By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina, the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, moved up one spot to No. 6 in the latest D1 Baseball poll for its highest rank in five years.
It’s the first time UNC has been in the top 10 in three consecutive polls since the Tar Heels were in the top six for the first three polls of 2019 and the highest rank since they were No. 3 on March 3 of that season.
Carolina remained No. 3 in the Baseball America poll, is No. 3 in the Perfect Game ranking, No. 4 in the NCBWA poll and No. 5 in the USA Today poll.
The Tar Heels (42–13) open play in the Chapel Hill Regional at 6 p.m. Friday at Boshamer Stadium against Long Island (33–23), and will play reigning NCAA champion LSU (40–21) or Wofford (41–18) on Saturday in either a loser’s bracket game at noon Saturday or a winner’s bracket game at 5 p.m. Saturday.
LSU returned to the poll at No. 24 after making a run to the SEC tournament championship game.
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Duke (39–18) jumped five spots to No. 12 in the poll after winning the ACC title last weekend in Charlotte.
Carolina swapped spots in the poll with Oregon State (42–14), which fell one spot to No. 7, in the only change in the top 8. The top 3 in the poll are No. 1 Tennessee (50–11), No. 2 Kentucky (40–14) and No. 3 Clemson (41–14).
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 9 Florida State (42–15; up one spot), No. 11 N.C. State (33–20; down one spot), No. 18 Virginia (41–15; down two spots) and No. 19 Wake Forest (38–20; up three spots).
D1 Baseball Top 25
Dropped out: Oregon and Texas
Chapel Hill Regional
At Boshamer Stadium
Friday’s results
No. 3 seed East Carolina 7, No. 3 seed (No. 23-ranked) Tennessee 3, 14 innings
No. 1 seed (and No. 4-ranked) North Carolina 8, No. 4 seed VCU 0
Saturday’s results
VCU 5, Tennessee 4; Tennessee eliminated
North Carolina 7, East Carolina 5
Sunday’s results
East Carolina 10, VCU 0; VCU eliminated
North Carolina 9, East Carolina 3; UNC wins regional
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. 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. 2 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. 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 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2 | at N.C. State | 43–10–1, 22–8 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | W, 10–4 | Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech | 44–10–1 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 13–5 | Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh | 45–10–1 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 13–6 | Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech | 45–11–1 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 8–0 | VCU | 46–11–1 |
| 30–31 | Sat.–Sun. | W, 7–5; W, 9–3 | East Carolina | 48–11–1 |
| June | ||||
| Chapel Hill Super Regionals | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 4–0; W, 4–3 | Southern Cal | 50–12–1 |
| College World Series | Omaha, Neb. | |||
| 12 | Friday | W, 6–2 | No. 18 Ole Miss | 51–12–1 |
| 14, 17 | Sun., Wed. | W, 5–2; W, 12–7 | No. 9 West Virginia | 53–12–1 |
| 20–22 | Sat.-Mon. | L, 9–3; W, 6–2; L, 13–2 | CWS Finals vs. Oklahoma | 54–14–1 |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
