Diamond Heels Look to Shine in NCAA Tournament

Baseball

The road to the College World Series in Omaha goes through Chapel Hill for the North Carolina Tar Heels baseball team. Despite a midweek hiccup against Coastal Carolina, UNC is projected to host an NCAA Regional according to D1Baseball’s latest projections. And the Diamond Heels would face a daunting path if those projections hold true.

Leading the ACC’s Coastal Division with a 14-4 conference record, the 11th-ranked Tar Heels have proven themselves against the nation’s best competition already this season. A road sweep over preseason #1 Wake Forest and a win over East Carolina highlight an impressive non-conference resume.

But the potential Chapel Hill Regional would bring an enormous challenge. Florida, a perennial College World Series contender with 13 appearances and the 2017 national title, is projected as the #2 seed. The Gators have been a juggernaut under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan.

Oregon, the projected #3 seed, has been one of the Pac-12’s top programs in recent years. The Ducks won their first ever conference tournament title in 2022 and made their second Super Regional appearance. A rising West Coast power, they would be a major obstacle.

Rounding out the regional is Bryant, seeking their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2016. The Bulldogs would be decided underdogs, but have the potential to play spoiler against the heavyweight field.

For UNC, the bats have produced at an elite level, setting multiple program records already this season. But the starting pitching remains the key question. The bullpen has been stellar, but the starters must provide quality innings to make a deep tournament run possible.

Head coach Scott Forbes has pushed all the right buttons to get the Tar Heels to this point after taking over the program two years ago. Now the real test begins, with UNC potentially facing two of the most accomplished programs of the last decade right out of the gates.

The Diamond Heels have the talent to emerge from a brutal regional. But they’ll need their best baseball to knock off powerhouses like Florida and Oregon. The road to Omaha couldn’t be any tougher, but UNC appears ready to embrace the challenge of proving they’re one of the nation’s elite teams.