By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina remained No. 2 and Coastal Carolina No. 9 in the latest D1 Baseball poll heading into their showdown at Boshamer Stadium.
The two perennial powers meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ACC Network) in the Tar Heels’ fourth game against a top-10 team in two weeks. UNC freshman left-hander Jackson Rose (3–0, 1.39 ERA) will start, with Carolina ace Jason DeCaro (7–2, 2.17 ERA), a junior right-hander, also possibly pitching.
UNC (36–8–1, 17–7 ACC) comes off a 4–1 week that concluded by taking two of three games at Duke and a 22–5 run-rule, 7-inning thrashing of the Blue Devils on Sunday. DeCaro’s ERA is second in the ACC behind UNC freshman right-hander Caden Glauber (6–0, 2.13 ERA), who got the win on Sunday. Rose doesn’t have enough innings to qualify.
Coastal (30–13) went 2–2 last week, losing 2–1 to UNCW and winning two of three against Texas Tech over the weekend.
Coastal won the 2016 national championship and made the College World Series championship series last season.
In the Baseball America poll, UNC is also No. 2 and Coastal also is No. 9.
UCLA (39–4) remained No. 1 despite a loss to Sacramento State. Georgia Tech (36–7, 19–5), which stayed at No. 3, lost two of three at UNC two weekends ago but has a two-game lead on the Tar Heels in the ACC standings.
Two ACC teams plummeted in the poll after getting swept in conference series over the weekend.
Virginia (29–16, 12–12) fell 13 spots to No. 23 after losing at Pittsburgh 7–5, 11–0 (7 innings) and 7–3. Florida State (29–13, 12–9) slid six spots to No. 14 after falling 4–3, 8–7 (11 innings) and 7–4 at Stanford.
The Panthers (28–14, 10–11) visit UNC May 8–10. Before that, Carolina hosts Queens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Duke at 2 p.m. Sunday in a non-conference game and Winthrop at 6 p.m. on May 6.
Boston College (33–15, 16–8) moved up two spots to No. 20 after winning two of three at Notre Dame last weekend.
Carolina is 5–4 against teams in the current poll, losing two of three to Virginia and winning two of three against Georgia Tech and Boston College. The Tar Heels have won seven consecutive ACC series since that Virginia series, the best streak since the 2017 team won all 10 conference series.
Subscribe to read Tar Heel Tribune ad-free
Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 39–4 | 1 |
| 2 | North Carolina | 36–8–1 | 2 |
| 3 | Georgia Tech | 36–7 | 3 |
| 4 | Texas | 32–9 | 4 |
| 5 | Georgia | 34–11 | 5 |
| 6 | Oregon State | 33–9 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 33–8 | 7 |
| 8 | Auburn | 30–13 | 11 |
| 9 | Coastal Carolina | 30-13 | 9 |
| 10 | Mississippi State | 34–10 | 15 |
| 11 | Kansas | 33–11 | 16 |
| 12 | Southern Miss | 31–13 | 18 |
| 13 | Oregon | 32–11 | 19 |
| 14 | Florida State | 29–14 | 8 |
| 15 | Oklahoma | 29–14 | 14 |
| 16 | Nebraska | 33–11 | 20 |
| 17 | Ole Miss | 31–14 | 17 |
| 18 | West Virginia | 28–12 | 12 |
| 19 | Arizona State | 31–14 | 25 |
| 20 | Boston College | 33–14 | 22 |
| 21 | USC | 34–11 | 23 |
| 22 | Arkansas | 29–16 | 24 |
| 23 | Virginia | 29–16 | 10 |
| 24 | Alabama | 29–16 | 13 |
| 25 | Florida | 29–16 | 21 |
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Georgia Tech | 25–5 | — | 45–9 |
| No. 2 North Carolina | 22–8 | 3 | 43–10–1 |
| No. 11 Florida State | 19–11 | 6 | 38–15 |
| No. 23 Boston College | 17–13 | 8 | 36–20 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 9 | 38–18 |
| Miami | 16–14 | 9 | 36–17 |
| Virginia Tech | 15–15 | 10 | 29–23 |
| Virginia | 14–16 | 11 | 35–20 |
| N.C. State | 14–16 | 11 | 32–21 |
| Stanford | 13–17 | 12 | 27–25 |
| Notre Dame | 13–17 | 12 | 30–21 |
| Louisville | 13–17 | 12 | 30–26 |
| California | 12–18 | 13 | 29–25 |
| Pittsburgh | 11–19 | 14 | 30–23 |
| Clemson | 10–20 | 15 | 31–25 |
| Duke | 10–20 | 15 | 24–29 |
Thursday-Saturday series
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh — Pitt, 6–3; ND, 6–4; ND, 21–10 (7)
Virginia at Louisville — Va., 8–3; UL, 12–2; UL, 10–5
Miami at No. 11 Florida State — FSU, 7–6 (11); FSU, 11–1; Miami, 7–4
Wake Forest at Duke — WF, 7–2; WF, 7–2; Duke, 7–3
Clemson at Virginia Tech — VT, 5–1; VT, 2–1; Clemson, 10–7
No. 3 Georgia Tech at No. 23 Boston College — GT swept 9–0, 14–1, 15–2 (7)
No. 2 North Carolina at N.C. State — UNC, 9–4; UNC, 17–7 (8); State, 7–2
Stanford at California — Stanford, 7–6; Cal, 4–3; Cal, 2–1
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Tuesday through May 24
Truist Field in Charlotte
| 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 UNC Athletics
