By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina is No. 1 in the latest D1 Baseball Top 25 after winning the ACC championship last weekend, the Tar Heels’ highest ranking in the history of that poll.
The Tar Heels (42–16) jumped two spots while Vanderbilt (42–16), the No. 1 overall NCAA tournament seed, shot up seven spots to No. 2 after winning the SEC title.
UNC, the No. 5 overall seed, is also No. 1 in the USA Today coaches poll. The Tar Heels open Chapel Hill Regional play at noon Friday (ACC Network) against Holy Cross.
LSU (43–14) fell from No. 1 to No. 3 in the D1 Baseball poll and is the No. 6 overall seed. No. 4-ranked Texas (42–12; down two spots) is the No. 2 overall seed, and No. 5-ranked Oregon (42–14; down one spot) is the No. 12 overall seed.
Florida State (38–14), which the Tar Heels defeated 7–5 in the ACC tournament semifinals on Saturday, dropped one spot to No. 7. Clemson (44–16), which lost to UNC 14–4 in the ACC tournament championship game, remained at No. 14.
The only other ACC team in the poll is Georgia Tech (40–17), which fell two spots to No. 18. N.C. State was No. 22 last week but fell out of the poll.
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 42–12 | 3 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 42–16 | 9 |
| 3 | LSU | 43–14 | 1 |
| 4 | Texas | 42–12 | 2 |
| 5 | Oregon | 42–14 | 4 |
| 6 | Arkansas | 43–13 | 5 |
| 7 | Florida State | 38–14 | 6 |
| 8 | Oregon State | 41–12–1 | 7 |
| 9 | Auburn | 38–18 | 8 |
| 10 | Georgia | 42–15 | 10 |
| 11 | Coastal Carolina | 48–11 | 11 |
| 12 | Southern Miss | 44–14 | 12 |
| 13 | UCLA | 42–16 | 13 |
| 14 | Clemson | 44–16 | 14 |
| 15 | Ole Miss | 40–19 | 17 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 43–16 | 21 |
| 17 | Florida | 38–20 | 15 |
| 18 | Georgia Tech | 40–17 | 16 |
| 19 | Northeastern | 48–9 | 19 |
| 20 | Dallas Baptist | 40–16 | 18 |
| 21 | Arizona | 39–18 | NR |
| 22 | TCU | 39–18 | 24 |
| 23 | UC Irvine | 41–15 | 20 |
| 24 | Alabama | 41–16 | 23 |
| 25 | Kansas | 43–15 | 25 |
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 | 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 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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