By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Scott Forbes will stick with his regular rotation for the Chapel Hill Regional.
Freshman right-hander Jason DeCaro (5–1, 3.80 ERA) will start the 6 p.m. opener for the No. 1 regional seed Tar Heels (42–13) on Friday against No. 4 Long Island (33–23), with junior left-hander Shea Sprague (3–1, 4.02 ERA) going on Saturday against either No. 3 LSU (40–21) or Wofford (41–18).
“We took a long look at all the teams that are in the tournament,” said Forbes, who plans to start junior right-hander Aidan Haugh (4–1, 4.08 ERA) in Carolina’s third game. “We just felt like staying with what we have been doing pretty much the second half of the season.”
If UNC faces the Tigers on Saturday, Sprague will likely be up against a lineup with only two left-handed starters, and Forbes said that he considered that.
“We looked at the matchup,” said Forbes, noting that Sprague and DeCaro have been similar in ACC play, with both striking out about the same, although DeCaro has issued more walks. “We felt good about both matchups. So when we felt pretty even we just decided to keep it as is.”
It’s similar to last week’s ACC tournament, when DeCaro pitched a game against Pittsburgh with the Tar Heels heavily favored, and Sprague battled Wake Forest.
“I think [I was] pretty solid out there; could have done a few things a little bit better,” DeCaro said of his start against Pittsburgh. “But I feel like that’s pretty much every start. You can look at things to improve on and things you did well, but it’s good to get out there in that environment and get that experience.”
DeCaro, who will face a couple of LIU players he met during his high school career in North Port, N.Y., says the team learned plenty from its epic 9–5 12-inning ACC tournament loss to Wake Forest on Friday.
“We’re just really honing in on what we can improve on,” DeCaro said. “I think the game against Wake was almost a blessing in disguise, where if we win that game, you probably don’t look at all the little things that we can do a little bit better. So just really trying to focus on those and improve on that as much as you can.”
Forbes said UNC is approaching the LIU game just like any other Friday league game during the regular season.
Instead of facing the fastball of Wake Forest fireballer Chase Burns, the Tar Heels will meet Sharks senior right-hander Garrett Yawn (6–3, 4.08 ERA).
“Obviously, we’re used to seeing velocity in our league, but we’re also used to playing guys who can really pitch, it might be 87 to 89 [mph], like the starter’s going to be from Long Island,” Forbes said.
NOTES — The regional starts at noon Friday with LSU meeting Wofford. The losers of Friday’s games will play an elimination game at noon Saturday, with the winners meeting at 5 p.m. Saturday. … The UNC team watched “Remember the Titans” at the football team’s theater at the Kenan Football Center on Wednesday. … Vaughn Bryson, who played for UNC in the 1960s and has the Boshamer Stadium field named after him, spoke to the team on Wednesday. … Two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year Vance Honeycutt, who said Thursday that his back feels 100%, has saved 13.98 defensive runs this season, which is the top total in the country among outfielders. The second-most defensive runs saved among Chapel Hill Regional players is LSU freshman second baseman Steven Milam at 8.81. … The top wins above replacement number for the regional are Honeycutt at 5.26, LSU third baseman Tommy White (4.66) and Wofford center fielder Marshall Toole (3.91). … Wofford is second in the country in runs per game (10.2), third in batting average (.340) and seventh in steals (144; caught only 20 times). Toole has a team-leading 42 steals (second in the country) in 45 attempts. … Carolina leads the four teams in the regional with nine runs per game, which is 10th in the county. … White is the active career home run leader with 75, with Honeycutt — UNC’s all-time home run leader — sixth at 59. … Outfielder Seth Surrett leads three Long Island players hitting over .300 at .322. Outfielder Jake Mastillo has 16 home runs and 67 RBI.
Chapel Hill Regional
At Boshamer Stadium
Friday’s results
No. 1 North Carolina 4, Holy Cross 0
No. 2 Oklahoma 7, No. 3 Nebraska 4
Saturday’s results
Nebraska 4, Holy Cross 1; Holy Cross eliminated
North Carolina 11, Oklahoma 5
Sunday’s results
Oklahoma 17, Nebraska 1; Nebraska eliminated
Oklahoma 9, North Carolina 5
Monday’s result
North Carolina 14, Oklahoma 4
UNC (45–13) advances to Super Regional against No. 21-ranked Arizona (42–18), which won the Eugene Regional on Sunday night with a 14–0 win over Cal Poly. Game 1 of the best-of-3 series is Friday at Boshamer Stadium.
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times | Opponent (current rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | |||
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sat. | 4, noon, 1 | vs. Indiana |
| 17 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Richmond |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Longwood |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 4 (Greenville), 2 (DBAP), 2 (CH) | vs. East Carolina |
| 24 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. N.C. A&T |
| 25 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. VCU |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | 4 p.m., 2 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| March | |||
| 1 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| 3 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Elon |
| 6–8 | Fri.-Sun. | 4, 2, 1 | vs. Virginia |
| 10 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Bucknell |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | 9, 5, 4 | at California |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. UNCG |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 8, 2, 1 | vs. No. 8 Louisville |
| 24 | Tuesday | 6:30 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte |
| 27–29 | Fri.-Sun. | 6:30, 3, 1 | at Notre Dame |
| 31 | Tuesday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Fri.-Sun. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (non-conference game) | vs. Duke |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Charlotte |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites |
| June | |||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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