his entire baseball repertoire this season. 

“When you worry about the team goal, it’s a lot easier to play free, play confident and to not be too hard on yourself if you do make a mistake knowing the rest of the team has your back. It’s just led me to playing a lot looser.”

Heavner is putting together his most-complete collegiate campaign. He’s hitting .217 with a .329 on-base percentage to go with a career-best 15 runs scored, three home runs and 23 RBI – more than double last season’s total of 10. He has already walked 10 times, the same total he had a year ago, while cutting his strikeout total nearly in half. 

The Lincolnton, N.C., native is in a vastly different spot this season as he’s focused on the team’s goals and not his own.

“I feel a lot more free,” Heavner said. “Honestly, the brain is a powerful thing. So whenever you finally get that thing freed up, it helps a lot.”

He’s been able to not only swing the bat well, but his sacrifice bunts have put NC State in position to win. The Wolfpack is 9-2 when Heavner records a successful sacrifice and that number swells to 3-0 when he posts multiple in the same game — wins over Duke, Louisville and Virginia Tech. 

Heavner thrives at the bottom of NC State’s lineup. He has been able to knock runners in with his bat, but finding ways to provide energy before the team’s top hitters come to the plate helps drive him forward.

“I think if you have a good bottom of the lineup, your team is pretty tough to get out,” Heavner said. “If the bottom of our lineup can not only flip the order, but continue to get runners on and runners in, I think we’ll be in a great spot.”

Heavner’s buy-in has been helpful for both himself and the Wolfpack as a whole. NC State’s coaching staff couldn’t ask for much more from the third-year player. Jarrett, who was elite in the role that Heavner currently occupies, doesn’t even have to talk to him about it. 

Instead, the former Wolfpack infielder has a front row seat in the dugout.

“He goes about his work the right way and there’s nothing to even say to the kid,” Jarrett said. “He knows what he needs to do every day, gets it in, does it well and focuses. If you had a group of guys on your team that went about it just like Matt Heavner, you’d be in a good spot.”

And for Avent, the Pack’s longtime coach? It’s clear that Heavner is crucial to NC State’s success on the field, both with his stout defense and his effective small ball technique. 

“Everybody needs that guy [that] they may not be talking about on ESPN every night, but they’re talking about in locker rooms everywhere and coaches meetings,” Avent said. “He helps us win.”