Will UNC baseball win its NCAA Tournament regional? Here’s our prediction
North Carolina baseball coach Scott Forbes overheard conversations among his team prior to Sunday’s championship game in the ACC Tournament that gave him further encouragement about what now waits ahead in the NCAA Tournament.
“I heard these guys talking, and it made me feel really good,” Forbes said. “They said, ‘This is just one step.’ So they know what they want.”
Can the No. 10 national seed Tar Heels (38-19) keep their winning streak rolling with Georgia, VCU and Hofstra arriving this weekend for the Chapel Hill Regional? Here’s our prediction.
How the regional plays out
No matter whether UNC starts Max Carlson or Brandon Schaeffer to pitch against Hofstra (30-21) on Friday (2 p.m. on ESPN+), we’re counting on North Carolina rolling in its regional opener and improving to 16-2 across its last 18 games.
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VCU (40-18) is the pick to spring a slight upset against Georgia (35-21) in Friday’s nightcap, a victory that’ll give the red-hot A-10 champion Rams their 16th straight win.
We see the Tar Heels edging VCU in a tight winners bracket matchup on Saturday, the means required similar to the timely breakthrough that helped defeat Notre Dame in the ACC semifinals. Then, VCU’s pitching will run out against Georgia in an elimination game.
UNC tops Georgia on Sunday to clinch the regional and advance to its ninth super regional under the NCAA’s current format. Vance Honeycutt (ACC Tournament MVP) and Angel Zarate (10-for-21 in the ACC Tournament) are cooking at the plate for North Carolina, while Carlson and Schaeffer already have supplied clutch pitching in the postseason.
NCAA Chapel Hill Regional schedule
Friday’s games
Game 1: No. 1 seed North Carolina (38-19) vs. No. 4 seed Hofstra (30-21), 2 p.m. on ESPN+
Game 2: No. 2 seed Georgia (35-21) vs. No. 3 seed VCU (40-18), 7 p.m. on ESPN+
Saturday’s games
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Sunday’s games
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Monday’s game
If necessary
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Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.
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