By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina has been to Omaha often enough to know how hard it is to get there and how much harder it is to finish the job.
After coming up one win short a year earlier, the Tar Heels are back for the second time in the last three seasons, the only program in the country to do that.
The Tar Heels are headed back to the College World Series with another chance to chase the program’s first national championship that has eluded them in 12 previous trips to Omaha. That includes championship series appearances in 2006 and 2007, coming a win away from the title in 2006.
That history hung quietly over Boshamer Stadium on Sunday, even in the middle of the celebration after Owen Hull’s game-ending double sent UNC past Southern Cal 4–3 and back to college baseball’s biggest stage.
Coach Scott Forbes said his focus soon turned to what this opportunity means for a program that has never won it all. Next is their CWS opener at 7:06 p.m. Friday against No. 23 Ole Miss. (Read more about that matchup here.)
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“I’ve been to Omaha before,” Forbes said, “and I get to see the joy on these guys’ faces of coming back in here [Monday] and preparing to try to win UNC baseball’s first national championship. I’m very grateful for that.”
Forbes has built his program around process, culture, and daily standards, and he returned to that theme in the aftermath of the season’s most dramatic win. He said the players had earned this trip themselves.
“The players make the program,” said Forbes, who has been with the program since 2006 and has been head coach since succeeding Mike Fox in 2021. “The players are why we won the games. They put in the work. I’ve been a player, and I always tell these guys, ‘You want to be able to look yourself in the mirror and say you’re the reason that you’re great,’ and this group can look themselves in the mirror and say we are the reason we are going to Omaha.”
That message carried extra weight because Carolina’s path back to Omaha has not been smooth. The Tar Heels had to answer for last year’s disappointment after losing Game 3 of the Chapel Hill Super Regionals 4–3 to Arizona.
In Supers this season, the Tar Heels had to recover from a Game 1 loss to USC before beating the Trojans twice to advance, including a dramatic 4–3 win on Sunday after trailing going into the ninth inning.
Forbes said those moments matter because they harden a team for what comes next.
“Failure’s the best teacher. It can set you up for greater things. I remember Tony Bennett talking about it with Virginia. I’m a big fan of Tony Bennett,” Forbes said.
At the Bosh, Forbes highlights Bennett’s pillars of success and points to the resilience of Virginia’s program to rebound from being the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to winning the 2019 NCAA title.
“It just sets you up for that, because you can handle in-game adversity, you can handle punches, you can handle the first loss like that, and you figure if you get there enough, too, you can, you can knock that door down. That’s what these guys did,” Forbes said.
Carolina fell short of the College World Series after losing Super Regional openers in 2003 at South Carolina, at home in 2019 against Auburn and in 2022 at home against Arkansas. This season was only the second time in four seasons that the Tar Heels avoided being swept after losing the opener.
Senior Carter French was on the 2024 team that swept West Virginia in the Chapel Hill Super Regionals, as well as last season’s team that came up short. He’s lived through both the highs and the disappointments.
The immediate emotion of the win was obvious, but so was the sense that this group believes the story is unfinished.
“I was talking to Cam Padgett before the game, just about this is our last game here at the Bosh, no matter what, and this is my last time playing baseball here with this group,” said the outfielder who is headed to medical school and is affectionately called Dr. French. “Over the years, I’ve learned a lot from this sport, that you can’t get too high, you can’t get too low. In that moment, I felt like we were so even-keeled, and we just kept on plugging, and it ended up working in our favor.”
Then he turned quickly to what comes next.
“I just think that we’re going to carry that on to Omaha, and we’re not done yet. We got a lot more baseball left to play,” he said
The latest trip to Omaha gives UNC something it has chased for decades, another shot at the one accomplishment that has eluded one of the best programs in the country.
For all the history, the Tar Heels didn’t sound heavily burdened by past Omaha failures. They sounded confident, grateful and eager for more. That may be why Forbes, even in a moment that invited reflection on the past, looked forward instead.
“We’re excited,” he said. “And on to Omaha.”
| 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 |
Photos by Smith Hardy
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