Longtime UNC baseball designated hitter enters transfer portal

The transfer portal snatched up another Tar Heel on Tuesday – this time from the baseball team.

With how active the transfer portal is across college sports nowadays, player loyalty to one program is becoming increasingly rare.

Players sometimes transfer due to the lack of playing time, which I am a huge advocate for. Sometimes players transfer to chase championships, which I can’t fault them for, or other reasons.

Alberto Osuna is one of these rare exceptions, as he’s been the UNC baseball team’s starting designated hitter since 2022. Osuna put together quite the career in Chapel Hill, mashing a career .259 with 45 home runs and 140 RBIs, including a career-best .281 this past season.

Osuna’s season didn’t end in a great way, though, as he struck out three times in North Carolina’s College World Series opener against ACC rival Virginia. He struggled in the postseason as a whole, hitting just 6-for-27.

Osuna is out of Division-I eligibility, but not college eligibility. As a result, he entered his name in the transfer portal on Tuesday, July 2.

I have to imagine if Osuna had D-I eligibility left, he’d return to the Diamond Heels. Osuna began his college baseball career at Walters State Community College in 2021, so he just missed being eligible for a COVID year.

It’ll be weird not seeing the powerful Osuna in UNC’s lineup next year. We wish him best of luck wherever he ends up.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.