By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Top-ranked North Carolina will open the Chapel Hill Super Regional against four-time national champion and No. 21-ranked Arizona on Friday at Boshamer Stadium.
The best-of-three series continues on Saturday, with a third game scheduled for Sunday if necessary. Friday and Saturday games start at noon and air on ESPN2. The time and TV designation for a potential Sunday game haven’t been announced. The likely pitching matchup on Friday will be ACC Pitcher of the Year, graduate right-hander Jake Knapp (13–0, 1.89 ERA), facing Arizona sophomore 6–3 right-hander Owen Kramkowski (9–5, 4.73 ERA).
The noon starts mean that, for the body clocks of the Wildcats who are used to Pacific Time, it will feel like 9 a.m.
The winner of the Chapel Hill Super Regional will be matched up at the College World Series with the winner of the Auburn Super Regional, which features No. 9-ranked and No. 4 overall seed Auburn (41–18) against No. 11-ranked and No. 13 overall seed Coastal Carolina (51–11).
Last season, UNC swept West Virginia in two games at the Chapel Hill Super Regional to make the College World Series for the eighth time. This is the 12th time the Tar Heels have hosted a Super Regional.
The No. 5 overall seed, the Tar Heels (45–13), are the third-highest remaining seed in the NCAA tournament after beating Oklahoma 14–4 on Monday to win the Chapel Hill Regional. No. 1 seed Vanderbilt and No. 2 seed Texas didn’t survive the regional round.
There will be four other ACC teams in Super Regionals, with Duke (40–19) hosting Murray State (42–14) in a Saturday through Monday series, with Florida State (41–14) playing at Oregon State (45–13–1) and Miami (34–25) playing at Louisville (38–21) in Friday through Sunday series.
The Wildcats (42–18), under second-year coach Chip Hale, advanced by going 3–0 at the Eugene Regional without having to face No. 1 regional seed Oregon. Arizona, the No. 2 regional seed, beat Cal Poly 3–2 in its Friday opener and 14–0 on Sunday and topped Utah Valley 14–4 on Saturday.
Arizona, which won national titles in 1976, 1980, 1986 and 2012, is in the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive season. The last of its 18 College World Series appearances came in 2021.
The Wildcats have a 3–2 series edge, losing to UNC 5–2 in the 1989 Carolina Invitational in Chapel Hill and winning at that event in 1990. Arizona took two of three games in a Tucson, Ariz., series in 1985 (Arizona winning 13–8 and 13–5 and UNC winning 10–7).
Arizona has two common opponents with Carolina, losing to both at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown in Arlington, Texas. The Wildcats lost to Clemson 16–5 on Feb. 15 and to Louisville 13–1 in eight innings on Feb. 16.
UNC lost two of three March 14–16 at Louisville, in the last ACC series the Tar Heels lost this season. Carolina sandwiched losses of 8–7 and 5–0 around a 6–4 win in the middle game. UNC’s only game against Clemson was its 14–4 victory in Durham on May 25 in the ACC tournament championship.
Like Carolina, Arizona won its league tournament by going 3–0. In the Big 12 tournament in Arlington, Texas, the Wildcats beat BYU 4–1, West Virginia 12–1 and TCU 2–1 in 10 innings. The Wildcats finished tied for fourth at 18–12 in the regular season.
The Wildcats’ offensive leaders are 5–11 junior shortstop Mason White (.336 average, 19 home runs, 70 RBI and a .714 slugging percentage) and 6–3 junior center fielder Aaron Walton (.321, 14 homers, 48 RBI and 18 steals.)
White hit three home runs in the Eugene Regional and has 48 career homers, which is second in program history.
After Kramkowski (15 walks, 82 strikeouts), Arizona’s most frequent starter is 6–4 freshman right-hander Smith Bailey (3–2, 3.97 ERA, 27 walks and 72 strikeouts.) Junior 5–9 right-hander Tony Pluta (2–0, 1.39, 13 saves, 5 walks and 31 strikeouts) is the Wildcats’ closer.
In the Wildcats’ regional opener, Kramkowski went seven innings, giving up eight hits, one run and one walk while striking out seven and Pluta gave up one hit in one inning to get the save.
Smith threw six innings of four-hit shutout ball with a walk and five strikeouts in Sunday’s clinching victory.
Chapel Hill Super Regional
Top-ranked and No. 5-seed North Carolina (45–13) vs. No. 21-ranked Arizona (42–18)
Best-of-3 series
Boshamer Stadium
Game 1 Friday probables: Jake Knapp (13–0, 1.98 ERA) vs. Owen Kramkowski (9–5, 4.73 ERA), noon, ESPN2
Game 2: Saturday, noon, ESPN2
Game 3: Sunday (if needed), time and TV TBA
In the College World Series, the Chapel Hill Super Regional winner meets the winner of the Auburn Super Regional between No. 9-ranked and No. 4-seed Auburn (41–18) and No. 11-ranked and No. 13-seed Coastal Carolina (51–11). That series schedule is 9 p.m. Friday (ESPN2), 3 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) and Sunday, with time and TV to be announced.
Other Super Regionals
Friday through Sunday
Miami (34–25) at Louisville (38–21)
3 p.m. (ESPN2), 11 a.m. (ESPN), TBD (TBD)
No. 9 Florida St. (41–14) at No. 8 Oregon St. (45–13–1)
6 p.m. (ESPN2), 9 p.m. (ESPN2), TBD (TBD)
No. 13 Coastal Carolina (51–11) at No. 4 Auburn (41–18)
9 p.m. (ESPN2), 3 p.m. (ESPN2), TBD (TBD)
Saturday through Monday
UTSA (47–13) at No. 15 UCLA (45–16)
7 p.m. (ESPNU), 3 p.m. (TBD), TBD (TBD)
Murray St. (42–14) at Duke (40–19)
1 p.m. (ESPNU), noon (TBD), TBD (TBD)
West Virginia (44–14) at No. 6 LSU (46–15)
2 p.m. (ESPN), 6 p.m. (ESPN2), TBD (TBD)
No. 14 Tennessee (46–17) at No. 3 Arkansas (46–13)
5 p.m. (ESPN), 3 p.m. (ESPN), TBD (TBD)
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Time/ score | Opponent (current rank) | TV/ 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 | ||||
| 6 | Fri.–Sun. | Noon | No. 21 Arizona | ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | Noon | No. 21 Arizona | ESPN2 |
| 8 | Sunday | TBA (if needed) | No. 21 Arizona | TBA |
| 18–30 | Wed.–Mon. | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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