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Schedule (TV)
Saturday, June 11 - 10 a.m. CT (ESPN)
Sunday, June 12 - Noon CT (ESPN or ESPN2)
*Monday, June 13 - TBA (TBA)
*if necessary
North Carolina Scouting Report
Record: 42-20 (15-15 ACC)
The Tar Heels had a season of highs and lows, starting out hot in non-conference play but scuffling through much of its ACC schedule. They scratched their way back into the polls and earned regional hosting rights by winning the ACC Tournament.
Taking two of three games from East Carolina and sweeping Coastal Carolina to enter its ACC slate on a high note, North Carolina defeated Pittsburgh and Duke in the initial two conference series.
Entering the following series with a very strong 18-3 record, the Heels went on to lose their next five series in a row to Miami, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Virginia, getting swept by the Hurricanes and Cavaliers. To make matters worse, they also dropped midweek matchups to South Carolina and North Carolina A&T at home, getting blistered by the Gamecocks 15-2.
North Carolina was able to bounce back from that cold streak and enter postseason play on a high note, though, as it defeated North Carolina State and Wake Forest back-to-back and swept Florida State in the regular-season finale.
Going into the conference tournament as the 8 seed with a .500 record in ACC play, the Heels easily took care of business to be crowned champions, defeating Clemson, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and NC State by a combined score of 35-9. It was their eighth conference tournament championship in program history.
Playing its regional at home as a result of the late-season hot streak, North Carolina found itself in the losers’ bracket after a narrow 4-3 loss to VCU in the second game and then warded off a ninth-inning comeback attempt by 2 seed Georgia to advance to the final.
Needing to beat the Rams twice in a row to avoid elimination, the Tar Heels dominated with 19-8 and 7-3 victories to advance to the super regionals.
Head Coach: Scott Forbes (2nd season)
This is Forbes’ second at the helm of the Tar Heels, previously serving as the associate head coach, pitching coach, hitting coach and recruiting coordinator with the program before replacing Mike Fox following his retirement.
As a collegiate player in the late 1990s, Forbes began his career with Middle Georgia College before transferring to North Carolina Wesleyan for the remainder of his playing career. He had a very successful three seasons with the Battling Bishops, culminating with a .387 batting average, 61 RBIs and a school-record 27 doubles in his senior year.
