By R.L. Bynum

With three ACC series left, all five NCAA tournament projections have No. 15 North Carolina as a regional host.

Four of those project the Tar Heels (31–10, 15–6 ACC) as a top-eight seed, meaning they would also host a Super Regional should they win in the regional round.

UNC leads the ACC Coastal Division by two games, has the best ACC record and is No. 7 in the RPI. Atlantic Division-leading and No. 5-ranked Clemson (32–8, 13–5) is No. 5 in the RPI.

After this weekend’s home series against Virginia Tech (26–12, 12–9; unranked and No. 39 in the RPI), beginning at 6 p.m. Friday (ESPN3), UNC is at home May 10–12 against Louisville (24–16, 9–9; unranked and No. 80 in the RPI) and at No. 6 Duke (29–12, 13–8; No. 21 in the RPI) May 16–18.

Wins in two of those three series, particularly if the Heels win the series with the Blue Devils, should secure a top-eight seed.

The NCAA will announce the field at noon on May 27, the day after the ACC tournament championship game at Charlotte’s Truist Field. The College World Series in Omaha begins June 14.

With an RPI of No. 33 last season, the NCAA sent the Tar Heels to Terre Haute, Ind., for the regionals, where they went 1–2 and finished the season 36–24.

Of the five projections, Baseball America has Carolina as the highest at No. 6 seed, hosting with Mississippi State, Utah and Bryant.

D1 Baseball and College Sports Madness each have UNC as a No. 7 seed, the former projecting the regional to include Alabama, Northeastern and Niagara and the latter projecting the field to include Texas Tech, UConn and Sacred Heart.

On3.com has Carolina as a No. 8 seed, hosting West Virginia, Utah and Navy.

DRatings is the only one that doesn’t project UNC as a top-eight seed. It has the Heels as a No. 12 seed, hosting Alabama, Kennesaw State and Rider.

Matthijs, Pence on watch list

UNC relievers Matthew Matthijs and Dalton Pence (top photo) are on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List.

Matthijs (11–3, 3.29 ERA), a sophomore right-hander, leads all Division I pitchers in wins, and has an ACC-leading 24 appearances, which is third nationally. He has 40 strikeouts and nine walks in 38⅓ innings, and 11 scoreless appearances of an inning or more.

Pence (2–1, 1.65 ERA), a redshirt sophomore left-hander, has four saves in 22 appearances, with opponents only hitting .165. He has 40 strikeouts in 32⅔ innings and is tied for third in the ACC in appearances and fourth in saves.

The only other schools with two pitchers on the list are Arkansas, Lamar, Louisiana and Oregon.

NOTES — In Friday’s 6 p.m. opener UNC right-hander Jason DeCaro (2–1, 4.41 ERA) will oppose Hokies left-hander Jeremy Neff (0–0, 7.04 ERA). On Saturday at 2 p.m., Carolina left-hander Shea Sprague (2–1, 3.71 ERA) opposes Virginia Tech right-hander Brett Renfrow (5–1, 3.50 ERA). UNC right-hander Aidan Haugh (3–0, 3.06 ERA) takes on Hokies right-hander Griffin Stieg (3–2, 4.79 ERA) in Sunday’s 1 p.m. series finale. … The Tar Heels, who won two of three games at Virginia Tech last season, lead the all-time series 81–32–3, including 47–16–2 in Chapel Hill, and have won four of the last five games. … Virginia Tech leads the ACC in home runs with 78, and Carolina is tied for third with 76. … … Nearly two dozen former players and staffers from the 1984 ACC championship team will be at a 40-year anniversary celebration Saturday, including Olympians Scott Bankhead and All-ACC picks Jeff Hubbard and Todd Wilkinson. Former head coach Mike Robers will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

ACC standings

	League	GB	Overall
No. 16 Georgia Tech	19–11	—	39–16
No. 6 Florida State	17–10	½	37–13
No. 3 North Carolina	18–11	½	39–12
No. 22 N.C. State	17–11	1	33–18
No. 14 Clemson	18–12	1	41–15
Virginia	16–11	1½	32–17
Duke	17–13	2	36–18
Wake Forest	16–14	3	36–19
Miami	15–14	3½	31–23
No. 21 Louisville	15–15	4	35–20
Notre Dame	14–16	5	32–20
Virginia Tech	12–18	7	30–24
Boston College	11–19	8	26–28
Stanford	11–19	8	27–24
Pittsburgh	10–20	9	27–26
California	9–21	10½	22–30

Thursday-Saturday series
No. 16 Georgia Tech at Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 14 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 22 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 3 North Carolina at No. 6 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–3, 10 innings

UNC scores

Date(s)	Day/ month	Scores	Opponent (current rank)	Record
	February
14–15	Fri.-Sat.	W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2	vs. Texas Tech	3–0
18	Tuesday	W, 12–9	vs. Kansas State	4–0
22–24	Sat.-Mon.	W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4	vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville)	7–0
25	Tuesday	W, 7–4	vs. VCU	8–0
26	Wednesday	W, 13–4	vs. N.C. A&T	9–0
28	Friday	W, 16–2	vs. Stony Brook	10–0
	March
1–2	Sat.-Sun.	W, 6–1; W, 9–5	vs. Stony Brook	12–0
4	Tuesday	W, 6–4 (11)	vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina	13–0
7–9	Fri.-Sun.	L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0	vs. Stanford	14–2, 1–2 ACC
11	Tuesday	W, 7–3 (10)	at UNCW	15–2
14, 16	Fri., Sun.	L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0	at Louisville	16–4, 2–4
19	Wednesday	L, 5–1	vs. UConn	16–5
21–23	Fri.-Sun.	W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7)	at Boston College	18–6, 4–5
25	Tuesday	W, 13–8	vs. South Carolina in Charlotte	19–7
28–30	Fri.-Sun.	W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2	vs. Miami	21–7, 6–6
	April
1	Tuesday	W, 11–1 (7)	vs. Gardner-Webb	22–7
3–5	Thur.-Sat.	W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14)	vs. Duke	24–8, 8–7
8	Tuesday	W, 12–10	at Elon	25–8
11–13	Fri.-Sun.	W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2	vs. Wake Forest	28–8, 11–7
15	Tuesday	W, 14–4 (8)	vs. Charlotte	29–8
18–20	Fri-Sun.	W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5	at Virginia Tech	31–9, 13–8
25–27	Fri.-Sun.	W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0	at Pittsburgh	33–10, 15–9
29	Tuesday	W, 13–4	vs. George Mason	34–10
30	Wednesday	W, 14–3	vs. Queens	35–10
	May
6	Tuesday	W, 10–1	vs. Campbell	36–10
8–9	Thurs.-Fri.	W, 8–1; L, 8–5	vs. N.C. State	37–11, 16–10
15–17	Thurs.-Sat.	W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4	at No. 7 Florida State	39–12, 18–11
		ACC tournament	Durham
23	Friday	Quarterfinal: W, 7–3	Boston College	40–12
24	Saturday	Semifinal: W, 7–5	No. 7 Florida State	41–12
25	Sunday	Final: W, 14–4	No. 14 Clemson	42–12
		Chapel Hill Regional
30	Friday	W, 4–0	Holy Cross	43–12
31	Saturday	W, 11–5	Oklahoma	44–12
	June
1	Sunday	L, 9–5	Oklahoma	44–13
2	Monday	W, 14–4	Oklahoma	45–13
		Chapel Hill Super Regional	Best-of-3 series
6	Friday	W, 18–2	No. 21 Arizona	46–13
7	Saturday	L, 10–8	No. 21 Arizona	46–14
8	Sunday	L, 4–3	No. 21 Arizona	46–15