But not Dustin Ackley, Tim Fedroff and Kyle Seager, who came to North Carolina in 2006 from different towns and with different swings but with similar skill hitting a baseball.

Simply put, without the clout of that trio, UNC's team might be headed to the beach this week instead of to a third straight College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

They are Carolina's top three in batting average, on-base-percentage, hits, runs, home runs, RBIs and generally in making life miserable for opposing pitchers.

* Ackley, a national player-of-the-year candidate, leads off and tees off. Going into Sunday's opener against LSU, the stolid first baseman is batting .408 with seven homers, 79 runs scored, 50 RBIs, a .500 on-base-percentage and 18 stolen bases.

That's nothing new for Ackley, who batted .402 as a freshman. And as a leadoff batter, his mentality is get on base, be it via hit, getting hit, walk or error. But he prefers hitting cleanly.

* Fedroff, the ebullient outfielder, paces the Heels in homers with 12 while hitting .398 and driving in 69 runs.

* Seager, a solid-fielding second baseman, has the most RBIs (73), most doubles (27) and ranks third in batting average (.355).

"Three of the toughest outs I've ever coached,'' Chad Holbrook, UNC's associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, said last week at the Super Regional.

All three players bat lefthanded, throw right-handed and approach the game with a like mind-set.

"We don't take a pitch off,'' Fedroff said. "We read scouting reports, really look into having a good mental approach every time [at bat]. We have an idea what the pitcher will be like. [And] we are all very competitive."

And very close. They live in the same apartment and hang out together.

Ackley is the most laid-back of the three, "very quiet and pretty low-key," says Seager, who isn't quite as reserved.

Fedroff is more emotional, more inclined to show his fiery competitiveness.

"But we all want to do well; we have the same [inner] fire,'' Seager said.

That is reflected in "friendly' competitions off the field as well. Fedroff gives Ackley the edge in pool-type games and Seager the nod in basketball, but claims first place in video games and wiffle ball.

"I don't think we've had enough competition to determine a champion in all that,'' Ackley said.

So it goes, the trio enjoying light moments, and also pushing and supporting each other.

Ackley, from Walnut Cove, and Seager, from Kannapolis, played youth ball against each other and traveled together one summer before coming to UNC. They also met Fedroff, from Flagtown, N.J., at a tournament.

Ackley and Seager could have signed professionally after high school, but they preferred the Carolina experience to an early entry into the minor leagues.

"I asked a lot more than they [pro scouts] were offering,'' Ackley said. "I knew [UNC] would be a good experience and a good education. All my family had been Carolina fans. It was not a hard decision for me."

Nor was it for Seager or Fedroff, who also wanted to be Tar Heels and had all the traits Carolina wanted in prospects.

When Fedroff was offered a scholarship in the summer of 2006, he cried on the spot. That emotional moment happened on a field at Towson, Md., after Fedroff had outhustled everybody in about 100 degree heat, recalled Holbrook, who admired Fedroff's passion for the game and for UNC.

Seager, son of a coach, impressed coach Mike Fox and staff with natural hitting ability, fielding skill and leadership qualities.

And Ackley?

"No matter where we went to see him, he always hit,'' Holbrook said. "He's been hitting since he was 3 years old. He is very athletic and can just hit."

Ackley, Seager and Fedroff. Sounds kind of like an accounting firm. But fortunately for UNC, they are three heavy-hitting sophomores who already have accounted for 401 runs collectively and aim to keep crunching big numbers in Omaha.