UNC baseball must conquer NCAA Tournament regional before another run at Omaha
All teams can win and all can be beaten. North Carolina knows better than anyone that nothing is guaranteed at this time of year.
Carolina tries not to talk too much about last season, but it remembers nearly losing to Long Island in its regional opener a year ago. The Tar Heels trailed 8-5 entering the bottom of the ninth inning and went on to score six. They ultimately won the regional, which included a 4-3 rubber match victory over LSU in 10 innings to earn a spot in the Super Regionals.
“We talked about (it) a little bit in the beginning of the year,” said Carolina shortstop Alex Madera. “Omaha is where you want to get to and find a way to hoist that trophy at the end of the day. Obviously, last year that happened early. We always talk about how if we go down, it is what it is. You’ve just got to keep fighting and find ways to score.”
The Tar Heels enter the Chapel Hill regional this weekend in a similar spot. They are the No. 5-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament bracket and No. 1 among the four teams at the site. Carolina is also among the favored teams to make the Men’s College World Series in Omaha and potentially win the national championship.
UNC has to win its regional first, and it has three teams who would love to dethrone the host. The Tar Heels are focused on controlling what they can and, more importantly, approaching each game with the right mindset. The team wants to be aggressive, remain competitive in all situations, play without pressure and not get ahead of itself. Those things have worked so far, Carolina hopes they can carry them through this weekend, too.
“They’ve completely bought in to not looking at the scoreboard, not counting outs,” head coach Scott Forbes said. “This team is going to play. We may get behind, we may not get behind, but they’re going to play until that last out is made.”
First up: Holy Cross. The Crusaders won the Patriot League Championship and earned the conference’s automatic bid. In comparison to the other three teams in the regional, they rank No. 142 in the RPI and No. 201 in overall strength of schedule.
The numbers, however, do not reflect Holy Cross’ style of play. The Crusaders are fans of laying down a bunt and stealing bases.
Holy Cross outfielder CJ Egrie was voted Patriot League Player of the Year and is one of the best runners in the country. He led the league, and ranked No. 40 or better nationally, in stolen bases (35), stolen bases per game (0.66), runs (67) and runs per game (1.26).
As a team, the Crusaders have 123 stolen bases on 145 attempts and scored 418 runs.
“We really just want to focus on the little things right now,” Tar Heels pitcher Jason DeCaro said. “We know that their team, like us, they like to play small ball a little bit, like to cause a little chaos on the bases. [We’re] just trying to stay within ourselves and slow it down as much as we can.”
Forbes compared Holy Cross to Louisville and Boston College, two teams in the ACC who also like to wreak havoc when they reach base. The Tar Heels went 1-2 against Louisville this season and 3-1 against Boston College. Three of the seven games were determined by two runs or fewer.
“We practiced really hard this week on being ready for that part of the game,” Forbes said of Holy Cross. “Obviously, you don’t have to be as ready if you don’t let as many people on base, but they’re a really good club. They’ve had a great year. We’ll have our work cut out for us.”
Oklahoma, the second seed in the regional, announced it will be holding its ace, Kyson Witherspoon, for Saturday. His twin brother, Malachi Witherspoon, will start Friday.
Forbes plans to start Jake Knapp, UNC’s typical Friday pitcher, against Holy Cross and DeCaro on Day 2. He’s not worried about gamesmanship when there’s a completely different opponent to worry about.
“At the end of the day, we might not play Oklahoma,” Forbes said. “We might, but if we’re focusing on Oklahoma, or who they’re going to throw, or who they’re saving, Holy Cross will come in here and whip our tail. We have to focus on Holy Cross. That’s all we’ve talked about. If we take care of business, we’ll figure out who we’re playing after.”
The Tar Heels face the Crusaders at noon Friday. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network. Oklahoma and Nebraska play at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
Scouting the Chapel Hill regional visitors
Oklahoma (35-20, 14-16 SEC): OU, the regional’s No. 2 seed, is making its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
It struggled in its first season of SEC play but picked up series wins over No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt and No. 10 seed Ole Miss. The team also holds 12 wins over NCAA Tournament teams, including SEC Tournament victories over Kentucky and Georgia.
The Sooners’ pitching staff features one of the best arms in college baseball with righty Kyson Witherspoon. The All-SEC first-teamer holds a 10-3 record, including a 2.47 ERA, 120 strikeouts in 91 innings and a .191 opponent batting average. Witherspoon’s 120 Ks rank No. 6 in the nation, while sitting at No. 18 for ERA.
Oklahoma catcher Easton Carmichael earned second team honors; infielder Kyle Branch was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team. Carmichael leads the SEC in triples (4) and holds a .321 batting average with 71 hits and 14 home runs.
Nebraska (32-27, 15-15 Big Ten): The Cornhuskers come to Chapel Hill as the three seed and are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in five years. They won their second straight Big Ten title, advancing through the bracket as the No. 8 seed, to guarantee their spot in a regional.
Nebraska is 6-2 this season over ranked opponents, with wins against Kansas, Oregon, Oregon State, Vanderbilt and UCLA. As a team, it has hit 116 doubles on the season and is one of the cleaner defensive teams with a .976 fielding percentage.
Right-handed pitcher Luke Broderick was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection, while infielder Devin Nunez received All-Freshman Team honors.
Broderick leads the conference with 12 saves, which ranks No. 8 in the country. He holds a 3.41 ERA on the season, but that dropped to 1.93 over the last six games, and has thrown 43 strikeouts in 34.1 innings pitched. Nunez has made 38 appearances and has a .319 hitting percentage, 20 runs, 37 hits and 22 RBIs. The rookie has 11 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI outings.
Holy Cross (31-25, 17-8 Patriot League): The Crusaders are making their second NCAA Tournament appearance since 1978 and 12th overall. Their previous appearance took place in 2017. Holy Cross won the Patriot League regular season and tournament titles to earn its spot in the 64-team field.
The Crusaders’ 17-8 conference record set a program high in league victories. They bring in eight All-Patriot League players, including Player of the Year CJ Egrie and Pitcher of the Year Jaden Wywoda.
First Team pitcher Danny Macchiarola will start against the Tar Heels on Friday afternoon. He leads the Patriot League with a 3.02 ERA and strikeouts (91), which are good enough to rank in the national top 50. Macchiarola has given up just three home runs this year.
Egrie, meanwhile, is one of the best base runners in the country. The junior outfielder leads the Patriot League in stolen bases (35), stolen bases per game (0.66), runs (67) and runs per game (1.26). All four stats rank 40 or better in the country.
