North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt was scratched from Thursday’s game against Pitt due to an injury.
However, Tar Heels head coach Scott Forbes expects him to be available for Friday night’s critical game against Wake Forest.
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Forbes met with the media following the win over Pitt and shared what Vance Honeycutt was dealing with that led to him being scratched.
“You know, just had some back spasms. … I don’t know if it was the hotel bed or what,” Forbes said. “He felt really good yesterday. He felt fine for the most part this morning. Probably could’ve gone, honestly.”
North Carolina ended up faring just fine without Vance Honeycutt as the Tar Heels pounded Pitt 12-2 in what was a game that doesn’t really factor into the ACC Tournament.
Regardless of the result of Thursday night’s North Carolina vs. Pitt game, the winner of UNC vs. Wake Forest on Friday night will win Pool A and advance to the semifinals. That was a factor as far as Forbes’ decision to not start his leadoff hitter.
“There’s no such thing as a meaningless game, but we knew this game wouldn’t advance us to Saturday,” Forbes said. “He warmed up and I think he was like 95 percent. It’s hard for me to play Vance in that game when it’s a back and it’s spasms and I know how back spasms work. I’ve had them before. If you can rest them a little bit and get treatment, chances are pretty good you’re going to be ready to go the next day.”
Vance Honeycutt wanted to play against the Panthers, but Forbes simply felt like a day of rest would be better for him in the long run.
“It was more my call than Vance’s. He wasn’t real happy with it,” Forbes said. “But I wanted to make sure he was ready to go tomorrow night.”
Without Honeycutt, UNC opened the game with three straight home runs against Pitt. In fact, four of the first five North Carolina batters hit solo home runs as the Tar Heels took a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Anthony Donofrio, Casey Cook, Parks Harber and Alberto Osuna all went deep for the Tar Heels in the first.
Vance Honeycutt and UNC won the ACC regular season, finishing with a 41-12 (22-8) record. The Tar Heels got off to a strong start in the ACC Tournament and just continue to find ways to get it done.
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