By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina’s path back to Omaha says as much about roster-building as it does about player development.
In an era when college baseball rosters can turn over quickly and programs are forced to rebuild on the fly, UNC has found a way to do both, and do it without losing its footing.
Six of the Tar Heels’ eight regular starting position players this season are newcomers from the transfer portal, and another is a freshman. Two freshman relievers have played big roles on a pitching staff that brought in no transfers in the offseason. Yet Carolina is the only program in the country to reach the College World Series twice in the last three seasons.
That is not an accident, and UNC coach Scott Forbes made it clear Thursday in a press conference in Omaha that it is not a matter of simply grabbing as many portal players as possible and hoping the pieces fit.
“We use two words, me and my staff, is patience,” Forbes said at a Thursday press conference in Omaha ahead of the Tar Heels’ CWS opener at 7:06 p.m. Friday against Ole Miss. “We don’t want to just jump the gun right out of the gate when the transfer portal opens. It’s patience. It’s getting the right guy all the way around, not just the talent. But they’ve got to have character. They have to have makeup. Winning matters.”
That approach has allowed UNC to reload without looking patched together. The Tar Heels did not just add experience. They added players who could step into an existing culture, absorb it quickly and help carry the team back to the sport’s biggest stage.
Forbes pointed to that balance when he discussed how Carolina has handled roster construction in the portal era. UNC still prioritizes high school recruiting and development, but it has also embraced the portal as a way to stay older and more mature.
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“It can help you stay old,” Forbes said. “Those more mature players, when you combine them with some returners, they help them understand what it’s going to take. But at the University of North Carolina, we’re always going to go after the best high school players, but we’re not going to shy away from also trying to get the best guys off the portal.”
The results are easy to see in the lineup.
Center fielder Owen Hull, a George Mason transfer, was spectacular in the Chapel Hill Super Regional, delivering four doubles, including the game-ending hit in the 4-3 Sunday clinching victory over USC, and leads the team in several categories, including batting average (.390), doubles (24) and RBI (81). Stoney Brook transfer Erik Paulsen, a first baseman, has 11 home runs and 54 RBI.
Forbes said that Carolina’s offense has not gotten enough credit nationally, a point he sounded almost happy to make because the perceived slight has helped keep his team motivated. He said the lineup has become more complete over the course of the season, with players learning to pressure opponents in a variety of ways.
“I don’t feel like our lineup’s gotten enough credit throughout the season, and that’s helped us,” Forbes said. “These guys play with that chip. We do believe we have a good lineup. We feel like we’ve gotten better. We can pressure you. We walk. We hit-by-pitch. We got some speed. It’s become more of a complete lineup, and they feed off each other.”
That growth has been especially important because so many of the everyday pieces were new to the program.
Junior shortstop Jake Schaffner is one of the clearest examples of how UNC’s portal model works. Carolina lost last season’s sparkplug at the top of the order in center fielder Kane Kepley, and Schaffner transferred from North Dakota State, and has excelled in that position.
Forbes recalled that Schaffner’s campus visit had been scheduled for the Monday after Carolina’s season-ending loss to Arizona. UNC was coming off the heartbreak of losing that game and having its season end. The staff had to pivot immediately, and Forbes is clearly glad it did.
“We had to flip the switch,” Forbes said. “And I’m glad we flipped it good enough to get that kid because he’s a heck of a player.”
Now Schaffner is in Omaha for the first time as part of a lineup full of newcomers who had to get up to speed quickly in a program that expects to play deep into June.
He said the adjustment was eased by veteran players such as second baseman Gavin Gallaher, pitcher Jason DeCaro and right fielder Carter French, whose postseason experience helped calm the newer pieces when the stakes rose.
“We have a lot of new guys in our lineup,” Schaffner said. “It’s great when leaders who have been there before, like Gavin and French, can really calm us new guys down and really tell us to be in the moment and take it all in and don’t take it for granted. So, it’s been great.”
That is another piece of Carolina’s formula. The Tar Heels do not just bring in transfers. They fold them into a clubhouse that already has players who understand what Omaha requires and what can be lost if the moment gets away from you.
Gallaher, the only position player returning who started all of last season, has lived that experience. He is now making his second trip to the College World Series and his third straight deep postseason run with the Tar Heels. He said there is still a thrill in getting back, but there is also a responsibility that comes with having been here before.
“Just very fortunate for the opportunity,” Gallaher said. “We have a great program, great culture. So, we’re deep in the postseason a lot. Fortunate to be part of that for three years now, being here twice. Unbelievable opportunity, and it’s a great experience every single time. It never gets old.”
What Gallaher learned from Carolina’s 2024 trip is something he and the other returners have tried to pass along to the new faces.
“I would say slowing things down,” Gallaher said. “I remember coming in here in ’24, and I don’t really remember much of it. It just felt like we landed, had a couple of good practices, and before you know it, we were back on the plane back home. Just trying to slow things down and hopefully be here for a couple of days longer than we were last time.”
DeCaro, another returner from that Omaha team who started the UNC opener at the CWS in 2024, described the challenge more bluntly. For him, the lesson is about filtering out everything around the event and remembering why Carolina came.
“Just coming here with a mission,” DeCaro said. “Not getting caught up in everything that’s going on. Because it’s easy to do that, there’s a lot of extra stuff that you can do. A lot of that can be distractions. Just staying focused on why we’re here and just keeping the main thing the main thing.”
That message lines up directly with Forbes’ view of this trip. He said he learned from the 2024 experience, both as a head coach and as the leader of a team that arrived in Omaha without any recent program memory to lean on. This time feels different to him, and part of that is because his players can now learn from teammates, not just from coaches.
Still, Forbes has wanted the message to stay simple.
“While it’s an honor to be here and it’s hard to get to the College World Series, it’s even harder to win it,” Forbes said. “You don’t want to look back and say would have, could have, should have. We’re out here on a business trip.”
That businesslike edge is part of why Carolina keeps showing up in June even as the sport grows more volatile.
“We do take a lot of pride in how we do things,” Forbes said. “But when you talk about a program and culture and standards, it’s everybody. It’s not just the coaches. It’s not just the players. It’s the support staff. It’s the administration. It’s everybody.”
That, more than any one portal cycle, is why UNC has been able to keep reloading. The Tar Heels have built a system that can absorb turnover without surrendering identity. They can blend transfers with freshmen, veterans with newcomers, and still look and play like North Carolina.
And now, with another mixed roster standing on college baseball’s biggest stage, Forbes believes the latest version is ready.
“These guys put in a lot of work since August 17th,” Forbes said. “They’re the reason that we are here. Phenomenal group to coach. These guys are ready. They’re coming out here to play well. There’s no doubt in my mind that they will.”
College World Series
At Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
Sunday, June 21, game on ABC, all other games on ESPN
Bracket 1
No. 5-seed and No. 4-ranked North Carolina (51–12–1), No. 16-seed and No. 9-ranked West Virginia (48–16), Troy (38–31) and No. 23-ranked Ole Miss (41–22)
Bracket 2
No. 3-seed and No. 3-ranked Georgia (51–12), No. 6-seed and No. 6-ranked Texas (45–13), No. 7-seed and No. 16-ranked Alabama (42–19) and Oklahoma (38–22)
Pool play
All listed times are ET
(Probable starting pitchers)
Friday’s games
Game 1: West Virginia 7, Troy 5
Game 2: North Carolina 6, Ole Miss 2
Saturday’s games
Game 3: Oklahoma (freshman left-hander Cord Rager, 5–3, 5.20 ERA) vs. Alabama (redshirt junior right-hander Tyler Fay, 11–4, 4.37 ERA), 3:09 p.m.
Game 4: Georgia (junior right-hander Joey Volchko, 13–2, 4.00 ERA) vs. Texas (sophomore left-hander Dyan Volantis, 10–1, 2.03 ERA), 8:09 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Game 5: Troy vs. Ole Miss loser, elimination game, 2:09 p.m.
Game 6: West Virginia vs. North Carolina, 7:09 p.m.
Monday’s games
Game 7: OU-Alabama loser vs. Ga.-Texas loser, elimination game, 2:09 p.m.
Game 8: OU-Alabama winner vs. Ga.-Texas winner, 7:09 p.m.
Tuesday’s games
Game 9: Troy-Ole Miss winner vs. UNC-WVU loser, elimination game, 2:09 p.m.
Game 10: Monday afternoon winner vs. Monday night loser, elimination game, 7:09 p.m.
Wednesday’s games
Game 11: UNC-WVU winner vs. Tuesday afternoon winner, 2:09 p.m.
Game 12: Monday night winner vs. Tuesday night winner, 7:09 p.m.
Thursday’s games
Deciding Bracket 1 game if Game 9 winner also wins Game 11
Deciding Bracket 2 game if Game 10 winner also wins Game 12
CWS Finals
(Best-of-3 series)
Game 1: Saturday, June 20, 8:09 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, June 21, 1:39 p.m.
Game 3: Monday, June 22, (if needed) 8:09 p.m.
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record/ TV * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Sunday | 7:09 p.m. | No. 9 West Virginia | ESPN |
Photo by Smith Hardy
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