College baseball fans are in for a treat this weekend.
On Friday, May 31, the NCAA Tournament begins with 16 separate 4-team regionals. Players reacted in jubilee when their teams’ names were called, while coaches from other teams were shocked at not hearing theirs.
Thanks to an outstanding regular season which saw the first ACC Regular Season Championship since 2018, more than half of its starting lineup hit over .300 and a new staff ace discovered in Jason DeCaro, the North Carolina Tar Heels are one of the 16 Regional Hosts.
UNC will open up Regional play against Long Island University on Friday, May 31 at 12 p.m., then play at either 12 p.m. (elimination game) or 5 p.m. on June 1. If North Carolina wins Friday and then again on Saturday, it’ll play Sunday for a chance at advancing to a Super Regional.
If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the full Chapel Hill Regional Schedule.
Ahead of Friday’s Regional opener, the Diamond Heels earned a consensus Top-6 ranking.
Final regular season polls 📈 pic.twitter.com/k6SWUx3ezf
— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) May 28, 2024
UNC has its work cut out in Boshamer Stadium, where it is 32-2 this season. North Carolina will have to play either defending National Champion LSU or a 40-win Radford squad on Saturday.
The Diamond Heels last hosted a Regional in 2022, when it fought its way through the elimination bracket and beat VCU in back-to-back days, to advance and host Arkansas in a Super Regional.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.