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DURHAM — It was October baseball with some quirky twists, with rivals UNC and N.C. State meeting in the Battle of the DBAP. Carolina’s pitching ruled the evening in a 3–1 win Thursday that was a tiebreaker of sorts after the teams split two regular-season matchups last weekend.
The old rivals will square off in Durham for a first-of-its-kind exhibition. On Wednesday, Oct. 16, North Carolina will meet N.C. State in a 6 p.m. baseball exhibition at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in the finale of the Tar Heels’ fall schedule.
The first pitch Kane Kepley saw in professional baseball didn’t miss — it hit him. Even before that, he was already in a hole. Stepping into the batter’s box on Aug. 5 for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Chicago Cubs’ Low-A Carolina League affiliate, the plate umpire flagged the rookie center fielder with a pitch-clock violation before he’d even seen a pitch.
After two outstanding seasons at North Carolina, catcher Luke Stevenson will continue his baseball career with the Seattle Mariners.
On the Fourth of July, two North Carolina right-handed pitchers were named to represent their country in the upcoming Japan Collegiate All-Star Series. Making the 26-player team were rising junior Jason DeCaro and rising sophomore Ryan Lynch, making UNC one of nine schools with at least two players on the roster.
Speedy George Mason outfielder Owen Hull on Wednesday became North Carolina’s seventh transfer portal commitment.
North Carolina is a consensus pick of the D1 Baseball staff to make the College World Series next season in its “2026 (Way Too Early) Eight for Omaha,” released on Monday.
D1 Baseball hadn’t named a North Carolina player to its All-American team until it honored center fielder Vance Honeycutt. Now a Tar Heel has made the team for the second consecutive season.
North Carolina finished in the top 10 of the D1 Baseball poll for the second consecutive season. The Tar Heels, who were No. 1 entering the NCAA tournament, finished No. 9 after going 46–15, winning the ACC title, advancing to the Chapel Hill Super Regional and coming one win short of making the College World Series for a second consecutive season.
UNC will share $20.5 million in revenue with athletes, with the majority of it allocated to football and men’s basketball, and some to women’s basketball and baseball. Additionally, the number of scholarships will increase.
North Carolina catcher Luke Stevenson, center fielder Kane Kepley and right-handed pitcher Aidan Haugh have been invited to the MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field in Phoenix, a five-day event that starts Tuesday.
Although he’s likely to be drafted in July and could sign with a major-league team, former UNCW right-handed pitcher Trace Baker has committed to North Carolina, giving the Tar Heels their fifth baseball transfer portal commitment.
ACC champion North Carolina has already been active in the baseball transfer portal, with three commitments so far and eight reserve players entering the portal.
Winning a national championship in college baseball may be the toughest of any sport, regardless of how much talent is on a roster. That was even more obvious this season, when top-ranked North Carolina couldn’t earn a return trip to the Men’s College World Series. But the Tar Heels had plenty of company: for the first time since 1957, no school that made it to Omaha the previous season is back.
CHAPEL HILL — Two damaging errors and the inability to come up with big hits ended top-ranked North Carolina’s dreams of back-to-back trips to the College World Series and only left the Tar Heels with heartbreak.
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