By R.L. Bynum
With the NCAA set to reveal the baseball tournament field Monday, No. 7 North Carolina continues to be projected as a high national seed.
In projections released on Sunday, D1 Baseball has UNC as the No. 3 overall seed and Baseball America projects the Tar Heels as the No. 2 overall seed. The 9–5 12-inning loss Friday to No. 22 Wake Forest in the ACC tournament in Charlotte hasn’t hurt the projections for the Tar Heels (42–13).
The NCAA will officially announce regional hosts at 8:30 Sunday night, and the field will be announced on ESPN2 at noon Monday.
D1 Baseball also projects two other ACC teams as national seeds: No. 3-ranked Clemson (41–14) as the No. 6 seed and No. 10 Florida State (42–15) as the No. 7 seed. No. 16-ranked Virginia (41–15; No. 10 seed) and No. 12 N.C. State (33–20; No. 12) are also projected as hosts.
Duke (39–18) is projected for the Corvallis Regional with Oregon State as host, but may have improved its NCAA resume with a 16–4 Sunday win over Florida State for the ACC title. Wake Forest (38–20; Athens Regional with Georgia as host) and Georgia Tech (31–23; Knoxville Regional with Tennessee as host) are also projected to make the field.
At the Chapel Hill Regional, D1 Baseball has the Tar Heels hosting unranked teams South Carolina (36–23), UNC Wilmington (39–19) and Sacred Heart (35–23), while BA has the other teams in the regional being No. 25 Texas (35–22), VCU (37–21) and Penn (24–23).
UNCW, which lost a 7-inning, 11–0 10-run rule game at Carolina on March 19, and Sacred Heart play in league championship games Sunday. The Seahawks beat College of Charleston 6–4 to capture the CAA title. Sacred Heart lost 11–6 in the NEC final.
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VCU, which lost at UNC 8–2 on Feb. 27, won the Atlantic 10 title on Saturday with a 16–1 win over Richmond. Penn won the Ivy League title with a 12–6 victory Monday over Cornell.
South Carolina, which beat UNC in Charlotte 2–1 on April 9, blew an eight-run lead and lost 12–11 in a dramatic SEC tournament semifinal game Saturday against LSU.
The Longhorns got eliminated from the Big 12 tournament after losses to Texas Tech (6–4) and Cincinnati (8–7).
After East Carolina (43–15) lost 12–2 in an eight-inning 10-run-rule game Saturday to Wichita State in the American Athletic Conference tournament, D1 Baseball no longer projects the Pirates as a host. Instead, it has ECU in the Raleigh Regional.
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record/ TV * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 13–14 | Fri., Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11) | vs. Indiana | 3–0 |
| 17 | Tuesday | W, 10–0 (7) | vs. Richmond | 4–0 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 5–3 | vs. Longwood | 5–0 |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun | W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3 | vs. East Carolina | 6–1–1 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. N.C. A&T | 7–1–1 |
| 25 | Wednesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. VCU | 8–1–1 |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 10–1–1 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 21–1 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 11–1–1 |
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 5–1 | vs. Elon | 12–1–1 |
| 6–7 | Fri., Sat | L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12) | vs. Virginia | 13–3–1, 1–2 ACC |
| 10 | Tuesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. Bucknell | 14–3–1 |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2 | at California | 17–3–1, 4–2 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 8–2 | vs. UNCG | 18–3–1 |
| 20–22 | Fri.–Sun. | W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6 | vs. Louisville | 20–4–1, 6–3 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 21–4–1 |
| 28, 29 | Sat., Sun | W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10 | at Notre Dame | 24–4–1, 9–3 |
| 31 | Tuesday | W, 5–4 (14) | vs. Campbell | 25–4–1 |
| April | ||||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | L, 6–1; W, 5–2; W, 8–7 | vs. No. 23 Boston College | 27–5–1, 11–4 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 8–4 | vs. Charlotte | 28–5–1 |
| 10–12 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 6–4 (14); W, 12–5 | at Clemson | 30–6–1, 13–5 |
| 14 | Tuesday | W, 14–5 | vs. UNCW | 31–6–1 |
| 17–19 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–2; W, 14–4 (8); L, 5–2 | vs. No. 3 Georgia Tech | 33–7–1, 15–6 |
| 21 | Tuesday | W, 9–2 | vs. High Point | 34–7–1 |
| 23–25 | Thur.–Sat. | W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7) | at Duke | 36–8–1, 17–7 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 12–2 | vs. No. 20 Coastal Carolina | 36–9–1 |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | 37–9–1 |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3 | vs. Pittsburgh | 40–9–1, 20–7 |
| 12 | Tuesday | W, 13–7 | at UNCW | 41–9–1 |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); 1 p.m. | at N.C. State | 43–9–1, 22–7 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | 3 p.m. | Quarterfinal | ACCN |
| 23 | Saturday | 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. | Semifinal | ACCN |
| 24 | Sunday | Noon | Championship | ESPN2 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | Regionals | Campus sites | |
| June | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | Super Regionals | Campus sites | |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
- Games not on TV stream on ACC Network Extra unless otherwise note.
Photo courtesy of the ACC
