Report card: How the UNC baseball team's season has gone so far

Following a series victory over Virginia Tech, the No. 12 UNC baseball team sits atop the ACC Coastal Division standings with a conference record of 17-7. At 33-11 overall, the Tar Heels are slotted as the six seed and a regional host in Baseball America’s latest NCAA tournament projection.

Ahead of the final two ACC series in the coming weeks, here’s a look at North Carolina’s season to date. It's report card time.

Offense: A

North Carolina boasts the second highest team OPS and third highest team batting average in ACC conference play. It also has hit a league-leading 53 home runs in conference play. Six Tar Heels with at least 100 at-bats are are hitting over .300 on the season, four of whom have an OPS of over 1.000. 

“[We have] guys up and down the lineup who can do damage,” said junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt after a game against Notre Dame in April. “There's really not a free guy to pitch to.”

Senior first baseman Parks Harber leads UNC with an OPS of 1.136. In late March, he homered in five straight games, including a three-home run game in a series-clinching victory at Wake Forest. Eight of his 15 home runs of the season came during that eight-day stretch.

Redshirt sophomore outfielder Casey Cook has been arguably the most consistent bat in the lineup. He’s hitting .337 with an OPS of 1.036 and leads the team in RBIs with 58. 

First-year infielder Gavin Gallaher leads the team in both batting average and on-base percentage, while Honeycutt has hit a team-best 16 homers.

Defense: B

The Tar Heels have a stellar defensive outfield. Graduate outfielder Anthony Donofrio has made several run-saving plays this season. Cook has a perfect fielding percentage, and Honeycutt covers tons of ground in center field, making highlight-reel catches.

“He’s a freak,” head coach Scott Forbes said of Honeycutt after a win over Virginia Tech. “I’ve never seen anything like it. His speed is unreal. And his defense is unreal.”

First-year catcher Luke Stevenson has been solid behind the dish, only allowing 21 stolen bases on the season.

The only knock on the Tar Heels’ defensively are occasional errors. The team has committed 43 on the season — almost one per game. Senior shortstop Colby Wilkerson, who forms a tandem up the middle with graduate second baseman Alex Madera, has committed 14 errors — the most on the team.

Starting Pitching: B+

The starting rotation has fluctuated all season. In the absence of top arms like senior right-hander Jake Knapp and first-year southpaw Folger Boaz, others have stepped up.

Junior left-hander Shea Sprague has a 3.40 ERA in over 50 innings pitched and has walked only nine batters. Sprague’s best start of the season came against Georgia Tech when he threw eight brilliant innings, allowing only one earned run.

The other fixture in the rotation has been first-year righty Jason DeCaro. He owns a 3.86 ERA and leads the team in strikeouts and innings pitched. DeCaro allowed five runs in two of his last four starts, but the other two were scoreless gems. His best start was his most recent, throwing seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts against Virginia Tech on Friday.

“He’s a stud,” senior right-hander Matt Poston said of DeCaro on Sunday. “We know he’s gonna be able to go at least six [innings] for us most of the time. He helps us a lot.”

Bullpen: A-

The best arm for the Tar Heels out of the pen is redshirt sophomore lefty Dalton Pence. Pence has a 1.75 ERA and a team-best five saves. He’s a versatile and lethal weapon, often pitching more than one inning in an appearance and totaling 46 strikeouts on the season. 

“We kinda know he’s gonna go get the job done most of the time,” Poston said. “We have a lot of trust in him. I think he could pitch 10 days in a row if he wanted to.”

But it’s not only Pence. Sophomore lefty Kyle Percival also boasts a sub-2.00 ERA, while senior right-hander Connor Bovair has a sub-3.00 ERA and a team-best 1.07 WHIP. Sophomore righty Matthew Matthijs leads all of Division I with 11 wins, and junior right-hander Aidan Haugh provides more versatility with his ability to both come on in relief and start games.

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